WOZ BLOG: Raptors hit midway point of regular season with offensive breakout but work to be done

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Getting carried away over a win over the terrible Charlotte Hornets would be a mistake.

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Charlotte is truly lost and awful. A group that doesn’t even pretend to play any defence. And the Hornets looked way too comfortable on offence for most of the night and didn’t face nearly enough resistance until the final minutes of the game.

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That said, the Raptors can build off a rare superb offensive performance and perhaps gain some confidence moving forward. The team hit a season-best 20 three-pointers (the first time a Raptors team has cracked 20 since March of 2021) on its second-best outside accuracy of the year and O.G. Anunoby nailed 6-of-7 to end a bit of a scuffling shooting period. That kind of confidence can carry. And it will help that the Hornets are up next on the docket to complete a home-and-home.

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Toronto improved to 8-0 when shooting 40% or better on three-point shots.

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You can bet Nick Nurse will be showing a lot of video of defensive breakdowns heading into Thursday’s game in Charlotte and it should pay off. It had better, since expecting the same offensive performance from the Raptors is unlikely.

Two of the four teams Toronto is chasing for a play-in berth are about to face a tough part of the schedule, so a win Thursday and then again Saturday against Atlanta (one of said teams) could make things interesting as we hit the half-way point of the season (which the Raptors did on Tuesday).

AROUND THE RIM

— Pascal Siakam again got off to an “I’m the best player on the floor start” just as he had the other night in another win. It’s a good sign that Siakam is asserting his dominance.

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— Was weird to see the NBA’s two least successful three-point shooting teams hit 7-of-9 to start the game, but the night simply continued to go that way.

Was equally weird to see the Raptors bench total 29 points in the first half. That’s as many as they combined for in three games last week and there have been plenty of games this season where they didn’t sniff 29 points.

The Gary Trent Jr. plus bench experiment appears to be working, at least on the offensive end.

— Precious Achiuwa went from taking perhaps the worst Raptors shot of the season, to turning it around and nailing two three-pointers in a row early on. He and Chris Boucher again thrived together. Nurse experimented with Achiuwa on the floor with Boucher and Christian Koloko. Koloko had another strong performance. With Juancho Hernangomez turning in a solid stint himself it meant no time for Thaddeus Young.

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— Anunoby had been struggling a bit with his outside shooting heading in, hitting just 8-for-27 in his previous four games. But he hit 4-of-5 to start the game and never looked back.

His late makes helped seal the deal against the pesky Hornets and Fred VanVleet shook off a rough night with two big makes late.

— Scottie Barnes was quiet, looking to pass at every opportunity, until throwing down a massive dunk in the third quarter. Barnes still managed to play well despite not doing much scoring because his passing was great. Barnes assisted on seven of the three-pointers.

— Tough news for the Raptors about Otto Porter Jr. On paper it was a good signing for the team. A great shooter who can defend and was coming off a rotation role for the defending champions. Made sense, even if the team had bigger needs in the backcourt. Unfortunately, Porter’s long injury history made the move a gamble. To me it was still a worthy swing simply because quality players almost never sign here (or in 20 other NBA cities, to be frank). It’s not like there’s a long history of the Raptors making big adds through free agency. They had to take some risk to add someone like Porter. Year 1 was a bust and they’ll hope for better next year when Porter likely opts in.

— At least the timing allows the Raptors to petition the league by the Jan. 15 deadline to apply for a Disabled Player Exception for about $3 million. They’d have to clear a roster spot though to add anyone.

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THREE STARS

1 Pascal Siakam

2 O.G, Anunoby

3 Gary Trent Jr.

Honourable mention: Terry Rozier, Chris Boucher, Precious Achiuwa, LaMelo Ball