The Raptors continue to be exactly what we expect, lose to Rockets

Asteropaios has a rough go of it in The Iliad. The Trojan ally finds himself facing Achilles. He puts up a good fight, but ultimately his purpose only serves to validate Achilles’ own might. It’s not through any fault of Asteropaios himself. He fights well — or at least as well as he can. He throws his spears at Achilles, and when those fail, Achilles strikes him down in the river Scamander. 

In many ways, the Toronto Raptors must find themselves empathizing with Asteropaios. They fell to the Houston Rockets despite throwing more or less the best spears in their quiver. For a time, RJ Barrett was cutting to the rim with ease, curling option screens to the paint, finishing everything he touched. Sandro Mamukelashvili was driving and finishing. Scottie Barnes was hitting triples, drawing closeouts, and thundering down the lane for one-hand gathers into one-hand-monster dunks. 

The Raptors were limited. Jonathan Mogbo played seven first-half minutes due to Toronto’s limited big depth, and his presence desperately limited the offence. Jamal Shead’s offensive struggles of late continued, as he often was forced to work in stasis, which is not a strength of his. 

And Toronto’s high-water mark, Toronto’s best punch, did little more than draw blood from the Rockets. (Indeed, Asteropaios was perhaps most famous, if he is famous at all, for being the only Trojan to actually draw blood from Achilles with one of his thrown spears.) While the Raptors threw haymaker after haymaker, the Rockets calmly deflected those punches and redirected the blows. Kevin Durant hit everything he threw at the rim, even finding himself able to score over Barnes — a rare feat this season. He scored 22 in the first half on 12 shots. 

Clint Capela grabbed four offensive rebounds in the first half. In fact, partially due to Houston shooting so efficiently, the Rockets had more offensive rebounds (10) in the first half than the Raptors had defensive ones (8). It’s virtually impossible to win when that is the case. 

But if you look deeper, the Rockets are no Achilles. They have in fact been floundering recently, unlike the greatest warrior in Greek mythology, one from whom even Alexander the Great drew inspiration. No, the Rockets are not that. They’ve alternated wins with losses for the past few weeks, even getting blown out by the San Antonio Spurs in their contest previous to their win over the Raptors. They are a good team but not a great one. Their best offensive rebounding weapon, Steven Adams, is out injured. 

Yet the Raptors were completely outgunned against the Rockets. For a time they competed. But they could do no more than that. 

The Raptors of course were missing Jakob Poeltl, Collin Murray-Boyles, and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Rebounding is hard in such scenarios. But great teams find ways to overcome such deficits. The Raptors were not able to do so. Again, like Asteropaios, they didn’t embarrass themselves. They played … fine. Achilles slew many warriors who were far less notable. But they all died the same. 

In the third quarter, Mamukelashvili snatched the ball above the break for a pick-six. Barnes threw down another monster dunk in transition. But Toronto continued finding its double-teams against Alperen Sengun a touch slow and passive, and he passed over the top to 3-point shooters. Barnes grabbed some offensive rebounds of his own, only to find himself stripped under the rim. Barrett gave up blowby drives to Amen Thompson and airballed an answering triple attempt of his own. 

The Raptors continued to fight their way back into the game. But they couldn’t hit enough triples, and couldn’t win the battle in the paint defensively. Every push they made was cut off at the knees. 

There was a moment of brief, glimmering hope late in the third quarter. Jamison Battle entered the game. He hit a triple. The Rockets were flustered and received some technical fouls. Toronto brought the game within a single point. 

But Durant remained implacable. He scored over Barnes in isolation, and Ingram couldn’t answer with an isolation of his own. This is what being outclassed looks like. Barnes, then Battle, missed triples. The Raptors found the shots they wanted. But the Rockets, who are decidedly not a good shooting team, managed to outshoot the Raptors up and down the court. When they couldn’t score, Thompson drove for free throws. If that didn’t work, Capela found more rebounds.

Wait, what? Bam Adebayo? Jesus. For most teams, surprising things can happen, it turns out.

Barnes played well. He hit his mid-rangers, found some triples, dunked a bunch. Outside of Barrett, no other starter joined him. Ingram was off all night. In the fourth he contested a layup, fouled on the make, and got a technical called on him as he threw the ball off the stanchion. Toronto’s wheels fell off late, which happens. It’s hard to play well, if not quite well enough, for 48 minutes. It’s hard to play the foil and keep a brave face. Usually the wheels will fall off, at some point.

Would the game have been different had Poeltl been healthy, if Murray-Boyles had been available? Maybe. There’s always an excuse, always a reason for inferiority. This is who the Raptors are. They lose games if there’s any legitimate reason to lose. They usually put up a good fight, but they always play the good soldier and fall in the end. Asteropaios would be proud of them. 

And so the season marches on. There’s little left for the Raptors to learn. If they are the favourite, they will win. If they are the underdog, they will lose. Soon the playoffs will come. Perhaps something will change then.

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