Written off as a contender by many after the departure of Kawhi Leonard, the Toronto Raptors aren’t backing down, moving up to sixth in the NBA Power Rankings.
In June, the NBA world hailed the newly crowned champions, but the forecast for the Toronto Raptors in 2019-20 was that their descent from the top of the mountain would be as rapid as their climb to that point was arduous.
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Kawhi Leonard came from the San Antonio Spurs in a trade in the summer of 2018, with the franchise’s all-time leading scorer — DeMar DeRozan — sent the other way. Leonard, while being carefully managed during the regular season, delivered what general manager Masai Ujiri got him for — an NBA title.
Leonard put together one of the best playoff runs ever — 30.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game on a .490/.379/.884 shooting slash line — and rolled to NBA Finals MVP honors.
And then he left town, signing with the LA Clippers. Danny Green, another starter on Toronto’s title team, also headed to Los Angeles to sign with the Lakers.
That was that in the eyes of most analysts. Oh, the Raptors would still be competitive, of course — having All-Star Kyle Lowry running the offense and Most Improved Player Pascal Siakam hopefully ready to assume a bigger offensive load would keep Toronto playoff-relevant.
Just not title-relevant.
Fast forward 15 weeks into the season and there are the Toronto Raptors, second in the Eastern Conference with a 34-15 record, good for the third-best mark in the NBA. It’s not appreciably different from last year’s Raptors, who were 36-13 after 49 games … second in the Eastern Conference and second-best in the NBA.
Toronto has run off 10 straight wins and has jumped up to sixth of our NBA Power Rankings as we head into Week 16 of the season.
The way it’s been done has defied expectations — dramatically. Siakam has been more productive than most projected, putting up nearly 24 points a game, while Lowry has been good for nearly 20 points and more than seven assists a night.
Siakam helped power Toronto to a 4-0 week last week, averaging 27.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals in 33.4 minutes a night, while he shot 50.7 percent overall and made 38.5 percent on 6.5 3-point attempts per game.
Going full-on IBG (itty-bitty guards) was supposedly going to hurt the Raptors, but the combination of Lowry and Fred VanVleet is scoring 37.5 points per game, handing out 14.2 assists a night, picking off 3.2 steals a game, with Lowry hitting 34.3 percent from 3-point range and VanVleet a very solid 39.8 percent.
They’ve done it through some setbacks, as well. Serge Ibaka has missed 10 games due to injury, as has VanVleet. Lowry, Siakam and valuable reserve Norman Powell have been down for 11 games. Marc Gasol, their veteran big man, has been out for 14 thus far. Patrick McCaw — the guy who’s never known an NBA season that didn’t end with a title — missed 24.
Undrafted rookie Terence Davis is the only Toronto player to see the floor in all 49 games.
And the injury hits kept on coming, as the club announced Saturday that Powell will be out indefinitely after fracturing the fourth metatarsal in his left hand.
But with nearly 60 percent of their regular-season slate complete, the message from the 416 is clear … sleep on the Raptors at your own peril.
And now, on with the countdown.
Last week: Beat Washington 152-133, lost at Toronto 130-114, beat Philadelphia 127-117, lost at Dallas 123-100
This week: Monday vs. Boston, Wednesday at Minnesota, Friday at Boston
Talk about ups and downs — the Atlanta Hawks had a 2-2 week that started with a 19-point win, followed by a 16-point loss, with a 10-point win next and closed out with a 23-point loss. That’s bigger slopes than a double black diamond trail. But the Hawks are still 5-4 over their last nine games, which is a huge improvement over the 8-32 from their first 40 contests.
Trae Young lit up the Wizards last Sunday for 45 points, 14 assists and six rebounds, but his streak of five consecutive double-doubles ended Saturday when he had just one assist before leaving late in the third quarter in Dallas with a sprained left ankle. Young’s week mirrored the team’s performance — up and down, up and down.
He averaged 28.5 points, 11.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds in 32.9 minutes per game, shooting 43.1 percent overall and making 33.3 percent on 8.3 3-point attempts per game. He also had a huge night in the win over the 76ers, scoring 39 points with a career-high 18 assists as Atlanta surprised Philadelphia.