2. Are we completely sure Nick Nurse trusts his second unit?
We’ve often heard those around the Association routinely refer to important regular-season games as having a “playoff feel” attached to them. True enough, each of Tuesday night’s matchups included critical moments in which we were reminded perhaps of something we’d see in April.
But given that this is the first contest over an 82-game slate, it’s probably both premature and problematic for the Toronto Raptors to be feeling those sorts of vibes. One glance at Tuesday night’s box score, and you’d think Toronto was in a do-or-die Game 8 of the Finals.
See for yourself: the Raptors had two players surpass the 40-minute total, the high man being 33-year-old Kyle Lowry. And had Pascal Siakam had avoided that disqualifying foul in the last minute of regulation, it’s a safe bet they end the game with three players surpassing that.
This sort of problem did come about 21 times in 2018-19, but Tuesday night’s game at least has to provoke a bit of a discussion. If the coaching staff didn’t — or plainly couldn’t — go deep into its rotation against a mere playoff hopeful without its presumed star player, will there be many nights in which they can?
To a degree, it feels understandable. If you asked the casual fan to name five players on the Raptors bench Tuesday night, it’s a safe bet they couldn’t. Hardcore observers, though, can you tell about the young Raptors until they’re blue in the face; from OG Anonoby’s year-to-year improvement to even lesser known names.
Think Chris Boucher‘s G-League dominance and inspiring play in the preseason or the potential of players like Malcolm Miller and journeyman Stanley Johnson.
That picture above, ironically enough, tells the story in itself. Notice Lowry working tirelessly to get downhill and attack the lane and then how in the background, the Pelicans are preparing to insert an entirely different unit. New Orleans went the ideal route: they ran 12-deep and at one point outscored the Raptors bench 25-0. Yes, my jaw is on the floor too.
Toronto did at the very least come alive later in the game, in large part through the contributions of Serge Ibaka. All told, they were outscored 57-23, which feels uninspiring since it’s almost double the amount of points they were outscored by in all of last season’s games.
One of the remedies to that problem could be fixed soon. The return of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson at the very least gives the Raptors a proven swingman to pair alongside the likes of Norman Powell and Terence Davis II, the only non-2018-19 Raptor to log minutes last night.
In a nutshell, Nick Nurse, one of the best coaches in basketball, still deserves credit. He stuck to guns — the ones that won him a championship a season ago — and came away with a hard-fought victory to kickstart the title defense.
In a league of hot takes and overreactions, though, it absolutely feels safe in questioning just how sustainable this game plan will be for the foreseeable future.