Category: Toronto Raptors Blog

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Kyle Lowry hits game-winner for Raptors over Hornets

The Raptors aren’t off to a great start so far this season, but last night they beat the Hornets despite three Charlotte players putting up 20 or more points. Via the Toronto Star:

The Raptors knew they were going to get a ton of three-point attempts on Saturday night. The Charlotte Hornets play a lot of zone defence that creates those opportunities.

And it was a long two-pointer that was the biggest bucket of the night.

Kyle Lowry made a step-back 18-footer with just over 30 seconds to go for the game-winning basket, allowing the Raptors to post a 116-113 win over Charlotte, their second in three nights in Tampa.

Toronto stayed in the game with some of their best three-point shooting of the season. Despite droughts to start the game and open the second half, the Raptors made 21 on the night.

In the win, Chris Boucher came off the bench and put up 20 points, nine assists and two blocks on just seven field goal attempts. He’s been a standout so far this season and the story of the season for Toronto.

Raptors make change, start Alex Len at center

The Raptors aren’t off to a good start this season, so it’s no surprise that head coach Nick Nurse is making some rotation adjustments. And today, with the team on the road in Sacramento, Alex Len started at center against the Kings. Via the Toronto Sun:

Nurse didn’t make it official until he was obligated to by league rules, but taking Aron Baynes out of the starting five could not have come as a shock to many.

Baynes, outside of a few early games, has looked rather lost for the Raptors at either end of the floor. He was replaced last night by Alex Len.

When Baynes was performing earlier in the season, he was taking inside passes and converting them into points, but even that has dried up.

Defensively, he just doesn’t seem to be in step with everyone else, whether that’s protecting the rim on drives from the perimeter, or even rebounding the misses to get the Raptors back on offence.

The Raptors came away with a 144-123 victory tonight, but Len and Baynes played little part of it. Len played five minutes, Baynes none. But the team won thanks to big performances from Fred VanValeet, Norman Powell, Pascal Siakam, and Chris Boucher off the bench.

Kyle Lowry, Chris Paul played a part in resumption of NBA play

Some basketball players work together off the court even if they aren’t teammates on it. Here’s the Toronto Star on Raptors guard Kyle Lowry and Rockets guard Chris Paul:

Lowry and Paul, who renewed their on-court rivalry when the Raptors played the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night, were singled out by commissioner Adam Silver, along with Toronto’s Dwight Powell of the Dallas Mavericks, for their leadership in getting the league re-started last summer and again this fall.

They were the conduits between the league and the players association on everything to matters relating to the bubble life that ended last season and to health and safety protocols for this year.

“I’ve known Chris for a long time, me and him have been frenemies for a long time,” Lowry joked. “I was on the competition committee and we kind of just got a group together and I kind of felt like I could help just with my opinions as much as I possibly could.” …

Lowry was deeply involved in the scheduling process that got the league back after a short off-season for last year’s bubble teams and one that was months longer than usual for the eight teams whose 2019-20 season ended last March.

Jayson Tatum scores 40 in Celtics win over Raptors

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has much potential as any young star in the league. Here’s Boston.com on what he did to the Raptors yesterday:

The Boston Celtics put together an emphatic win over the Toronto Raptors on Monday, rolling over their Atlantic Division rivals in a 126-114 victory that was only close thanks to a garbage-time meltdown by the Celtics’ bench…

Jaylen Brown has been the Celtics’ star in the early going, but Tatum reminded everyone watching what he can do when he gets on track. Tatum has been dealing with an unprecedented amount of defensive attention — teams saw what he did last year and began blitzing and doubling him out of the pick-and-roll. That worked particularly well with multiple bigs in the game.

On Monday, however, the Celtics quickly went away from their starting double-big lineup which helped dig a 22-10 hole and never looked particularly effective as Toronto bombed away from 3-point range. As soon as Boston did, Tatum took over. He compiled 26 points in the first half, including 21 in the second quarter, en route to a 40-point night — just one point shy of his career-high.

Toronto Raptors start new NBA season 0-3

The Toronto Raptors are off to an 0-3 start. Which isn’t a huge deal, because three games don’t tell a full tale of what’s to come in an entire season. But there are some issues to watch. Here’s the Toronto Sun on star forward Pascal Siakam:

Siakam has had a weird start. He’s looked far more energetic and locked-in and appears to be having more fun than he did in the bubble, but he’s also been a bit error-prone, has been mad at the officiating and has completely faded the later into games he gets. Is it fatigue? Frustration? This wasn’t the Siakam we saw to start the 2019-20 campaign. That Siakam was a Top 10 MVP candidate after the first month or so…

Siakam is -39 in the second half of the first three games, +6 in the first two quarters, has not gotten to the free throw line once in the first or fourth quarter of any game and committed five fouls in the final seven minutes of Tuesday’s loss.

He also hasn’t been the all-world defender he has been the past few seasons (torched by Brandon Ingram, Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons).

Through three games, Kyle Lowry is averaging 19.3 points and 9.7 assists. Siakam is second in scoring at 18.7 PPG, 9.0 RPG and 4.7 APG, but he’s shooting just 39.3% FG. Guard Fred VanVleet’s shot has also been missing: he’s putting up 14.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 6.0 APG but on just 36.4% FG.

Again, it’s too early to care much about exact numbers. But for now, the Raptors aren’t hot out of the gates.

Toronto’s next game is tomorrow on the road against the Knicks.

Raptors begin season with three-point misses in loss to Pelicans

The NBA season began Tuesday, and on a busy league-wide Wednesday schedule the Raptors began their season with a 113-99 loss to the Pelicans. In the win, Brandon Ingram shined, putting up 24 points, nine rebounds, 11 assists and three steals, JJ Redick scored 23 off the bench while new addition Eric Bledsoe had 18 points and six assists. In the loss for the Raptors, Pascal Siakam had 20 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Kyle Lowry had 18 points and 10 assists. Via the Toronto Star:

Even in the three pretend games that preceded Wednesday night’s season-opening loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, the Raptors were settling for too many three-pointers and not getting to the basket — and the foul line — on a nearly equitable basis.

They hoisted 46 threes on Wednesday, making just 14; they took only 43 traditional two-point field-goal attempts, converting 24.

“We are just trying to go out there and play within the offence,” Raptors centre Aron Baynes said after the 113-99 defeat. “We are not looking just for threes, but we have set shots we are trying to get, and if the guys are open we have full confidence they are going to knock it down.”

That makes entire sense because the Raptors have shooters capable of much higher than a 30.4 per cent clip. Fred VanVleet going 2-for-8 from three, Norm Powell 1-for-6, OG Anunoby missing all five shots he took from behind the arc — that’s atypical shooting from that trio.

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Raptors sign OG Anunoby to contract extension

The Toronto Raptors yesterday signed forward OG Anunoby to a multi-year contract extension.

Per the Toronto Star, Anunoby’s extension is a four-year deal worth $72 million USD.

“OG is the epitome of the skilled, powerful, determined player we want in our organization long-term. Remember, he doesn’t shoot to miss,” general manager Bobby Webster said. “We’re really pleased that OG will be with us for seasons to come.”

Per the Toronto Star, “given the diminished 2021 NBA free agent class and Anunoby’s obvious value to the Raptors, the deal was a no-brainer for each side. The Raptors get a young player on a team-friendly deal, while Anunoby has the comfort of a lucrative contract and can exercise an out after the third year if things sour with Toronto.”

Anunoby, 6-foot-8, 232 pounds, averaged career highs of 10.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.4 steals and 29.9 minutes in 69 games (68 starts) last season. He shot career bests of .505 (286-566) from the field, .390 (89-228) from three-point range and .706 (72-102) at the free throw line. Anunoby had six 20-point outings and recorded five double-doubles.

More from the Star: “The one burning question most fans will have in light of the signing —how much money will the Raptors have to spend in free agency next summer — is impossible to answer with any certainty.”

In the 2020 postseason, Anunoby helped the Raptors reach the Eastern Conference Semifinals. In 11 games (all starts), he averaged 10.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 35.7 minutes.

Entering his fourth season, Anunoby owns career averages of 7.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 23.3 minutes in 210 games (136 starts). As a sophomore, he participated in the 2019 MTN DEW Rising Stars game during NBA All-Star weekend in Charlotte.

A native of London, England, Anunoby played two seasons at Indiana prior to being picked 23rd overall by the Raptors in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Raptors sign Paul Watson to standard contract, Yuta Watanabe to two-way contract

The Toronto Raptors announced Sunday they have signed forward Paul Watson to a standard NBA contract and forward Yuta Watanabe to a two-way player contract. Watson originally signed a two-way player contract with the club Jan. 15, 2020.

On Saturday, the Raptors waived forwards Oshae Brissett, Alize Johnson and Henry Ellenson.

Watson, 6-foot-6, 210 pounds, averaged 3.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 8.7 minutes in 10 games with Atlanta and Toronto last season. He set career highs with 22 points (8-13 FG, 4-6 3PT, 2-3 FT) and six rebounds in 27 minutes in the regular season finale Aug. 14 vs. Denver. Watson also appeared in 30 games with Raptors 905 in the NBA G League where he averaged 19.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 35.3 minutes. For his efforts Watson was named to All-NBA G League Midseason Eastern Conference Team.

Watanabe, 6-foot-9, 205 pounds, split last season between the Memphis Grizzlies and Memphis Hustle of the NBA G League. He averaged 2.0 points, 1.1 rebounds and 5.8 minutes in 18 games with the Grizzlies. In 22 appearances with the Hustle, Watanabe posted averages of 17.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 32.7 minutes.

A native of Japan, Watanabe owns career averages of 2.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 8.5 minutes in 33 games with Memphis where he has spent the last two seasons (2018-20) as a two-way player.

Toronto’s roster currently stands at 17 players with Jalen Harris and Watanabe as two-way players.

Raptors rookie Malachi Flynn worth keeping an eye on

After a very quick preseason which wraps up tomorrow, it’s obviously too early to have a particularly firm opinion on any NBA rookie right now. But the Raptors have a first-year guard worth watching in Malachi Flynn. Via the Toronto Star:

Flynn has had an impressive Raptors debut, furthering the franchise’s reputation of unearthing gems late in the draft. He was the 29th selection and hardly a household name to Raptors fans, yet he’s become something of a pre-season sensation.

The six-foot-one native of Tacoma, Wash., has been an effective scorer and solid defender, he’s been able to organize the team on offence — no easy task for a rookie that might tend to defer too much — and he has worked his way into coach Nick Nurse’s early rotation.

Flynn is not particularly flashy but he’s determined, like a young kid fighting older siblings for something and coming out on top.

The Raptors have stars in the backcourt, but Flynn has a great opportunity to earn limited yet meaningful bench minutes fairly quickly.

For now, Toronto Raptors will allow partial fan attendance at games

As the Toronto Raptors prepare to play home games for the opening of the 2020-21 NBA season at Tampa’s Amalie Arena, the team announced plans to host a limited number of fans beginning with its pre-season game against the Miami Heat on Friday, December 18.

Tickets for the pre-season game, and the first 11 regular-season games, will go on sale Thursday morning, Dec. 17.

Fan attendance protocols will involve extensive health and safety measures, including socially distanced seat availability. There will be fewer than 3,200 seats available for the pre-season game, and 3,800 seats for regular-season games. There will be no floor seats, and no seats sold within 30 feet of the court.

Additional measures include: all fans two years of age or older being required to wear a mask for the duration of their time within the venue; enhanced surface and air disinfection systems; physical distancing in the stands and while navigating the venue; a health survey screening for all guests as they enter the facility; cashless payments in the parking lot and for food and beverage services; and bags are prohibited for all Raptors games at the arena.

“In these unique and challenging times, the Raptors are grateful to be able to work closely with the NBA, the Lightning organization and local public health officials to create a safe opportunity for a limited number of fans to take in games,” said Tom McDonald, Vice President of Ticket Sales and Service for MLSE. “As the Raptors call Tampa home for the start of the NBA season, the team looks forward to the opportunity to thank the community for their support while continually emphasizing the important steps required of all of us for a full return of fans when it is safe to do so.”