The Toronto Raptors were not especially desperate against the Hornets, and that may not be good

For better or worse, the Toronto Raptors did not play against the Charlotte Hornets like a team that was 2-8. For better, in that the Raptors did not hang their heads or give in to despair, allowing their record to warp their self-perception and self-confidence. For worse, in that the Raptors played like an unserious team that once again overlooked its opponent.

“The reality of this league is that there’s always a sense of urgency on a night-to-night basis,” said Nick Nurse before the game. “I think that the pressure to win each night is real. It is. So there’s always that. I don’t think [our situation] makes it any more or less different. It doesn’t feel any more or less different to me.”

So it was, according to the Raptors, a normal level of urgency. Just a regular game, and for the Raptors, regular implies a Raptors team that is winning. That’s what they’re used to. There are benefits to playing like a team that’s 8-2 instead of 2-8. Swagger and confidence are integral elements, surely. But sometimes winning games — particularly after a pair of paper-cut-irritating one-point losses — requires the grit of having your backs against the wall. By and large, the Raptors lacked that against the Charlotte Hornets. They let the Hornets back into the game time and again: vital components in seven of Toronto’s eight losses. Other than the final result, this Charlotte game was a mirror image of so many of Toronto’s losses to this point.

To be fair, the Raptors did win. But as encouraging as their previous few losses have been, Toronto’s win tonight felt somewhat hollow. Their defense was horrific for long stretches, with Toronto staples like help-the-helper rotations and cascading x-outs almost entirely absent. The Hornets managed 108 points, as seven of the nine Hornets who hit the court scored in double digits. Far too often, Toronto defenders flew out at shooters, leaving their feet. On its own, that isn’t a problem, and often is part of the scheme to force a shooter to put the ball on the floor. But no second defender came, and the Hornets walked into side-dribble triples all night long.

Not unrelated: The Hornets shot 15-of-35 from deep on the night, good for 42.9 percent.

It is possible that the Raptors are no longer asking their defenders to play in infinite rotations, as they did last season. Nick Nurse indicated in the post-game that the team is moving towards a switch-everything scheme, and that takes some getting used to.

“I thought we’re still kind of getting used to this kind of constant one-through-five switching, meaning it’s not something we’ve done a ton of, so it’s a little bit new,” said Nurse after the game. “Right now there’s 20 mistakes in communication on the switching, and that’s got to get cut in half. And then when they do get switched some guys got to sit down and guard the mismatches a little tougher.”

So there was some understandable confusion with a new scheme. Regardless, the principles that form a good defense will be the same no matter the structure of Toronto’s scheme, and many of those principles were lacking. For a team that decidedly does not believe its 3-8 record represents its true ability, one would think attention to defensive detail would be at the forefront of players’ minds.

Largely as a result of their defensive leniency, the Raptors never put their opponents to bed. They scored 71 points in the first half, hit 20 triples on the night, and saw six players score in double figures. Yet the Hornets came within one missed — and uncontested! — shot in the game’s final possession to tie the game. It was pure dumb luck that PJ Washington missed the shot, especially considering how effective he was on the offensive end throughout the whole game. Sure, Toronto was due some luck after having two consecutive games end with Pascal Siakam attempted game-winners rim out, but the point is that if the Raptors truly are a playoff team, they shouldn’t rely on luck to win games over lesser teams. The Raptors never should have left the game to a final shot, and a truly desperate team would not have let the Hornets have such an opportunity.

Offensively, the Raptors played exceptionally, but they were loose. The team committed 17 turnovers, which is generally a sign of unstructured decision-making. Toronto scored 12 points in the entire fourth quarter, and the scoring wasn’t only lacking for the transitional unit on the floor to start the quarter for its defense. It wasn’t even that the Raptors missed their shots; by and large, they shot well. But they didn’t run structured offensive sets to end the game. Too many possessions ended with Fred VanVleet dribbling into isolation. The fourth-quarter offense, like the defense throughout the first half, was unserious. Certainly not desperate.

Then again, a lack of extraordinary desperation was part of Toronto’s game plan. I asked Kyle Lowry after the game if Toronto was desperate, and he claimed they were. At least, inasmuch as they always are; he implicitly agreed with Nurse that the team had no extra or special motivation as a result of its record. But is that a good thing? Perhaps. Panic is bad, but desperation is good. It’s a fine line, and I’m certainly being a tad too critical, for the Raptors did win the game. But the win felt less indicative of good play and perhaps due more to a hot shooting night.

It’s possible that I’m misrepresenting the effort level in Toronto’s win. It’s possible that the effort was not problematic. But that should be even more concerning to the Raptors if that’s the case. Last year, on nights when Toronto gave effort (read: all of them) and hit 20 triples, they won those games — all three of them — by an average of 31 points. One of which came over these same Hornets by 36. Tonight, the Raptors needed luck to escape the evening without overtime. If that’s who the Raptors are, then it’s possible their 3-8 record is actually very reflective of them as a team.

The Raptors have to hope that’s not the case.

 

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