Toronto Raptors and the ‘mental blows’ of the NBA’s regular season
Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey had a lot of questions to answer following a 102-94 loss to the Orlando Magic last Friday at the Amway Center.
The Raptors fell out of the pole position as the second-best team in the Eastern Conference and tumbled all the way down to fourth with the loss. The Boston Celtics had defeated them earlier in the week, as the Raptors had lost eight of their past 11 games following their showdown with the Magic.
DeMar DeRozan had missed seven of eight games and struggled with an ankle injury. The Raptors were in something of a tailspin, one that is not befitting a team fighting to carve out a spot as an Eastern Conference contender. Now the team was in a fight. And that loss Friday against the Magic served as a flash point.
Read More: DeMar DeRozan doesn’t need 3-pointers to dominate pick-and-rolls
“Everybody is frustrated,” Norman Powell said after the game. “We are trying to get a win. We are out there working and leaving it all out on the floor and the ball is not bouncing our way right now. Everybody is frustrated right now. We want to win. Everybody hates losing. Nobody is happy or content losing here.”
The Raptors all of a sudden find themselves in the midst of a big playoff fight with the Celtics and the surging Washington Wizards. For the Raptors to come out on top — as they expect to do — it might take a deep breath.
Heading into Friday’s game, Casey made the decision to play rookie Fred Van Vleet over veteran Cory Joseph. When asked about it after the game, he claimed Joseph needed a “mental blow.” He had been struggling and just needed some time to reset, giving a young player a chance to play. Joseph returned to the rotation Monday in the Raptors’ win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
That mental break for DeRozan, coming from the injury, seems to have worked, too. His return on Monday seemed to spark the team to the big win over the struggling Clippers. And it now seems the Raptors are back on track.
“These last two-three weeks has been that time of year for everybody,” Casey said. “We’re all professionals. The one thing we have to concentrate on is basketball. Again it’s trite, but I thought our guys competed except in the third quarter [against the Magic, where they scored only 12 points]. I think we lost a little gas when we saw [Patrick Patterson] wasn’t going. But that’s the NBA. I think it will help Cory in the long run and will help us develop Fred. We just have to regroup, get everybody healthy, get everybody back on the same page and go from there.”
An 82 game schedule is long. Every team will go through its rough spots, even the Golden State Warriors. It is extremely difficult to make it through the season without some turmoil or a rough spot. The good teams limit the damage of those areas of poor play or win despite their own poor play.
The Raptors are an interesting test case in themselves. They have experienced tons of regular season success but struggled in the playoffs. Despite making the Eastern Conference Finals last year, much of the narrative was about how DeRozan and Kyle Lowry struggled to maintain their efficiency and it seemed to leave them ripe for the picking to falter some.
This losing stretch has seen the Raptors falter. They have the second most efficient offense in the league this year, but have a middling defense. Last year, it was a similar formula. But the Raptors are a bit more of a known quantity. DeRozan has come down from that crazy start to the season and his ankle injury has slowed him down of late. During this losing stretch, the Raptors have posted a 103.3 offensive rating — one of the worst in the league since Jan. 18. It’s also far below their season average of 111.4 points per 100 possessions.
The Raptors offense is good overall, but can have its poor moments. And the loss Friday was an example of that as Lowry went 5-for-20 from the floor and missed his first seven 3-pointers in the game. Lowry picked it back up by scoring 24 points on 5-of-8 from 3-point range in Monday’s win over the Clippers. DeRozan was also back and looking healthy en route to 31 points.
The Raptors seem to be coming through this lull. Whatever mental break they needed, they seemed to have gotten, especially now with DeRozan back and injecting some energy. The damage is somewhat done, though. Toronto is in a fight to get home court in the second round and keep themselves as the second-best team in the Eastern Conference.
Next: Checking in on NBA's outliers
It appears though they have come through this lull a bit more refreshed and ready for the home stretch to the season.