WOLSTAT: Raptors, VanVleet will have to shake off Friday’s forgettable performance

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Two days between games couldn’t have come at a better time for the Toronto Raptors, particularly for Fred VanVleet.

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The all-star point guard who perennially ranks amongst the NBA’s leaders in minutes played did not look like himself during Friday’s 112-90 home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. VanVleet missed all 11 shot attempts, including his eight three-point shots, ending a personal streak of 77 straight games with at least one three-point make. And, at the other end of the floor, one of the league’s premier defenders didn’t have his usual impact either. It wasn’t all on VanVleet that Tyrese Maxey went off for a career-best 44 points two days after scoring 31, but VanVleet has been the primary defender on Maxey for 25 of those points, with Maxey shooting 56% against VanVleet.

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VanVleet had entered the season feeling great, health-wise, after a tough close to 2021-22, and was shooting 48% from three-point range before Friday’s struggles, so hopefully for the Raptors this was a one-off and he’ll be moving and shooting well again by Monday’s Halloween battle against Atlanta.

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Head coach Nick Nurse said VanVleet told him he was feeling fine. “I asked him several times in the game physically if he was alright. And he said that he was every time, but he certainly was out of sorts. There’s no doubt about it,” Nurse said after the game.

Pascal Siakam said it was “probably one of those nights” for VanVleet. He certainly doesn’t want one of the league’s most dangerous outside shooters to rein things in.

“I think he’s got to continue to be aggressive for us. I mean that happens. We’re not really worried about the shot-making because he has done that at a high level and we know he can do that,” Siakam said.

Of bigger concern to Siakam was Toronto’s lack of defensive cohesiveness.

“We got to do a better job collectively defensively, because to me, the team that we are, someone can score two, somebody can score 100, but once we are connected together as a team and play together as a team, it shows. No matter who is scoring or who is not, we always look like a team and I think that we didn’t tonight because they just played so well.”

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DEMARVELOUS ACHIEVEMENT

Former Raptors star DeMar DeRozan reached 20,000 career points on Friday night with (what else?) a mid-range jump shot against the San Antonio Spurs.

DeRozan is still beloved amongst his former teammates in these parts, so it wasn’t surprising that Siakam broke out in a wide smile when told about DeRozan’s achievement.

“That’s crazy. That’s super tough. DeMar is tough. He has always been one of my favourite players when he was here and wherever he went,” Siakam said. “His midrange, the way he plays the game, it’s all so beautiful to watch. So yeah, congrats to him and he deserves it. I’m sure he’s going to score a lot more than that and I’m happy for him.”

DeRozan became just the 50th player to achieve that feat and ranks seventh amongst active players, just behind Stephen Curry.

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MAXEY-MUM PERFORMANCE

How good was Maxey? Well, in the history of the Raptors, few visitors have ever lit it up like the Sixers guard did on Friday.

Here are the most points scored by a visitor at Toronto (regular season):

LeBron James 56 in 2005

Kevin Durant 51 in 2014/2018

Damian Lillard 50 2016

Jamal Crawford 50 in 2004

Kobe Bryant 46 in 2008

Stephen Curry 44 in 2015

Jerry Stackhouse 44 in 2000

Maxey 44

That’s pretty good company. No visitor has ever dropped 43 in Toronto, but Allen Iverson (twice), Dwayne Wade, Jimmy Butler, Vince Carter (with the Nets), Mike Bibby and Juwan Howard had 42.

If you include playoff games, LeBron had 43 in 2018, nobody else has topped 39 (Iverson’s dual 50-point plus games in 2001 both game in Philadelphia).

Durant leads all visitors in scoring average at Toronto, with an even 30 points per game in 11 regular season outings here. Curry’s next at 29.9. Iverson’s third at 28.4, James ranks fourth at 28.1. James Harden, who sits fifth, dropped his average here to 27.2 with his quiet 11. Harden was oddly passive on Friday. Maxey’s averaged 25.5 points in four games, but also was great in the playoffs.

@WolstatSun