Kyle Lowry Says Raptors 'Have No Swagger to Us' amid 1-5 Start to Season

Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry bemoaned his team's lack of swagger following a 126-114 loss to the Boston Celtics on Monday.

After the defeat dropped the 2018-19 NBA champions to 1-5, Lowry told reporters: "We just need to get a little bit grittier, get a little bit tougher and a little bit nastier, and have a little bit of a swagger to us. Right now, we have no swagger to us. We have nothing. There's nothing to us. Teams are looking at us like, 'All right, let's go eat' ... That's not a good feeling."

Toronto is in last place in the Atlantic Division and in second-to-last place in the Eastern Conference, ahead of only the 1-6 Detroit Pistons.

On Monday, the Raptors seized a 17-5 lead against a Celtics team that was without guards Marcus Smart (thumb) and Kemba Walker (knee). Despite that, Toronto allowed Boston to roar back in the second quarter, as the Celtics outscored the Raptors 38-14 in that frame.

Per ESPN's Tim Bontemps, the Raptors have blown double-digit leads in each of their five losses, which is uncharacteristic of a Nick Nurse-coached team.

Last season, the Raptors went 48-4 when they held a double-digit lead and went on to finish second in the Eastern Conference at 53-19 despite Kawhi Leonard's departure in free agency.

On Monday, the Raptors squandered a great performance from guard Fred VanVleet, who finished with 35 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

VanVleet has been the star for Toronto this season, and Lowry has been productive as well with 18.7 points and 7.7 assists per game, but many of the Raptors' other top players are off to slow starts.

Pascal Siakam is shooting just 40.7 percent from the field, Norman Powell is averaging only 8.5 points per game and Aron Baynes hasn't played well as the replacement for free-agent departures Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol.

The Raptors have played under difficult circumstances this season, with their home games occurring in Tampa, Florida, because of COVID-19 restrictions in Canada.

While that is far from ideal, MLB's Toronto Blue Jays overcame a similar situation by making the playoffs despite playing their home games in Buffalo, New York, during the 2020 campaign.

The 2020-21 NBA season is still in its infancy, and the Raptors likely have too much talent to stay in the Eastern Conference basement for long.

Toronto may be getting just what the doctor ordered in the form of a West Coast road trip this week into next, as it will face the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday followed by road tilts with the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers.