Ja’Kobe Walter and Toronto’s ferocious defense spearheads win over Nuggets
Coming into their game against the Nuggets last night, teams were averaging 31 turnovers per game against Toronto. This summer league squad has quickly become recognized for their defensive intensity, hounding the ball like a hyena circles around a dead carcass. Their defense also came to play last night as Denver turned the ball over 24 times. Picking up at full and half court, trapping the ball at a moments notice, and at times seeming like they were all connected by one string, Toronto’s defense is what powered this victory.
Raptors 9th overall selection Collin Murray-Boyles had an outstanding defensive performance last night, and he showed the exact things that will lead to him playing a ton of NBA minutes this season. Boyles’ size allows him to take bumps against the bigger players, but his footspeed and athleticism allows him to cover ground in a way that lets Toronto be so aggressive on the ball. Many times last night you saw Boyles flying around the court, putting a stop to would-be advantages and looking poised while doing so. His grace when closing out on opposing players was especially eye popping, and it seems that he will fit into the main rosters defensive scheme just fine.
The backcourt defenders for Toronto were pressuring the ball as if their lives depended on it, notably Ja’Kobe Walter, Jamal Shead, and Chucky Hepburn, amongst others. They didn’t let Denver ball handlers get anything easy, and they were chest-to-chest with them more often than not. This uber aggressive style did lead to the occasional open triple after Denver moved the ball, but the turnovers they forced made it worth it in the end. Walter finished with a staggering 7 steals as a result of this style of defense. Ulriche Chomche also showed great signs in this game, and he looks like a completely different player than he did a year ago. He had an extremely slick mid-air wrap-around pass to Boyles, after blocking a shot on the other end, and it was a thing of beauty.
Although the defense was strong, throughout the game, Toronto found themselves with a deficit. The offense for Toronto, specifically in the first half, was pretty lackluster. They shot 31.8 percent from the field, and 29.2 percent from three. There was no one in the game that separated themselves on the other side of the ball in the first half, nobody to generate consistent good looks for the team, or for themselves even.
The third quarter is where things finally swung around for Toronto. In this quarter they went on a 19-0 run to take the lead and they never looked back. Shead began to get into the lane consistently, and his floaters began to drop as well. Walter’s defense stayed strong and that gifted him some transition looks. Walter finished with a game-high 26 points and it was his spacing and activity in transition that led to this scoring pop. Even the rebounding went Toronto’s way as they won the rebound battle in the quarter 11-7. It seemed like everything was dropping for Toronto while Denver couldn’t buy a basket. This 19-0 run is what turned the game on its head and allowed Toronto to ultimately win this game.
Due to Toronto’s style of defense this game was extremely physical, you could just see the tension building between the two teams, and how it began to wear on Denver. Toronto remains undefeated due to their stout defense, and with the way things are looking, they could possibly win the Summer League championship.
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