You’ve probably heard this before, so I’ll explain briefly. The Toronto Raptors had some very good moments against one of the better teams in the NBA, but they lost.
Toronto was only three points behind the Houston Rockets from the start of the fourth quarter, but the NBA was behind by 29 points.Day-The ranked fourth quarter offense scored just 16 points in the final period and ended up losing by double digits to Houston, 113-99.
The loss dropped the Raptors’ record against top 10 teams in the NBA (by winning percentage) to 4-18 and their eighth straight loss to a top 10 team. This does not bode well for a team hoping to make the playoffs.
The Raptors were playing without big men Jakob Poeltl (illness), Collin Murray-Boyle (thumb) and Trayce Jackson-Davis (finger), not an ideal situation considering the Rockets lead the NBA in offensive rebound percentage.
Things don’t get much easier as the Raptors head to New Orleans for a game Wednesday night. On paper, it looks like a winnable game, considering the Pelicans are just 21-45 this season and the Raptors are dominant against teams in the NBA’s bottom 10 (17-4). But the Pelicans don’t have any draft picks of their own this summer, so they don’t have to worry about winning games and hurting their draft position. They have been healthy all season and are 6-3 in their last nine games. They were relaxing at home while the Raptors arrived in New Orleans in the wee hours of the morning for Wednesday night’s game(!).
1. Same team, different game, same result: One of the lines former Raptors coach Nick Nurse always used was, ‘There are a million ways to win a basketball game.’ Or maybe you’ll lose one. The Rockets and Raptors last met on Oct. 30, when Toronto lost its home opener. Do you look back and wonder ‘how’? The Raptors made 21-of-40 threes (the most threes they’ve made all season and the only time this season they’ve made more than 35 on more than half of their attempts), had a 15-10 edge in turnovers and got a combined 60 points on 22-of-34 shooting (9-of-9 from 3) from Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram. But the Rockets won on the road with a 17-4 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 23-11 advantage in second-chance points.
Things weren’t quite as strange Tuesday night, though the Raptors held an 18-13 advantage in turnovers and an efficient 49 points from the combination of Barnes (24) and RJ Barrett (25). But beyond that, the Raptors’ loss covered a lot of familiar ground this time around. The Rockets have a 15-7 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 22-5 advantage in second chance points. Oh, and this time the Raptors went 9-of-9 from 3-point range.
2. Wilt, Kobe… now bread? Are the Raptors in trouble for being the team that gave up the second-highest scoring game in NBA history? That’s right. Considering Kobe Bryant’s stature in NBA history and his tragic death six years ago, the 81-point score on January 22, 2006 is unlikely to stop resonating with NBA fans. But from the Raptors’ perspective, this is only the third-highest scoring game in NBA history, at least as of now.
Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo rocked the basketball world Tuesday night when he hit 83 against the hapless Washington Wizards. Bryant’s performance was a masterpiece. He went 28-of-46 from the floor, 7-of-13 from 3 and 18-of-20 from the line, and helped the Lakers win after outscoring the Raptors 55-41 in the second half after being down by 14 at halftime. Adebayo’s performance was more workmanlike. The three-time All-NBA defensive back, who had a previous career high of 31, went 20-of-43 from the floor and 22-of-7 from 3, but went 36-of-43 from the free throw line (a new single-game record for both makes and attempts).
3. But more importantly… Adebayo’s big night gave the Heat their sixth straight win, improving their record to 37-29, while the Raptors fell to 36-28 in their loss to Houston. The Raptors remain in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a 2-0 record in their season series against the Heat and a slightly better winning percentage.
But more practically speaking, they are currently tied with first place Detroit by 10 games. The Heat and Raptors play a two-game set in Toronto in the final week of the regular season. But the way things are trending, that game may not be as important as expected.
The Raptors will need to build some momentum in the final 18 games of the season to avoid being passed over in the playoff race not only by the Heat, but also by Orlando (who are one game back with a fourth-straight sixth-place winner) and even Atlanta, which has now won seven straight and suddenly sits in ninth place, 2.5 games behind the Raptors (and the Heat). You’d think the eighth-place Philadelphia 76ers could get some sleep due to their injury issues (recent: All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey is out for three weeks with a finger injury), but they won on Tuesday and remain 1.5 games behind the Raptors.
4. Gradey Dick’s poor defense: There was a glimmer of hope not long ago in the Raptors’ win over Dallas, when the third-year wing scored 10 points in 13 minutes. This was an encouraging sign after Dick was rotated out of the rotation and saw minimal playing time through five games. However, that positive energy quickly disappeared in the first four minutes of the game against Houston. On one of the Rockets’ first possessions with Dick in the game in the first quarter, Amen Thompson drove, scored and was fouled by Dick before breaking the Rockets set and converting a three-point play to call Dick’s man for a pick-and-roll.
To start the second quarter, Dick switched to Alperen Sengun and offered little resistance when the Houston big man dropped a jump hook on him. And on a fast break after a Raptors turnover, Dick was pushed under the basketball by Sengun, who got the offensive rebound and kicked out to a Reed Sheppard 3. Dick was then taken away. It’s not entirely Dick’s fault that he was directly involved in a play that resulted in seven Rockets points in three minutes, but the reality is that the NBA is filled with bigger and/or faster players. To stay on the floor, a player in Dick’s situation would have to be much more competitive in all areas defensively or hit a lot of 3s. Ideally, it’s both.
Currently, Dick doesn’t excel in either area, making him difficult to play. It was Jamison Battle who took 9th place in the rotation in the second half. Dick got one more brief look in the third quarter and scored on a fast break after a Raptors steal, but overall he and the rest of Toronto’s bench were ineffective, and that became a pattern.
5. Kevin Durant… Still chasing LeBron. You’d think Kevin Durant, coming into Tuesday night’s game averaging 26.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and a 63.2 true shooting percentage, would be having the best season of any player over the age of 37 in NBA history. Well, not really. In 2021-22, James averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists on 61.9 true shooting in his age-37 season. However, James only played in 56 games that year, while Durant played in 61 games and continues to increase, so Durant gets the credit.
Okay, what if James averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 63.0 true shooting in 71 games during his age-39 season in 2023-24? Banana stuff. But Durant scored 29 points on 12-of-16 shooting against the Raptors, and the Raptors had no answer for him.
