Raptors Stay Perfect this Preseason as Offense Continues to Take Big Steps Forward
Last season, the Toronto Raptors players took nearly a third of their shots after at least three dribbles. The offense was about one-on-one creators, dribbling into mismatches, hoping to overpower their opponents.
It didn’t work.
On shot attempts following three to six dribbles, Toronto had the worst effective field goal percentage in the league. On shots following at least seven dribbles, Toronto’s eFG% was 44.8%, fourth worst in the NBA.
So far this preseason, Toronto’s offense has looked totally different. Look no further than Thursday's 106-102 victory over the Chicago Bulls. There are now entire possessions with fewer than three dribbles in total once the offense is set up. From the moment the ball crosses half court and players start whizzing around, the ball might not hit the floor more than once or twice, sometimes only bounce passes hit the floor.
The biggest change has come from Gary Trent Jr., Toronto’s microwave-scoring sixth man who, let’s just say, hasn’t been known to pass the ball much in his NBA career. That, however, wasn’t the case against Chicago.
Trent looked point guard-esque at times, working the two-man game with Scottie Barnes and Chris Boucher on the wings before threading perfect passes to the two forwards in the first half. He found Barnes with a bounce pass right under the hoop for an easy layup and hooked up with Pascal Siakam in transition, finding his All-Star teammate for an alley-oop slam.
Even with the offense humming from two-point range thanks to improved ball movement, Toronto’s lack of three-point shooting reared its head against the Bulls once again. Aside from Trent, who had 11 points before the break, the Raptors’ top 10 rotation players shot just 1-for-12 from three-point range in the first half.
While the benefits of that extra ball movement were certainly apparent, the downside of asking players to step outside their comfort zone was clear too. Toronto had seven turnovers in the third quarter alone, allowing the Bulls to rack up points off turnovers and pull ahead early in the fourth.
Without Precious Achiuwa and Jakob Poeltl, Toronto’s defense struggled against Chicago who racked up 56 points in the paint. With Christian Koloko continuing to deal with a respiratory issue, the Raptors are getting awfully thin at the center spot. It’s not as bad as it was a few years ago, but Poeltl’s importance to this team is only going to grow as the games get more important.
Eventually, Barnes and Siakam just took over for Toronto. Barnes nailed a pair of top-of-the-arc threes to open the fourth and the two forwards single-handedly spurred the Raptors onto a 17-4 run that put Toronto up eight and prompted the Raptors to empty out the bench with seven minutes to go in the game.
Barnes and Siakam led Toronto with 22 points each with Barnes adding six rebounds and three assists.
As for the rotation, Toronto's lineups appear to be pretty set. Malachi Flynn once again was among the first off the bench and appears poised to get rotation minutes as Toronto’s backup point guard. Gradey Dick’s spot seems a little more precarious, though he did nail a crucial three-pointer late in the fourth to recapture the lead for Toronto. It’s plausible the rookie wing starts the year out of the rotation once Achiuwa and Otto Porter Jr. are healthy.
Flynn and eventually Javon Freeman-Liberty iced the game at the free throw line for Toronto to keep their preseason record perfect.
Up Next: Washington Wizards
The Raptors will wrap up their preseason schedule against the Washington Wizards on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET at Scotiabank Arena.