Morning Coffee – Wed, Apr 14
Malachi Flynn’s late 3-point barrage can’t mask another tough night for Raptors – The Athletic
As we’ve discussed plenty in recent weeks, there’s a need to take the positives where they present themselves. Random though it was, Flynn’s confidence and accuracy in those closing moments could be meaningful. Those are high-intensity reps, and he’s had a lot of those over the past month. After playing just six games in the G League bubble and seeing double-digit NBA minutes just six times over the team’s first 40 games, he’s now played a legitimate rotation role in 14 of the past 15 games, including 18 minutes or more in nine in a row. The expectation should be that Flynn will have some inconsistencies, especially with leading the team’s offence, and so the ability to shake off a tough game and contribute confidently late is meaningful.
“I think any minutes that those guys have right now are valuable,” Nurse said. “I think it’s been good for Malachi to get 30-plus minutes here a night … I think it says a lot and I think it’s really valuable for him to be out there. This is two, last two games, he’s out there down the stretch, in a real tough game at Madison Square Garden and then tonight he was pretty much our offence down the stretch. You kind of get to that point where he just kind of say, ‘Well, might as well go for it.’ We’re down 10, 12, might as well go for (it) and he starts banging in a couple and playing carefree and playing hard at the defensive end, too, made some plays there. So it’s good, it’s good experience for him.”
The final result was a career-high 22 points. He’s averaged 14.3 on moderate efficiency (54.3-percent true-shooting) over the past seven, along with 5.5 assists, 4.9 rebounds and two steals with quality defence. He is decidedly a part of the team’s future, and his progress over the final 17 games here should be one of the key benchmarks for the team as the play-in game becomes less probable.
That’s not exclusive to Flynn. The Raptors have committed to being younger and newer for the rest of the season, prioritizing occasional rest for their key pieces, swapping out Norman Powell for Trent, adding Birch and Gillespie and generally shifting rotation minutes to pieces that may have a longer-term future with the team. That, along with the uncertain timeline for Fred VanVleet, the recurring toe issue for Lowry and the absences of Paul Watson Jr. and DeAndre’ Bembry naturally means fewer top-to-bottom good nights being strung together. (The Raptors might even settle for getting to use the same starting lineup two consecutive games; only once in the past 14 games have they used the same starting five as the prior contest.)
The season continues to be a challenge, to say the least. Take the rookie 3-point outbursts in the clutch where you can get ’em.
NBA: Raptors come out sluggish once again in loss to Atlanta – Yahoo!
One — Yawn: This game was not worth your time if you had the misfortune of watching it. The frantic ending was the only moderately exciting stretch of the game, but as has been the case all season, the Raptors’ comeback fell short of influencing anything other than point differential. The Raptors were shorthanded in roster, but also light in spirit as they couldn’t summon the requisite energy to defend. Couple that with some truly selfish offense, and it made for a bitter viewing.
With multiple significant players missing for both teams, this game felt like a night on Broadway when few of the regular cast are performing and the understudies fill the stage. The Hawks were without Trae Young, John Collins, Cam Reddish, De’Andre Hunter and Danilo Gallinari. The Raptors, meanwhile, were missing Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, DeAndre’ Bembry and Paul Watson.
On those nights, you look to the remaining mainstays to carry the load. Pascal Siakam did his part tonight, but he was given little help. You also hope that the reserves are able to at least hold their own, or even have their own breakout with the new opportunity. In this case, unfortunately, the Raptors were left wanting, as, yes, players like Flynn — prior to his too-little-too-late three-point bonanza — struggled to step into the shoes of Lowry and VanVleet after a few games of admirable impressions.
While the Raptors’ front office sure looks like it might be orchestrating a sneaky tank, they have been given their most important players rest at times where it makes complete sense and maintaining at minimum a small air of mystery in their intentions.
Siakam and OG Anunoby are, at the very least, working their way back from an absence due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols in which they didn’t have any legitimate game reps. At worst, they had the coronavirus, which has affected NBA players’ lungs long after their tests starting reading negative. They were both given a night off on the opposite ends of a back-to-back, respectively, in an absurdly busy stretch of basketball for Toronto.
That theme has continued, as Lowry was given rest on his second potential game back from a toe injury, with a looming matchup coming against DeMar DeRozan and the San Antonio Spurs the very next night. Would we bat an eye at any of these moves typically? Probably not. But in the context of this season from hell, these moves could illuminate that the team has decided that losing is their best course.
Siakam’s encouraging peformance not enough as Raptors fall short vs. Hawks – Sportsnet
Despite the loss from his team, Siakam was still fabulous Tuesday night. In particular, what stood out about his game was how efficient he was, ending Tuesday’s contest going 13-of-19 from the field. His three-point shot was still wonky – he’s now mired in a 27-of-101 (26.7 per cent) slump from deep in his last 22 games – but, overall, he was scoring in a way that Nurse and the Raptors’ coaching staff would rather see.
“I think for everyone, and especially Pascal, I want to see efficiency go up,” said Nurse before Tuesday’s game. “I don’t want 7-for-20, 6-for-19 game after game after game, right? He has to get his efficiency up and so does everybody. That’s what I’m stressing as an improvement area.”
It would seem Siakam got the message Tuesday as he looked to be making an effort to get into the paint and to the basket where his bread-and-butter is.
And, very interestingly, when the paint was cut off, Siakam was featuring a rarely-seen mid-range game that appeared to pay dividends for his confidence going against the Hawks who looked helpless to even try to slow him down.
“They’re just so conscious of him driving that they’re backing off him so much that when he starts working in there he’s almost gotta take some of those,” said Nurse of the five mid-range looks Siakam took, hitting four of them.
Added Siakam about those shots: “I think those are the kind of shots that I have to take just to continue to expand my game. Obviously, I’m not shooting great from three but I just think that finding ways to take what the defence gives you. You’re not gonna get to the front of the rim every time. I mean, I wish I could, but it’s not gonna happen and there’s some shots that you’re gonna have to take sometimes and that’s one of them. And I work on those every day, so why not?”
There’s been understandable frustration from Raptors fans around Siakam and the max contract he signed, but performances like Tuesday evening are why the Raptors had confidence in making him the franchise cornerstone.
The inconsistency can be maddening at times, but the talent is undeniable.
Undermanned Hawks handle Raptors in Tampa, 108-103 – Peachtree Hoops
The Atlanta Hawks limped down to Tampa Bay to battle the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday evening. The Hawks have managed to handle the Raptors this year, winning the previous two meetings between the Eastern Conference foes, including a fantastic win on a Tony Snell buzzer-beater three on March 11. The Hawks entered the game at 29-25, while the Raptors sit at 21-33, just outside the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. Eventually, though, Atlanta prevailed by a final score of 108-103.
Both teams were without their floor generals, as Trae Young, Fred VanVleet and Kyle Lowry were ruled out for the contest. The Hawks were also missing John Collins, De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish, Danilo Gallinari, Tony Snell, and Kris Dunn.
The first quarter started about as poorly as you’d expect offensively with this many talented players sitting in plain clothes on the bench. But things ironed out mid-way through the quarter for both teams, the Hawks found some success running the floor in transition.
The Hawks held the lead for most of the quarter, but the Raptors managed to fight back to even up the score at 20-20 with a little over two minutes left in the first.
The last two minutes of the quarter saw the game swing back and forth between the two teams, but it was Atlanta winning those minutes taking a 28-27 lead into the second frame.
Bask in some great vet > rook chemistry.
The silver lining, if there can be one, is that the Raptors are gaining valuable experience in relatively close games. A kid like rookie Malachi Flynn may ultimately benefit from it. So may Gary Trent Jr. Even OG Anunoby can polish his late-game skills on nights like Tuesday.
The immediate impact is bad — another loss. The long-term impact might be good.
“I think any minutes that those guys have right now are valuable,” Nurse said. “We’re still trying to grow OG and his offensive repertoire. I think it’s been good for Malachi to get 30-plus minutes here a night. It’s been good to see Khem (Birch); I mean Khem played 25 (minutes) tonight, he’s not going to play a whole lot better than that: 5-for-6 from the floor and seven rebounds and a couple steals and stuff.”
Eventually, maybe that turns into wins; for now, it turns into lessons.
It was a lesson for Pascal Siakam, too. Nurse had singled him out before the game for lacking efficiency in his play and Siakam turned in a gem.
“I think for everyone and especially Pascal, I want to see efficiency go up,” the coach said before the game. “I don’t want 7-for-20, 6-for-19 game after game after game. He has to get his efficiency up and so does everybody. That’s what I’m stressing as an improvement area.”
Siakam was 13-for-19 from the field on a 30-point night but the Raptors went 10-for-39 from three-point range and were a step slow defensively most of the game.
Siakam had been all over the map in his last three games. He was 7-for-21, 10-for-18 and 4-for-16 from the field, precisely the inefficient and inconsistent play that Nurse wants to avoid.
Hawks swoop down on struggling Raptors | Toronto Sun
Clearly the numbers were on Toronto’s side, though it didn’t look that way once the game tipped off.
The Hawks leaned heavily on the tandem of Kevin Huerter and Bogdan Bogdanovic from outside and the lanky presence of Clint Capela inside to leave Tampa with their second win in a little more than a month, this one by a 108-103 score.
Head coach Nick Nurse felt a real lack of energy in his group, maybe not from the opening tip, but early on in the game that was a foreboding of bad things to come.
“We started the game — I thought we were really flying around on some of the defensive possessions but then we weren’t after a bit,” Nurse said. “Didn’t think our offense was run very well tonight either, a lot of (un)assisted baskets. I think we ended up with 16 … So I didn’t think there was a lot of life.”
The Raptors were just into their spiral coming out of the all-star break when Atlanta previously played here and had a game ripped away from them when Tony Snell hit a buzzer-beating three at the final horn to win.
Not much has gone right since.
With both Lowry and VanVleet looking on in street clothes, the ball movement the Raptors normally rely on for success was just about non-existent last night as Nurse mentioned.
Those open threes that are a staple of Toronto’s offence failed to find the mark, again something Nurse blamed on the lack of energy.
Instead, there was a lot of Pascal Siakam doing it on his own and Siakam had one of his better nights in that regard shooting an efficient 13-for-19 for 30 points.
OG Anunoby, who has seen an uptick in his touches with so many regulars out, is taking advantage and using his size inside. Even with Capela enjoying one of his best seasons defensively, Anunoby went right at Atlanta’s big man and had plenty of success, finishing with 15 points.
Capela, though, had a pretty decent night himself with 19 points and 21 rebounds.
The other bright spot for the Raptors was the play of newcomer Khem Birch off the bench. Birch makes his presence felt on a nightly basis under his own basket, but last night it was at both ends of the court as Birch went 5-for-6 from the field for a 13-point night while providing the spark his work at the other end always brings.
Rookie Malachi Flynn had a strong finish to the game after a tough start last night, making four of his six three-pointers in the final quarter to at least give the Raptors a shot late. Flynn finished with a career-high 22-points, including 15 in that final frame.
Morning Coffee – Wed, Apr 14 originated on Raptors Republic.