Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Raptors Fall Flat Offensively With Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet Sidelined vs. Pacers
The Toronto Raptors aren't a particularly good offense on the best of days, but take away two All-Star caliber players and throw them in a back-to-back and things will get downright ugly.
Coming into Saturday night, Toronto had been outscored by 18 points in 80 non-garbage-time minutes this season without Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet on the court. While the defense hadn't necessarily been bad, Toronto's offense is virtually non-existent without its two best playmakers.
Nothing changed Saturday.
With VanVleet and Siakam both sidelined, Toronto's offense generated almost nothing in a 118-104 loss to the Indiana Pacers. When the Pacers went on their run in the second half, the Raptors simply couldn't respond, unable to create anything in the half-court as Gary Trent Jr. and Scottie Barnes fell flat when the Raptors needed them the most.
Bench Provides Spark
For the first time in a long time, Toronto's bench wasn't part of the problem Saturday night. After a dreadful start by the first unit, Chris Boucher checked in and changed the tempo of the game, getting to the rim repeatedly and cashing in from the free-throw line. Later, it was Dalano Banton who had his first impactful game of the season, scoring 14 points while connecting on a pair of three-pointers off the bench in a plus-four effort in 13 minutes played.
Considering the Raptors came into Saturday averaging 31 points off the bench, 10th worst in the NBA, and was playing without three rotation players, a 43-point effort from the second unit led by Boucher's 19 is nothing to scoff at.
Starters Struggles Continue
The starters, however, were a different story. O.G. Anunoby drained a pair of big-time shots early in the fourth quarter, leading Toronto with 26 points while Thad Young played solid throughout, scoring a season-high 15 points. But other than that, things weren't pretty.
Trent was 1-for-13 from the field and couldn't be trusted to see the court in crunch time as Toronto swapped him out for Boucher in the final minutes. Barnes too struggled from the field, shooting just 4-for-16 with some ill-advised defensive rotations that included leaving Canadian rookie Bennedict Mathurin wide open for a three-pointer, allowing the Pacers to pull within one midway through the fourth.
Offense Can't Keep Up
The Raptors actually recovered from their lackluster start to jump up 15 points in the second quarter. The problem, though, was the Pacers' three-point shooting. When the second half rolled around and Indiana got hot from behind the arc, Toronto had no answer.
The Pacers drained three straight threes to open the third quarter and then pulled ahead in the fourth as Buddy Heild and Tyrese Haliburton each nailed a pair of threes. The dagger came courtesy of Haliburton's 28-footer, a pull-up jumper right in Boucher's face from which Toronto never recovered.
Up Next: Detroit Pistons
The Raptors will have the night off to get healthy and hopefully get VanVleet back in the lineup for Monday's matchup against the Detroit Pistons at 7 p.m. ET
