Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports
Raptors Eclipse .500 with Winning Record Now in Sights Thanks to Blowout vs Hornets
This Toronto Raptors season might actually end on a high, at least statistically speaking.
Seven months ago it would have been crazy to think this Raptors team would spend so much of this season with a losing record. This was a team that had chemistry, cohesion, and young talent ready to take a step forward. It was, in theory, a team improving after a surprising fifth seed in the East last year.
Well, things didn't exactly go as planned.
Tuesday, though, put Toronto one game above .500 thanks to a 120-100 blowout victory over the tanking Charlotte Hornets ahead of what'll be an intriguing final three games against the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks who may or may not be trying down the stretch.
As for how things went against Charlotte, well, the Hornets haven't exactly posed much of a problem for Toronto this year, save for the first quarter Tuesday. The Raptors came out flat and couldn’t seem to get stops with any consistency as the Hornets jumped on them, leading by as many as nine thanks to 61% shooting for Charlotte and 38% shooting in the first frame for the Raptors.
Against a better team, that might have been problematic. If Toronto comes out flat in the play-in tournament the postseason could be short for the Raptors. Against the Hornets, though, it wasn’t an issue.
It was the bench that blew the game open for Toronto. Chris Boucher got things started with a pair of aggressive takes to the hoop including an and-1 on a layup from Jeff Dowtin Jr. Will Barton began heating up for the first time as a Raptors, connecting on four threes in the second quarter, and it wasn’t long before the Raptors found themselves up double digits.
Considering how lackluster Toronto’s bench has been this season, 19th in the league in terms of point differential and 30th in scoring, Tuesday was a positive sign, albeit against essentially the Hornets’ third stringers.
Dowtin wasn’t part of the run, but the 25-year-old was among the first off the bench for Toronto and hit the 50-game threshold for games played on a two-way contract. He likely won’t see many, if any playoff minutes this year, but the Raptors will presumably convert his contract to a standard deal Wednesday to ensure he’s available for postseason play.
The Hornets went on a run early in the third, again against the starters, but Boucher slammed the door shut, collecting a kick-out pass from O.G. Anunoby on a post-up to convert his fourth three-pointer of the night, en route to a 21-point performance.
Barton connected on another three to open the fourth quarter, his fifth of six threes on the night, topping his total in his previous 12 games with the Raptors. He finished the night with 20 points as Toronto’s second unit outscored Charlotte 55 to 19 on the night.
Save for the early concern, the only worries for Toronto came when Anunoby and Fred VanVleet appeared to go down and stay down briefly. Neither exited the game and Anunoby didn’t appear hampered by the ankle injury he suffered Sunday night.
Scottie Barnes was held scoreless in 29 minutes, shooting 0-for-7 from the field with three assists and three turnovers. The sophomore forward has looked pretty good lately, but Tuesday was definitely a step back for Barnes.
With the victory, Toronto moves ahead of the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth seed in the East for the time being. The Hawks still hold the tiebreaker and could jump ahead of the Raptors with a win Tuesday night.
Up Next: Boston Celtics
The Raptors will open a two-game set Wednesday night when they head to Boston to take on the Celtics at 7:30 p.m. ET.
