After six games, 12 days and approximately 8,900 kilometres travelled, the Toronto Raptors’ long road trip has finally come to an end.
And the team is likely grateful for that.
The Raptors look to have a lot of work to do – especially on the defensive end – after falling to the Indiana Pacers, 114-97, to finish their roadie with a 2-4 record and return to Toronto sporting a 9-11 record overall.
Just a game after the Raptors looked to find their old defensive identity in the second half against the Grizzlies, allowing them to steal a victory in Memphis, Toronto reverted to what has been a more troubling trend of late – particularly seen during this road trip. The Raptors made life on the offensive end far too easy for the Pacers, who lived on the inside, racking up 60 points in the paint as Domantas Sabonis went off for 23 points and 18 rebounds on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor.
It also didn’t help matters that the Raptors conceded 17 offensive rebounds to the Pacers – seven alone to Sabonis – which was a major contributing factor to why the Pacers absolutely feasted on the inside Friday night.
But it wasn’t just the defence that let the Raptors down on Friday, and for most of the trip, in general.
While once again Toronto was without OG Anunoby and Khem Birch, some of their other starters looked to play well enough to keep Toronto into things such as Fred VanVleet (26 points on 10-of-21 shooting), Pascal Siakam (17 points and 12 rebounds) and Scottie Barnes (who looked to re-aggravate the same right thumb he hurt the last time the Raptors saw the Pacers late in the second quarter but, fortunately, was able to return for the start of the second half and had another strong game with 17 points of his own).
However, these contributions were made moot because Toronto’s bench – which is among the worst in the NBA this season – was once again thoroughly outplayed, as evidenced by the fact Pacers reserve guard Kelan Martin matched Toronto’s bench productivity himself, 15-15.
And that the bench didn’t produce very much wasn’t so much surprising – it was more so just plain frustrating. In the third and fourth quarters, with much of their second unit out there, the Raptors had opportunities to get back into the game but constantly saw opportunities squandered.
One such moment came early in the fourth when Siakam, playing alongside a lineup of mostly bench players, completed an and-one play to cut the lead down to six, only to then see Pacers go on a 10-0 run. That put Indiana up 101-86 with 7:24 to play and, essentially, ended any chances the Raptors had of stealing another one to cap the trip.
The road trip is over at long last and, thankfully, what follows is the longest homestand of the season for the Raptors at seven games.
However, given the issues this team has illustrated with its defence – particularly on the inside – and the lack of productivity it’s getting from its bench, it’s unclear if even a little home cooking might correct what ails them.
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