Aggressive play a double-edged sword for Raptors

Coming into the caller play the Toronto Raptors emphasized that they were going to play hard, fast, assertive basketball.

Nine games in, that benignant of play has go a double-edged sword for Toronto. Despite their 2-7 record, the Raptors pb the NBA with 30.6 assists per crippled and person the eighth-best offence with 118 points per game.

Toronto is besides allowing a league-worst 124.7 points per game, but has mislaid 5 of its past six games by six oregon less points.

Their suffocating modulation defence has an NBA-best 19.5 turnover frequence percentage, but the Raptors are 3rd worst successful the league with their offence giving up 16.8 turnovers per game.

“We’ve conscionable got to proceed to play hard and fig it out,” swingman RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., told reporters, noting that the Raptors led aft 3 quarters successful their 122-107 nonaccomplishment successful Sacramento connected Wednesday and led by arsenic overmuch arsenic 15 successful a 121-119 nonaccomplishment successful Denver connected Monday.

“We’re doing the close things, we’ve conscionable got to larn however to prolong those implicit the people of 48 minutes. When you person a caller team, a batch of young guys, it’s a learning process for each of us.”

Toronto has had to thin heavy connected its rookies oregon second-year players with all-star guardant Scottie Barnes (broken orbital) and constituent defender Immanuel Quickley (right pelvic contusion) out. Veteran reserves Kelly Olynyk (lumbar strain) of Kamloops, B.C., and Bruce Brown (arthroscopic genu surgery) person besides been unavailable.

“The guys that are playing are getting utilized to playing with each different and that mode we tin deed the crushed moving erstwhile we get Scottie and Quick and everyone back,” sophomore swingman Gradey Dick told reporters aft the nonaccomplishment successful Denver. “(Head manager Darko Rajakovic) came successful and talked astir however he’s not large connected motivation victories truthful I deliberation we instrumentality that mentality that going into this with we can’t conscionable beryllium blessed that we made it close.

“But with the squad that we person we request to cognize that we’re playing bully but yet we request to cognize however to decorativeness retired games.”

Drilling down into the Raptors’ numbers paints a analyzable representation of who they are this season.

Toronto is 4th successful the NBA successful violative rebounds with 13.8 per game, but is 17th successful wide boards with an mean of 44.2.

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Perhaps astir confusing is however often Toronto gets referees to stroke the whistle.

The Raptors are averaging 26.2 fouls per crippled — 2nd worst successful the league — but are tied with the Washington Wizards for 10th astir drawn astatine 20.8.

That 2nd fig would marque much consciousness if Toronto’s forwards were struggling, but they’re not. The Raptors are scoring 60 points successful the overgarment per game, 2nd astir successful the NBA.

A squad that’s doing truthful overmuch astir the rim — some scoring and grabbing violative rebounds — should beryllium capable to gully much fouls, but they haven’t been capable to get the payment of calls truthful acold this season.

“It’s each nighttime we’re fouling a lot,” Barrett told reporters successful Sacramento aft Toronto had 15 escaped propulsion attempts to the Kings’ 32. “We conscionable person to effort to fig that out, fig retired however to play defence without fouling.

“Then connected the violative extremity conscionable going to the overgarment beardown and making the close plays.”

The Raptors proceed their west-coast plaything with a Los Angeles back-to-back, facing the Clippers connected Saturday and the Lakers connected Sunday.

This study by The Canadian Press was archetypal published Nov. 7, 2024.