Precious Achiuwa Continues to Impress as Raptors Cruise Past Rockets
Things might be bleak at times for the Toronto Raptors this season. After almost a decade as one of the NBA's impressive franchises, the team will take a step back this season as it looks to retool and enter another competitive window. There will be losses, plenty of losses, but, at the very least, it won't look as bad as the Houston Rockets did on Monday night.
Even a lackluster Raptors squad with Pascal Siakam, Chris Boucher, Goran Dragic all sidelined, with OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet only playing in the first half, and some combination of rookies and players on partially guaranteed deals playing the vast majority of the game took a beating to the Rockets. Toronto jumped ahead early and never trailing en route to a 107-92 victory at Scotiabank Arena.
We'll take a look at the end of the roster a little bit later, but in the meantime here are the big takeaways from Toronto's win.
Precious Stakes Claim to Starting Center Spot
Precious Achiuwa doesn't appear to be giving up his starting center spot anytime soon. Even with Khem Birch back from his bout with COVID-19, the 22-year-old big was tabbed with the start and showed exactly why Toronto was so eager to acquire him this summer. It's not just his ball-handling skills that have been well covered, the 6-foot-9, 225-pound center looks moves like a cat on the perimeter. He repeatedly locked down Kevin Porter Jr. who at one point tried every move in the book to shake Achiuwa only to settle for a long-range three-pointer that blanked off the backboard.
"That’s one of the skills that I have, quick feet, quickness, being able to slide laterally and not just vertically," Achiuwa said. "I use that to my advantage when I’m guarding smaller guys, to keep them in front of me and go side to side with them and cut off their move."
Ultimately, Nurse views his two bigs as pretty interchangeable. He plans to ride the hot hand on most nights with the two splitting the games pretty evenly.
"I wouldn't say it's 24 [minutes] and 24 [minutes] but I think that plus or minus three or four either way each night depending on who we're playing and what's going on,” Nurse said.
Gary Trent Jr. Shows Jekyll Hyde Act
We'll start with the good news. Gary Trent Jr.’s defense appears to be improving. The Raptors have really been working hard to get him more in sync with their defensive rotations and it seems to be working. He looked far more comfortable in the first half and even snatched three steals in the game. His offensive game, however, is still incredibly inconsistent and he continues taking very low percentage shots. At one point he pump faked out of a three-pointer, stepped just inside the arc, and drained a two-point shot. Even if it works sometimes, it’s not the kind of shot the Raptors offense is looking to generate.
He finished the game 3-for-8 with nine points.
OG Anunoby & Fred VanVleet Wrap Up Preseason
It was certainly a successful preseason for two of Toronto’s longest-tenured players. At a base level, neither of them got hurt which is always the primary concern in the preseason. On a far more exciting note, though, OG Anunoby continued to show how far his offensive arsenal has come since he first entered the league. He looked fluid taking pull-up threes earlier in the preseason and showed off his strength on Monday night bullying Rockets rookies Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun for easy buckets inside. He finished the night with 17 points on 5-for-10 shooting to go with four rebounds
"He does look really good and really confident out there, there's no doubt about it," Nurse said of Anunoby. "Every time he takes it I think he’s making it. Even the degree of difficulty sometimes he's really really worked hard at that part of this game and I think he'll continue to improve that."
Final Cuts Breakdown
Isaac Bonga seems to have the inside track to one of Toronto’s final two roster spots. He got early playing time Monday night and held his own for a brief stretch. Considering he’s just 21 years old if there’s any upside still untapped it’s worth it for the Raptors to keep him around.
"I think Isaac had a really impactful run, really did everything we wanted him to do, played hard and was a factor on the glass and the offensive rebounding," Nurse said. "From what we’ve seen, very, very coachable plays hard, makes very few mistakes, does a lot the little things. Probably be a good addition."
Sam Dekker got early playing time Monday but didn't make much of an impact. Ishmail Wainright nailed a pair of three-pointers, but his lack of playing time this preseason probably isn't a good sign for his final roster chances.
Malachi Flynn Slides Down Rotation Again
After jumping Dalano Banton in the rotation on Saturday night, Flynn slipped back down the rotation and didn’t play at all in the first half. Coming out of Saturday night’s game, Nurse had said he wasn’t too upset with Flynn’s 0-for-6 shooting and lack of interior penetration, but his actions might speak a little bit louder than his words. Flynn did look better on Monday, nailing three three-pointers, but until he can consistently show the kind of offensive aggression Nurse is looking for his playing time this season might be a little inconsistent.
Flynn finished with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting.
Drake Showed Up
I guess Drake can't be called a bandwagoner if he's showing up to Raptors preseason games.
Up Next: Washington Wizards
The Raptors will wrap up the preseason on Tuesday night with the second leg of their back to back against the Washington Wizards.
