Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Bench Troubles Continue for Raptors Against Nuggets
The Toronto Raptors are where they are this season largely because of their bench.
That can be looked at in one of two ways. On one hand, Thursday's loss 121-111 to the Denver Nuggets dropped Toronto to 26-37 this season and the bench's lackluster performance this year can be blamed for at least some of their dismal record. On the other hand, things could be a lot worse for the Raptors — or better if you care about lottery odds — if not for that bench. After struggling for the better part of the year, Toronto's bench suddenly came alive in mid-April to spur the Raptors on a four-game winning streak and keep their faint playoff hopes alive.
While the starters on Thursday looked phenomenal, with each of them scoring in double figures, the bench looked — without Gary Trent Jr. — couldn't get anything going.
Through three quarters the Raptors' bench was outscored 25-9. Only Yuta Watanabe and DeAndre' Bembry seemed to get anything done, and even that wasn't much. Had it been earlier in the season and not in Denver's altitude maybe Toronto couldn't have gone with its starters a little bit longer, but Raptors coach Nick Nurse turned to a Flynn plus bench unit to start the fourth and it did not go well at all. The Nuggets went on a 15-0 run and that just about ended the night.
"They didn’t come close," Nurse said. "It was the start of an at-least 9-0 run, turned the tide of the game, got them feeling pretty good, and they didn’t stop from there. Yep. It was not a good lineup. They didn’t get any stops and they didn’t get any scores.”
If not for that strange blip earlier in the month another disappointing bench performance wouldn't be surprising, but that group really did keep Toronto afloat for a few games when the starters were resting. Watanabe, Bembry, and Freddie Gillespie all held their own during that stretch.
"Back in those games some of those guys they're just playing free and easy, they didn't really have anybody else to put in," Nurse said. "That does free you up from some pressure, I think. And that's probably the only way I can explain it."
Anyways, back to purgatory for the Raptors.
On the positive side of things, Anunoby's first-half offence was spectacular. Even as he defended Nikola Jokic, the 23-year-old Raptors forward scored 19 points before halftime while continuing to look for his own shot and mixing in some impressive playmaking.
"What do they say, the ceiling is the roof? No, OG has got a chance to be special," Lowry said. "He's worked extremely hard to get where he's at, and all he's going to do is continue to get better"
Birch was equally impressive, recording a career-high 20 points while making an impact as a shot disrupter and rebounder. His long-term future probably isn't as the Raptors' starting centre, but if Toronto can't make a big splash this offseason re-signing Birch as a fill-in starting centre should work OK for the time being.
With the loss, the Raptors will fall 2.5 games back of the Washington Wizards for the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference and the final spot in the play-in tournament. It'll also mean the Raptors will finish below .500 for the first time since 2012-13.
"It is what it is. Nothing you can do about it now," Lowry said. "We've had a great stretch of basketball since I've been here. I guess this would be my second time in nine years having a below .500 record. I wish it never happened, but at this point, in this stage, we can't do anything about it. It's unfortunate, this year, having Covid and all that stuff. It's been different."
Up Next: Utah Jazz
The Raptors will continue their West Coast road trip on Saturday night against the Utah Jazz at 10 p.m. ET.
