John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Toronto's Size Flummoxes Trae Young as Fred VanVleet-less Raptors Blow Out Atlanta
As Fred VanVleet's body broke down last season, the Toronto Raptors guard felt he had no choice but to keep fighting. The bumps and bruises had built up but he knew his team couldn't afford to take it easy on him.
At times, it was too much. He couldn't keep up with the league's quickest guards as his ailing back transformed him from an All-Defense-caliber player to a turnstile at times. Trae Young, in particular, lit him up one late February night after the All-Star break, dropping 41 points on the Raptors, 24 with VanVleet as his primary defender.
This time around, when VanVleet's lower back began flaring up over the weekend, Toronto thought better of letting him out there against Young, Dejounte Murray, and the new-look Atlanta Hawks. No, the Raptors hadn't added some stout defensive guard off the bench to backup VanVleet, but maybe their size could slow a couple of the league's most dynamic guards?
A 139-109 victory over the Hawks showed this year's Raptors have a plan for guards like Young. This time, without an ailing VanVleet, Young mustered just 14 points on 3-for-13 shooting with a career-high 10 turnovers.
Toronto confounded Young with multiple bodies and some hardcore face-guarding from Scottie Barnes who stepped into the point guard role for the Raptors. At one point in the first quarter, Young shook loose of Barnes only to find the 6-foot-9 Precious Achiuwa lurking on the other side of the switch. When Young tried to move the ball, Barnes picked it off, leading the charge the other way before finding Achiuwa with a no-look pass for a transition dunk.
"When we did have to switch, it was someone pretty long on him as well. And again, I just thought we challenged especially when he was running around looking for someone to pass to," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "We made a lot of his passes difficult."
It was the story of the night for Young who never seemed to find enough room to get his shot off and was forced to move the ball, often into troublesome spots. His 10 turnovers led directly to 12 of Toronto's 24 points off turnovers and allowed the Raptors to find a groove running the fastbreak.
On the other end, the Raptors' size allowed them to pound the paint. They took it inside with Pascal Siakam who set the tone in the third quarter by getting to the line over and over again. When Toronto found itself in the bonus midway through the frame, Atlanta was in trouble. A 13-0 run allowed the Raptors to open up a 17-point lead in the frame and climb up by 20 early in the fourth.
The Hawks, meanwhile, never could slow Siakam who got to the line 16 times, racking up 31 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists before checking out midway through the fourth.
Scottie Heats Up from 3
Barnes' start to the season hadn't necessarily been disappointing, but the 21-year-old wasn't playing to his strengths, Nurse thought. He'd fallen too in love with his shooting game and wasn't using his size and strength to get into the paint.
"I’ve already had some discussions with him about it," Nurse said pre-game. "My sense is he’s not taking it down there and using his physical size and strength to punish people at the rim."
That, of course, prompted a Steph Curry-like performance from Barnes who toyed with De'Andre Hunter on the perimeter, hitting a step-back three-pointer midway through the first quarter. He followed it up on the very next possession with another three when Gary Trent Jr. found him with a kick-out pass and then nailed his third straight three, a pull-up again over Hunter.
He tied his career-high with a pull-up three late in the second quarter to create a 2-for-1 opportunity the Raptors couldn't convert. Then he set a new career-high, putting the final nail in the Hawks' coffin with his fifth three-pointer, ending the night with 21 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.
"He's worked and made some mechanical adjustments and worked pretty hard on ‘em. I think that's for certain," Nurse said post-game. "It just transfers to confidence, right? It's always mechanics and then can you execute those mechanics in the game, and do you have the confidence to pull the trigger? So, won’t get carried away here on one big shooting night, but still, I think the willingness to step into them and take them is what I like more than anything."
O.G. Burglarises Hawks
If O.G. Anunoby can stay healthy this season he'll be a shoo-in for an All-Defense team. He's been nothing less than brilliant to start this year and Monday was no different. It's one thing when he's picking off errant passes, but he twice pickpocketed Murray and stripped Hunter, single-handedly shaking down his man for six steals to go with 14 points and six rebounds.
Up Next: San Antonio Spurs
After a gauntlet of Eastern Conference presumed playoff teams to start the year, Toronto will open a slightly easier stretch on Wednesday when they head south to take on the San Antonio Spurs at 8 p.m. ET.
