RAPTORS BLOG: More progress made, despite loss against Nets, but there’s a long way to go

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Another game, another tough loss for the Raptors. Once again, it was close but no cigar, this time against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night in Toronto.

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Quite a lot of thing went well for the Raptors: There was 38% shooting, far better than their work to date heading in.

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There was a Scottie Barnes who appeared to once again be having fun and exerting his will on an opponent.

There was Fred VanVleet again closing in on a 40-point performance and getting to the rim easily.

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There was Malachi Flynn looking confident and effective, after Nick Nurse had said pre-game that he was disappointed he hadn’t found a way to use the former first-round pick more.

But it’s hard to win if you allow an opponent to shoot 61%, even if for once you didn’t get outscored from behind the line (each team got 27 points off three-pointers).

Toronto couldn’t defend, couldn’t score inside against Nic Claxton and got swept by the Nets for the first time since they still played in New Jersey and had not yet stolen Vince Carter from the Raptors.

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As tough as the recent one-point losses have been, they, and other recent games are something to build on. Things don’t look as bleak if Barnes looks like himself (though he could do without the shots he hoists while with his back fully to the basket. Those look like almost no-look prayers, not effective attempts).

It’s an almost impossible task to hold the great Kevin Durant and the ultra-talented Kyrie Irving down without O.G. Anunoby, the team’s best defender and Gary Trent Jr., who disrupts with his quick hands.

The schedule isn’t going to ease up anytime soon either, though Toronto caught a break with Steph Curry’s injury (it’s a shame that fans paying top dollar won’t see Curry though, having just missed LeBron James and Anthony Davis as well).

A trip to Philadelphia against a contender and to New York, where the Knicks finally look competent won’t be walks in the park either. The Raptors probably won’t be favourites for either of those. Then it’s an excellent Cleveland team in Ohio, Kawhi (maybe) and the Clippers in Toronto, the mighty Grizzlies and the other West power, the Phoenix Suns. Yikes.

THREE STARS:

1 Fred VanVleet

2 Kevin Durant

3 Kyrie Irving

H.M.:  Barnes, Siakam, Yuta Watanabe