Toronto Raptors Slipping at the Wrong Time and Tuesday NBA Takeaways
The Toronto Raptors sure picked a bad time for their quasi-downward spiral.
On the heels of Tuesday night's 108-106 letdown to the San Antonio Spurs' B-team, the Raptors now own the league's longest active losing streak with four games.
And they're running short on excuses for why we shouldn't dust off the ol' panic button.
Playing without DeMar DeRozan on Tuesday night doesn't qualify as a reasonable caveat when the Spurs were powering through without Pau Gasol, Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker and Jonathon Simmons.
Kyle Lowry did his darnedest despite shooting 9-of-23 from the floor, including 1-of-7 on three-pointers. He piled on 30 points thanks to his unyielding drives and was only caught off-guard by Spurs rookie Dejounte Murray on a handful of possessions.
Second-year sensation Norman Powell did that thing where he plays a bunch of minutes (39), scores a lot of points (16), posts an efficient shooting clip (8-of-16), dunks on fools, battles on defense and makes you wonder why he isn't playing more.
With DeMarre Carroll (0-of-6 shooting) and Jonas Valanciunas (getting lost on defense) struggling, Toronto's bench keyed the near-comeback. Terrence Ross pumped in 21 points on a 6-of-10 magazine, and Cory Joseph was his usual scrappy self, pitching in 10 points, judicious playmaking and some strong defensive stands.
Meanwhile, in his second game since clearing the Association's concussion protocol, Lucas Nogueira continued to stake his claim as an upgrade over the departed Bismack Biyombo, as CBS Sports' James Herbert noted:
Dropping this contest isn't the Raptors' biggest problem. Some of their recent losses don't incite much anxiety, either. They fell to the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 28, a full-strength Spurs squad on Jan. 3 and the Houston Rockets on Jan. 8.
The Raptors then followed up those losses with a four-game winning streak. Even now, they remain 11 games over .500, firmly fastened to the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed.
And yet, they're hardly second-place locks anymore.
This meeting with the Spurs was one they should have won—one the Raptors, quite frankly, needed to win, per CBSSports.com's Chris Towers:
Every game matters when the playoff picture is that clumped together and you haven't truly separated yourself from the pack. The Raptors are 1-8 against the league's four best teams (Cleveland, Golden State, Houston, San Antonio) and have only played the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards a total of five times (4-1 record).
Another five matchups with their closest Eastern Conference foes are on the horizon. And over their last 15 games, the Raptors don't look like a team ready to run the show going on outside Cleveland:
| First 30 Games | 22-8 | 114.3 (1) | 53.2 (4) | 104.1 (13) | 10.1 (2) |
| Last 15 Games | 6-9 | 108.1 (12) | 49.5 (27) | 109.2 (20) | -1.1 (17) |
Switching up the starting lineup regularly isn't helping matters. Head coach Dwane Casey has deployed six different opening combinations during this stretch as he navigates rest days and injuries and tries to find the right frontcourt partnership.
But the Raptors are coming up short on some of the most fundamental levels. The offense, in particular, seems strained. Though the Raptors aren't known for generating wide-open looks, they make the most of their bunnies. This 15-game span has seen them post a bottom-three clip on their uncontested attempts.
We have every reason to believe Toronto will figure out the offense. Look no further than DeRozan and Lowry.
These protracted stays in the doldrums are nevertheless unnerving. It's not like the Raptors are resting their own every night or monitoring court time; Lowry is clearing 37 minutes per game as they rack up the losses.
This is all made worse by the Cavaliers slogging through their own struggles. They have lost five of seven, and LeBron James is calling for roster changes, per the Akron Beacon Journal's Jason Lloyd. This should be a time—even if a temporary one—when we wonder whether Toronto can erase the three-game chasm that separates them.
Instead, the Raptors are trying to tread water, and failing, as those behind them gradually gain ground. And while this recent slide shouldn't define their season or necessarily cost them the No. 2 seed, it's becoming increasingly harder to anoint them anything more than just another Eastern Conference steppingstone.
R.I.P. Celtics
The Wizards set themselves up to become punchlines by showing up to their game against the Boston Celtics dressed in all black.
I mean, didn't they see what (almost) happened to the 2012-13 New York Knicks when they planned an impromptu funeral?
Disaster was averted in the form of a 123-108 victory that saw Washington set the tone with a 33-point first quarter and only look back maybe twice.
The biggest takeaway: John Wall is good. He entered fringe triple-double territory with his 27-point, seven-rebound, seven-assist performance and proved to be mostly unstoppable.
Roughly 10 Celtics players collapsed on every Wall drive (don't worry, the math checks out), at which point he would remind us he has fantastic peripheral vision, per the Step Back's Jared Dubin:
Or he would spin-dance around the traffic jams:
Snub that from the Eastern Conference's All-Star Game starting lineup.
The second-biggest takeaway: Holy moly, Bradley Beal. He went bonkers in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 of his 31 points. He committed five turnovers and fell in love with some unnecessary long twos (he made), but the dude was smooth all night:
Except after the final buzzer. Then things got weird:
Washington is now 19-8 over its last 27 games and hasn't lost at home since the dawn of time, as the Washington Post's Tim Bontemps marveled at:
The Wizards also have a top-six offensive rating and top-12 defensive rating during this stretch—which, for the record, has spanned more than half the season. Keep an eye on them, particularly if you're a Raptors fan.
They might have something more to say about the East's race for home-court advantage before the season wraps.
#FreeMarioHezonja
So, in case you were wondering, the Orlando Magic are still weird and gross.
They fielded a starting lineup of Elfrid Payton, Aaron Gordon, Jeff Green, Serge Ibaka and Nikola Vucevic in their 100-92 loss to the Chicago Bulls. That means what you think it means: Gordon was announced as a guard.
Quite shockingly, Magic head coach Frank Vogel didn't resign on the spot, as BBallBreakdown's Shane Young (rightfully) suggested:
"If I were a coach & had to start Elfrid Payton, Jeff Green, and Aaron Gordon in the same lineup, I would just walk to the bus at halftime
— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) January 25, 2017"
More surprising than that, Orlando's cluster clump of a starting five was a plus-one in 21 minutes. That group also committed nine turnovers, shot 14-of-38 from the field (36.8 percent) and was aesthetically sickening, but hey! Silver linings and stuff.
For the hardcores out there, I'm sorry to report C.J. Watson is still getting spin over Mario Hezonja. Clearly, the Magic need to make some moves.
"We're going to be active in our discussions and in the opportunities we seek out," general manager Rob Hennigan told the Orlando Sentinel's Josh Robbins of the team's trade-deadline approach. "So we're going to look to be active. I'm not sure it's a 'necessity,' but it's certainly something that's in our best interests to explore."
Um, sorry, Rob. Blowing this roster straight to kingdom come should absolutely, 100 percent, without a question, be your top priority over the next few weeks.
Oh, right. The Bulls. Yeah, they won a game in which they started Jerian Grant and stuffed Michael Carter-Williams behind Rajon Rondo in the rotation—much to the former's surprise, per the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson:
Fear not, Chicago. This is fine.
OK, actually, it's not fine. But the Bulls are back to .500 and have a good chance of avoiding the Cavaliers in the first round, so let's pretend it's cool.
Break Up The Sixers!
The Philadelphia 76ers winning games with Joel Embiid is one thing. Their beating a Los Angeles Clippers outfit that welcomed back Blake Griffin without Embiid has to be an alternative fact (not sorry).
It's not.
Philly's supposedly league-worst offense hung 62 points on Los Angeles in the second half to walk away with a 121-110 victory. Richaun Holmes and Nerlens Noel were the heroes, just like we all predicted for totally obvious reasons that Sixers head coach Brett Brown pointed out:
You ain't kidding, Brett.
Noel detonated for 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and three blocks in under 30 minutes. Holmes went for 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and one very ridiculous stuff on Blake Griffin:
Now for the realest talk: The Sixers are less than six games back of the East's No. 8 seed, with Embiid expected to rejoin the lineup Friday, according to The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski. Consider this a warning for the rest of the conference's fringe-playoff hopefuls.
Andrew Wiggins All Over
Here's the Minnesota Timberwolves' 112-111 victory over the Phoenix Suns summed up in one highlight:
Andrew Wiggins' game-winner was merely an extension of his entire game. He dropped 31 points on 11-of-22 shooting to go along with three assists and a tidy two turnovers.
Nights like this are why we go back and forth on the 21-year-old. On the one hand, he can be a highly inefficient gunner who doesn't pass enough or grasp the most primitive defensive constructs.
On the other hand, oh my god look at him score and how pretty he sometimes looks when he scores!
Uh-Oh, Utah
Just when we're ready to crown the Utah Jazz genuine dark-horse contenders, they go and lose two consecutive games against beatable opponents.
The latest uh-oh is Tuesday night's 103-93 loss at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. Sure, it was the Jazz's second game in as many nights. And yes, George Hill is allowed to have a pair of off outings when he's played like a superhero for a majority of the season.
But Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey still has some questions for Jazz head coach Quin Snyder:
Salt City Hoops' Dan Clayton also filled out some comment cards:
Fortunately for the Jazz, the juggernaut Sixers upended the Clippers, so they remain within sniffing distance of fourth place in the Western Conference. It's also totally acceptable to crumble against the Nuggets this side of Nikola Jokic re-entering the starting lineup.
Still, Utah needs to get its rotation in order down the stretch of close games—if only so we're not playing armchair head coach after every loss.
Tuesday's Final Scores
- Washington Wizards 123, Boston Celtics 108
- Chicago Bulls 100, Orlando Magic 92
- Philadelphia 76ers 121, Los Angeles Clippers 110
- San Antonio Spurs 108, Toronto Raptors 106
- Denver Nuggets 103, Utah Jazz 93
- Minnesota Timberwolves 112, Phoenix Suns 111
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @danfavale.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com or NBA.com and accurate leading into games on Jan. 25.
