Raptors Finding Success With Unusual Roster as Doc Rivers Praises Toronto's Ability to Find Mismatches

The Toronto Raptors have leaned into playing atypical basketball and it's paid off in these playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers

The Toronto Raptors had a hunch that if they pushed the limits of roster construction, regular season be darned, it would pay off in the playoffs.

It's a hunch that Raptors president and vice-chairman Masai Ujiri first realized in the 2020 NBA playoffs when the Boston Celtics played Toronto's two big men Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka off the court in their second-round series. He'd seen the success Toronto's like-sized small-ball lineup of Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Norman Powell, OG Anunoby, and Pascal Siakam had in limited minutes together thought he might be onto something.

Fast forward over the mistakes of the 2020 offseason when Toronto signed Aron Baynes and Alex Len, two traditional bigs Ujiri later admitted were bad decisions, and it's clear the organization has finally found a new direction.

"I feel strongly that we can create our own style of play and bring these types of players and figure out a way to do it," Ujiri said back in February. "Look, will it succeed? I prayed does. I'm hoping it does, and I think it will."

The regular season checked the first box, but, as Ujiri would acknowledge, success is truly determined in the playoffs.

Would it work when it counts? Would it work against possibly the most traditional team in the NBA with arguably the best and biggest center in the league? 

Well, so far the results have pointed in the right direction.

"I can’t totally discount Games 1 and 2. But again, we were out of sorts because of all the injuries that hit us at the last second and we couldn’t quite manage that in the moment," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said following Wednesday morning's practice. "But I feel really good about how we’ve played the last three games. So it’s looked pretty good." 

For better or for worse, the best example of Toronto's success with this new-era philosophy has come without Fred VanVleet, the Raptors' All-Star six-foot-tall point guard, second-best player, and the leader of the team. Once he exited the series with a hip injury, everything seemed to change. There was no longer an undersized relatively slow mismatch for the Philadelphia 76ers to pick on.

When Toronto has gone big against the 76ers, without VanVleet, Malachi Flynn, or anyone shorter than Gary Trent Jr., a 6-foot-5 wing, the Raptors are +15.2 per 100 possessions and holding the 76ers to just 98.8 points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass. Conversely, when VanVleet or Flynn have played in the series, Toronto is -14.8 per 100 possessions and is surrendering 126.8 points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass.

No game better illustrated that difference than Game 5 when the Raptors relentlessly exploited mismatches and left the 76ers with nobody to pick on at the other end. From Pascal Siakam to Precious Achiuwa, everyone took turns creating off the dribble, either by blowing past Joel Embiid when he was stretched outside of his comfort zone to the perimeter or by taking smaller defenders inside and bullying them in the paint.

"They knew exactly what they wanted. They knew who they wanted the ball. Then it got to the point that they didn't care who had the ball," 76ers coach Doc Rivers said following Game 5. "They started going to their five on the elbows. Every single guy, I felt like tonight, had an advantage taking us off the dribble. I know our weaknesses, I do know that, and so we need to figure out a way to get those weaknesses more help."

That's the beauty of what the Raptors are trying to build. It's not a problem if Toronto has five players on the court that all look like Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, as Raptors general manager Bobby Webster has said. Rather, it's the plan for Toronto to throw five players on the court who can dribble, shoot, pass, and defend one through five. Who, then, are you going to pick on in the playoffs when mismatches and weaknesses become so glaring?

"We have long, athletic guys. Skilled (guys), and we just try to take advantage of every mismatch that we had," Achiuwa said Monday. "Call out guys that we feel we should attack and we just put them in pick-and-roll situation and make them play. And we just take whatever we get off that."

That's what playoff basketball is all about. Every weakness is magnified. Just look at Matisse Thybulle, vaccination status aside, the 76ers' superstar defender was played off the court in Game 5 because of offensive deficiencies. The Raptors barely looked his way when the 76ers were on offense, creating a virtual 5-on-4 advantage when he was on the court.

"Honestly, playoffs are a different monster, to be honest with you," Chris Boucher said Wednesday. "You see the real scorers. You see the real mismatch. We see every mistake counts. So definitely when you have a mismatch, you want to use it.”

Five games and three good ones is far too small a sample size to draw any grand conclusions, but there's no doubt the Raptors are happy with the direction they're heading. Regardless of how this series turns out, Toronto knows it's onto something that could change the way rosters are built not just within the organization but throughout the NBA.

Further Reading

Joel Embiid explains how his injured thumb is impacting his performance

Raptors show strength in numbers with unconventional roster paying dividends in victory over 76ers

Joel Embiid complains about the officials, insinuating the refs intentionally favored the Raptors