Toronto’s losing streak continues after being outclassed by Houston
Coming into last night’s game on a three-game losing streak Toronto needed to win to have a little room to collectively take a deep breath after what has been a disappointing start to the season. Even with an absurd night from behind the arc, Toronto still could not put together enough possessions defensively to come out with a win.
Brandon Ingram was the offensive dynamo he is known to be in the opening quarter, showing his scoring skills with an array of flashy spin moves and soft touch jumpers. For every bucket Toronto got it felt like Houston had an immediate answer of their own. With no Poeltl in the game Toronto had to be careful with how they guarded Rockets All Star center Alperen Sengun. On many possessions where Sengun got the ball they would double him and try to make the subsequent rotations. Early on Toronto’s rotations looked crisp, they were closing out perfectly, running guys off the line. However, this strategy led to helping off of Jabari Smith Jr who punished them with an early 10 points.
Toronto found early success putting Kevin Durant in pick n’ roll actions early, they were able to get Scottie Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles wide open dunks as a result of Durant’s poor pick n’ roll defense. Barnes in particular started off hot, knocking 4 of his first 6 three point attempts. If you like defense, then this was not the game for you by any means.
As has been the case all season long, Toronto’s transition defense was just bad. Players weren’t getting back quickly enough, and the contests on fast breaks just weren’t there. Toronto came close to gaining the lead many times but with the defense being as weak as it was, Houston was able to maintain a 47-39 lead early in the second quarter.
Not only was Toronto not defending well, but they were not rebounding well either, which is to be expected when you are missing your starting center. Despite these rebounding and defensive woes, Toronto’s three-point shooting allowed them to stay in this game. Toronto opened up 8/15 from three while Houston shot a measly 4/13 from three.
Murray-Boyles found the bottom of the net on two three pointers in the first half, he looked extremely comfortable firing from behind the arc last night. His defense on Sengun was also strong as he refused to be easily backed down, and took bump after bump.
Ingram’s scoring explosion continued heading into halftime. He curled off of a pin-down screen and rose up for a beautiful mid-range jumper to bring his scoring total to 18 points in the first half, on 7/7 shooting from the field. Despite how hot Toronto was on offense, they still couldn’t separate from Houston because of their defense. Durant was shooting over defenders like he’s been doing for over a decade, and they were getting many second chances, as they had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half.
Amen Thompson tipped out a miss to an open Durant for a triple to extend Houston’s lead to 7 headed into halftime and cap off an 11-0 run to end the half. This was a microcosm of what had been happening in the first half, and Toronto had to change something defensively and with their rebounding if they hoped to win this game. Scoring 63 points in the first half is great, but it means less when you allow your opponent to score 70 points in that same half on 55.3 percent shooting.
The second half began as poorly as one could imagine. Houston upped their defensive intensity, forced a few turnovers and found themselves on many fast breaks, most of which ended in free throws or a bucket. You could see the spacing becoming an issue for Toronto in the beginning of the second half, Houston abandoned their lackadaisical zone defense, which in turn gave Toronto less opportunity for outside shots.
Toronto went on a 10-0 run in the middle of the third quarter, largely spearheaded by the duo of Barnes and Ingram which cut the lead down to single digits. Barnes seemingly took it upon himself to take control of the offense and put points on the board through his driving, and he also had a slick contested turnaround mid range jumper.
Ingram hit a three that ignited the crowd, but this run came to an end as a result of, you guessed it, poor transition defense. Sengun filled the lane on the break and reached back as far as possible for an emphatic slam which silenced the crowd. Sengun ran up the court again for an unchallenged layup to bring the lead back to 11 with a score of 90-79. Tari Eason hit another quarter-ending three pointer to bring Houston’s lead to 15 entering the final period. Every time Toronto seemed to be gaining momentum and gaining on Houston’s lead, it would just get shut down.
Each time Toronto would put together a couple possessions, Houston was right there to stomp out those hopes. It was clear in the 4th that Toronto had lost their gusto for this game, the defensive lapses became more glaring, offensive possessions became more fruitless, rebounding efforts waned further. Barnes was still giving maximum effort though, putting in an elbow mid range jumper and following it up with a wide open dunk after a back door cut to bring his point total to 27 points for the night. Barnes is having a wonderful season, his shooting looks improved, he has been using his size to get deep into the paint well, but it has been overshadowed by Toronto’s shortcomings as a team.
Quickley’s lack of ability as a creator has become tough to witness night after night this year. Reed Sheppard, a notably poor defender, was able to stay in front of Quickley on a drive and force a pickup. Quickley also just barreled at the rim on a transition play, he just threw himself at the rim, threw a shot up, which was blocked with ease. With all these things going wrong, it was still a 10 point game with 8:39 left on the clock, Scotiabank was on their feet chanting for their Toronto Raptors at this point and they were quickly silenced by a Durant three which came after yet another offensive rebound by Houston.
Then Houston ran a high-low action between Steven Adams and Smith Jr. where all Quickley could do was watch as the ball sailed over his head, into Smith Jr.’s arms and into the basket which extended Houston’s lead to 17 with under 7 minutes to go in this game. Toronto was outscored 56-32 in the paint at this point.
After the timeout, Toronto got back to back threes from Ingram and Murray-Boyles and then a pair of free throws from Barnes to cut the lead to 9. This wasn’t enough to get back in the game, despite valiant efforts from Toronto in the closing minutes.
A night where you shoot 21/39 from behind the arc ending in a blowout defeat should raise all sorts of alarms about your basketball team. Tonight was a good night offensively from Toronto, it is known that they are and will be a formidable offense. But even on offense there were issues that were masked tonight due to the hot 21/40 shooting from the three-point line by the team.
When you really look at the shots Toronto created, there were a lot of ugly possessions where they had to be bailed out by Ingram or Barnes’ brilliance. You should be able to depend on your star players for shots like they made last night, but for that to be such a large part of your offense is somewhat worrying. There are some great cutting actions, we see rollers being found out of the pick n’ roll, but it’s just not enough.
You can’t expect to win many games playing the level of defense they do. There is no urgency on defense in transition, the point-of-attack defense is porous. RJ Barrett and Quickley consistently allowed paint touches, the rotations were weaker as the game progressed. Toronto was outrebounded 53-32 last night. Even without Poeltl, for a team to get 21 more rebounds than you in a game is inexcusable.
After a 1-4 start to the season which includes a four-game losing streak, it may be time for Darko Rajakovic to change some things around. This style of aggressive, heavy ball pressure defense does not seem to be worth the trouble it brings. Toronto does not have the type of defenders that thrive in this system, there isn’t enough athleticism on the perimeter to warrant this scheme. Having them crash the glass after misses should also be lessened, as it is exacerbating their transition defense issues. Many questions need to be answered about this team, and they need to be answered soon.
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