Disappointing defeat could bring changes
Raptors struggle defensively as visiting Brooklyn Nets have no problem earning win
It was a game that, on paper, the Raptors should win. In fact, in the words of the franchise’s global ambassador, Drake, who resurfaced courtside on Wednesday at the ACC for the first time since the last time the Nets were in town: “They know, they know, they know.”
Instead, the Raptors ended up dropping a disappointing 109-93 decision to the Brooklyn Nets, a team they had defeated in overtime just five days before, in their own building. It was the Raptors second home loss in a row.
And it doesn’t get any easier for Toronto over the next 23 days, facing nothing but playoff contenders the next nine games. The Raptors entered this rugged stretch of 11 games surrounding the all-star break in which the Nets were the only sub-.500 opponent on the docket. Instead, they surrendered a slim twopoint halftime lead and are now 9-10 in the last 19. Of course, let’s not forget these same Nets had surprised the Clippers at home on Monday.
Look past nobody.
Bottom line is there could be changes in the offing for the Raptors, at least in terms of Terrence Ross and Greivis Vasquez and their respective roles moving forward. A move to Ross starting? Whenever coach Dwane Casey insists his first-place, second-seed Raptors remain a work in progress — which is quite often — he means it. In his mind, that progress reaches from questions of big man Jonas Valanciunas having to show he can log minutes at crunch-time down the stretch, to a when-healthy James Johnson with reduced minutes, to the makeup of his everyday starting lineup.
When Casey first settled on Vasquez in his starting five, with DeMar DeRozan injured and out, it was the customary second unit triggerman combining with Kyle Lowry in the backcourt. The team was a surprising 3-2. Then Casey shuffled in Terrence Ross to the two-guard positon for the next 16 games. But after DeRozan returned to the backcourt and with Ross struggling at forward, Casey returned to the guard combination of Vasquez and Lowry, with DeRozan at forward.
Casey strongly hinted before the game against the Nets that he may be thinking of returning Ross to the lineup. One of the problems he sees is that you have one of just two starting Eastern Conference all-star point guards in Lowry, yet Vasquez was handling the ball on offence much of the time. It’s hard to argue with Vasquez’s 10-5 record as a starter, but the Raptors are now in that key 11-game stretch facing quality every night and Casey wants to be pro-active.
“His record is a winning record,” Casey admitted of Vasquez. “There’s good offensive flow. We get off to good starts. Like I said, I don’t know if (Vasquez-Lowry) is going to be permanent. I love the way Terrence Ross is playing. He’s playing the right way. He’s playing with a balance and a spirit that’s good.”
Ross finished the game with 23 points and three rebounds; Vasquez had five points, one assist and four fouls. But again, it comes down to the fact that Lowry’s all-star has not been shining in terms of exploiting the total package he brings as a team leader.
“You don’t know which way to go because both of them have done a really good job,” Casey said. “Nothing’s permanent. Greivis has done a heck of a job stepping in, defensively and offensively. One thing we don’t want to do is hurt DeMar’s rhythm, Kyle’s rhythm being off the ball so much. I want Kyle to have the ball as much as possible. I’d like for them to be a little bit more interchangeable.”
The easiest solution would be to move Vasquez back to lead the second unit and Ross back up to the starting five. It’s something Casey has clearly been considering.
In the first quarter, Lowry came out back in control of the ball, with Vasquez the two, but guarding Nets small forward Joe Johnson. In six minutes, 37 seconds of the first quarter, he scored no points and picked up two quick fouls. Coming off the bench, Ross scored eight points and by halftime, in 14:31 had 11 points, a rebound and a blocked shot. Vasquez had three points and one assist.
But as much as any other factor, a change would have to be about the defensive mismatches.
“Defence is always important, I don’t care who you’re playing,” Casey said. “If it’s teams that haven’t won a game, still, you’ve got to defend. The other night (vs. the Bucks) I thought our defence was pretty good.
“We couldn’t score. So we get one night one thing going and then we lose the other. Again, I keep preaching balance. We have to have balance as far as our defence and offence.”
The Raptors next game is against the Clippers and Blake Griffin on Friday.