RAPTORS BLOG: It bodes well that Siakam wasn’t even needed in beating of Nuggets

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Sometimes teams look a little flat when they’ve had an unusually long break between games. The Raptors had not played since Friday in Los Angeles to end the road trip, but went the other way, completely blitzing the road-weary Nuggets early on Tuesday night. Toronto completely outworked Denver and the scoreboard indicated as much.

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But of course the Nuggets fought back and gave the Raptors a game in the second half, something we’ve seen a lot lately. But unlike the majority of past history, Toronto was able to regroup and seize back command on the way to an impressive and needed victory.

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Two of Toronto’s best players — Fred VanVleet and O.G. Anunoby were spectacular (more on that later), while Scottie Barnes was also really good, but Pascal Siakam had a poor offensive game again (though he was solid defensively and on the boards) and it didn’t even matter. We’ll say that again: Toronto’s best player continued his recent slump, but it didn’t impact things at all because some of his teammates were so dominant. That’s a good sign. We still haven’t seen every Raptor rolling at the same time, but maybe it will happen.

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Anunoby again did a strong job on MVP contender Nikola Jokic. Even though Jokic was a lot more effective in this one than he was when Anunoby locked him down in Denver, he still didn’t look like the all-time great he does most nights. Anunoby has that effect on those he guards.

Anunoby has now played in 55 of 69 Raptors games (80%). If he plays at least 75%, he should be a lock for the All-Defence first team and is even deserving of a long look as defensive player of the year, though it usually goes to a big man (Marcus Smart being a rare recent exception).

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Anunoby leads the NBA in steals and deflections per game (tied for the latter with VanVleet) and is fifth in loose balls recovered per game. While everyone seems to have handed Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez (or even teammate Giannis Antetokoumpo) the award, Anunoby (and Canadian superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who happens to be in town Thursday) also have legitimate cases.

AROUND THE RIM

Nick Nurse had talked this week of Precious Achiuwa being utilized more as a wing than a centre. Achiuwa has slumped since moving to the bench. Nurse believes he can be more effective defensively guarding wings. Achiuwa backed up those thoughts with some lockdown defending against non power forward or centres in this one.

Was great to see Kitchener’s Jamal Murray back in Ontario. Murray sadly had not played in Toronto since Dec of 2018 due to his ACL injury, the bubble in Orlando and Toronto’s season in Tampa Bay. Basketball fans in this country need to see more of our greatest stars. It’s too bad Murray, Gilgeous-Alexander and Andrew Wiggins all play in the Western Conference and only play here once a year, at most.

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As most teams get to the 70 game mark it’s time for a new feature the rest of the way. A look at the play-in/playoff race in the East and how the Raptors fit in. The win over Denver allowed Toronto to keep pace with Washington. Let’s say Indiana is out of the race (two games back and the team’s two best players appear to be at least kind of shut down since getting the highest pick possible should be the priority for the Pacers), Miami and Chicago both will face tough opponents on Wednesday night. After playing three games in four nights, Atlanta is getting a long rest before hosting Golden State on Friday. The Raptors could pull even with the Hawks for eighth with a win over Oklahoma City on Thursday and a Hawks loss against the Warriors.

A note on today’s three stars: This is the first time in the history of this space that two players are sharing first star honours. It was not possible to choose Anunoby over VanVleet or vice versa. Both were ridiculous in perhaps their best performances of the season. So, they’ll split the five points (three for first star, two for second) in my tally.

THREE STARS VS. NUGGETS

1 Fred VanVleet and O.G. Anunoby

2 N/A

3 Nikola Jokic

Honourable mention: Scottie Barnes, Michael Porter Jr., Jakob Poeltl