Toronto Raptors: 3 reasons Raptors have been as good as last season
2. The Raptors have assembled one of the NBA’s deepest rosters
Toronto hasn’t experienced any drop-off this season, in large part because of the team’s roster depth. Though they’ve experienced their fair share of injuries – 76 games and counting missed between six of their top rotation players – the Raptors haven’t missed a beat.
Leonard might be home in Southern California, but in Toronto, the Raptors have developed a “next man up” philosophy. Remarkably, Terence Davis has gone from undrafted rookie to a key piece on a championship contender. He has all the makings of a future star in this league.
The @Raptors extend their WIN streak to 1️⃣4️⃣ games as they top Brooklyn 119-118!
— NBA Canada (@NBACanada) February 9, 2020
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Fred VanVleet: 29 PTS, 4 3PT, 6 AST
Terence Davis: 20 PTS, 5 3PT, 8 REB
Pascal Siakam: 20 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST
Matt Thomas: 15 PTS, 6 REB, 3 STL
Serge Ibaka: 12 PTS, 6 REB pic.twitter.com/1jnG7oIzGB
When Lowry went down with an injury Friday night against the Indiana Pacers, VanVleet poured in 29 points while leading the team to their 14th consecutive win the next night. Yet another undrafted rookie, Matt Thomas, poured in 15 points while knocking down six of nine shots from the field in the same game. It’s just what this team does.
Toronto has six players averaging double-digits in scoring, 12 players playing at least 11 minutes per game and ten players shooting at least 34.9 percent from 3-point range.
The team might be led by Lowry and Siakam, but every night there seems to be a different player stepping up, a different player hitting big shots in big moments.
The Raptors were down 118-108 with 2:27 left.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 6, 2020
They ended the game on an 11-0 run to win, capped off by this game winner from Serge Ibaka 🔥 pic.twitter.com/eF4y06lTcX
Everyone contributes on this team and the first-half results this season have been outstanding.