OKC Thunder: NBA Power Rankings -Griffin buyout shifts ladder at half way mark
team. 81. . 17-19. Previous: 12th. Toronto Raptors. 15
Toronto Raptors:
Week 11: 0-2
Lost to: Pistons 105-129, Celtics 125-132
Week 12 opponents: Hawks @Hornets, @Bulls
Offense: (113.4) 10th
Defense: (112.0) 18th
Net: (Plus +1.4) 9th
No team needed the break more than the transplanted Raptors who still feel like they are playing 72 road games. COVID-19 took out almost the entire front row of Nick Nurse’s staff as well as Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby (all key starters and contributors) as well as Malachi Flynn and Patrick McCaw.
So — here comes a bit of a rant. Why was it the NBA elected to push the Raptors scheduled Tuesday match versus the Pistons to Wednesday? Toronto had already called up three G-League players to fill in who were available to play Tuesday. Instead, the NBA moved that game to Wednesday which then put both the Raptors and Pistons in a back-to-back situation versus the Celtics and Knicks respectively.
That the Raptors’ divisional foes would benefit from this move is shocking. Why weren’t the Grizzlies, Spurs, Mavericks, or other squads forced to call up G-League players and move their matches? Plus in my best Donovan Mitchell voice (see Jazz slide), I’ll ask how the Celtics got to the line FORTY times compared to the 17 Raptors free throws and copious missed calls (four blatant) at game end.
To put this in perspective, let’s change the teams to the Lakers or Nets in place of the Raptors (Pistons). Can you imagine the league forcing those clubs to move a game and force a back-to-back that would benefit their divisional foes Clippers/Suns and 76ers/Knicks? Yeah — that’s not happening.
Moving forward, the Raptors squad will use the adversity to motivate their effort just as they did in the Celtics match that witnessed Kyle Lowry deliver a career-best 19 assists. As for the national media pundits pushing for his trade to a top contender (typically suggesting watered-down packages in return) that isn’t Masai Ujiri’s MO.
If and ONLY IF Lowry asked to go back home to Philly is this an imaginable situation. And, even in that scenario, it’s not likely Ujiri makes that move to a divisional foe unless he gets Ben Simmons and draft capital in return.
Like the OKC Thunder, the Raptors have a cemented culture and identity so don’t expect them to roll over and raise the white flag.