The trade deadline may save Toronto Raptors’ season
The Toronto Raptors trailed by 17 points in the first half of Monday’s game against the New York Knicks. The team looked a bit lost, unable to track down the Knicks and their energetic bunch while struggling to get their offense going. DeMar DeRozan carries a heavy burden these days with Kyle Lowry out and the team is still integrating two key players acquired at the trade deadline.
The idea for the Raptors in acquiring Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker was to bolster a defense that had slipped considerably this year. Raptors coach Dwane Casey arrived in Toronto and created a strong defense to transform the Raptors into contenders. This year was the outlier. Before the All-Star Break, the Raptors were 16th in the league in defensive efficiency at 106.0 points allowed per 100 possessions.
If something was going to hold Toronto back from competing for a title or being whispered among the contenders, it was going to be their defense. The Raptors positioned themselves at the trade deadline to improve this. Serge Ibaka may not be the defensive force he used to be, but he is still a solid rim protector able to take his game up a notch in the playoffs. P.J. Tucker is quietly one of the best defensive players in the league. Toronto specifically acquired him because of his abilities to defend LeBron James.
Read More: Willie Cauley-Stein, Jahlil Okafor, and the benefit of opportunity
Toronto did what any team that thinks it is a contender and has the means to make moves at the deadline would do — they shored up their weaknesses. With their offense fourth in the league by offensive efficiency entering the break, the Raptors were not worried about scoring the ball. Their team looked complete after the trade deadline.
Kyle Lowry’s absence was the only thing that could derail things. So much of what the Raptors do is centered on Lowry and DeRozan’s offensive brilliance. The two seem unconventional for today’s NBA but they work well together and they have carved a path in the Eastern Conference.
Now the Raptors have to forge their way forward without one of those players. Lowry had wrist surgery and is hoping to return for the playoffs. DeRozan will carry a heavy burden but Toronto’s focus on the defensive end may be what can get them through Lowry’s absence.
New York scored just 38 points in the second half Monday. The Knicks’ 17-point lead disappeared as DeRozan went on his scoring tear — 37 points including the game-winning basket with one second left. Toronto buckled down defensively, stifling the Knicks and choking off Carmelo Anthony’s support (Kristaps Porzingis was out and Courtney Lee took the mantle as the secondary scorer). In a case of small sample size theater, the Raptors have a 104.5 defensive efficiency mark in three wins since the All-Star Break. That includes a win over the Boston Celtics and would be a mark good enough for 12th in the league across the entire season.
Take those rankings with incredible grains of salt. It is only three games since the All-Star Break, an incredibly small sample size. But things are trending up for the Raptors defensively. This is exactly what Toronto wanted to see with the acquisitions they made at the trade deadline. Toronto probably will not be able to win games in the 90s consistently. Toronto will need to rely on Serge Ibaka more offensively to help DeMar DeRozan. And DeRozan may have to continue scoring at a torrid pace to keep Toronto alive.
Defense, even in this season where offense is at historic peaks, can still win games. The Raptors doubled down on that to boost their roster. Now it may very well be their saving grace. They have the talent with Ibaka, Tucker, DeRozan and even Valanciunas in the right matchups to defend at a high level. They will just have to come together quickly to get there.
The Raptors are still experimenting with their lineups. They finished against the smallish Knicks with Serge Ibaka at center and Jonas Valanciunas on the bench, a group Casey has turned to a few times already.
Next: JaMychal Green is the new face of Grit-and-Grind
But Toronto can keep their ship steady by focusing on the need the team addressed at the trade deadline. Without the moves Masai Ujiri made last week at the trade deadline, the Raptors likely would not be able to survive.
And perhaps the Raptors will be better off in the long run for it when Lowry returns.