Joshua Howe Articles - Page 2

One of the best things about NBA games is that they’re full of moments. Those situations are what make the 48-minute journey feel even more rewarding. It’s the equivalent to watching a film and knowing the standout scenes buried within it, rather than having just watched an overarching review or read a synopsis. On Monday, […]

It was another great showing and another loss for the Toronto Raptors. As has always been the case with the team this season, the margins are thin. That means missing key rotations pieces like Gary Trent Jr. and Khem Birch are going to have a serious impact on the best of nights against the lowliest […]

All it took was a Bobby Portis pseudo-headbutt to reignite the Toronto Raptors’ gritty spirit and awaken them fully from the stupor that accompanies every Dwane Casey-led Detroit Pistons matchup. Midway through the first quarter, with the Raptors trailing the Milwaukee Bucks 22-7 and looking every bit as lethargic as they had the night prior, […]

At this point, it’s almost comical. The Toronto Raptors have now lost five-straight games to the Detroit Pistons, dating back to the 2020-21 season. And yet, the Pistons haven’t been a particularly threatening team during that span, having gone 16-61 against every other club in the league. Pistons head coach Dwane Casey himself now has an […]

The Toronto Raptors had their six-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday night, but it just may have been one of the team’s more uplifting matchups of the season. Locking horns with the Western Conference-leading Phoenix Suns, essentially the same team that carved a path to The Finals last postseason, the Raptors displayed grit, energy, and […]

It’s one of the most impressive aspects of Fred VanVleet’s magnificent season with the Toronto Raptors: He’s done all of it while adjusting to a new role on the team (following in the footsteps of Kyle Lowry) and the increased attention that comes with it. No longer are defenses simply treating VanVleet as a largely […]

Fred VanVleet’s magical run continued Sunday evening in the Toronto Raptors 105-101 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, but it wasn’t the easiest chapter in his season’s story. Entering the fourth quarter of a tight game against the Pelicans, VanVleet was having one of his tougher shooting nights. Even with the defense keyed in on […]

History. That’s what it took to save the Toronto Raptors from a hellacious and, frankly, bizarre game against the Utah Jazz, who were heavily depleted thanks to a mix of injuries and health and safety protocols. Nonetheless, in the third quarter, it came. Fred VanVleet was unconscious in that frame, ripping off a 17-0 personal […]

Toronto Raptors fans aren’t the only ones gushing about Fred VanVleet’s magnificent season.  VanVleet’s teammates, of course, know better than anyone else just how special his year has been amidst a multitude of league- and team-wide challenges—some foreseen and some unexpected. For rookie Scottie Barnes, who’s having a bright campaign of his own, FVV has […]

Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet is playing at an All-Star level. That much is undeniable, and his red-hot play continued on Tuesday night against the San Antonio Spurs to the tune of 33 points, seven assists, two steals and zero turnover on a 69.1 true shooting percentage in 32 minutes. He’s just in another world […]

For at least one night, the band was back together. Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse ran a tight ship against the New York Knicks on Sunday, executing rotations perfectly and trying out some things he hasn’t had the opportunity to do with his team having been broken up the majority of the season either with […]

Four games. That’s how many times Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, and OG Anunoby have taken the floor together for the Toronto Raptors this season. Whether it’s been injuries or health and safety protocols, the team’s core hasn’t had the opportunity to prove what they’re capable of on a nightly basis when all three suit up. […]

Long live the 2018-19 Toronto Raptors. As the Los Angeles Clippers roll into town on New Year’s Eve, Serge Ibaka will return for the first time since departing in the summer of 2020 from the team he won a championship with. There is an anticipation, of course, that Ibaka (who became a fan favourite during […]

In a game where the Toronto Raptors were still missing a significant portion of their rotation, including any and all typical centers (of which the roster has arguably none of anyway), Chris Boucher stepped up with his best performance of the season to date. “After the Cleveland game, it kind of gave me a perspective […]

There wasn’t much to take away from the Toronto Raptors’ 45-point thrashing to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night. Indeed, there hasn’t been much to take away from a number of games this season—when they’ve even been played at all. A brutal combination of injuries and mounting COVID-19 infections has made pertinent macro analysis on […]

Four regular roster players. That’s what the Toronto Raptors had to work with on a night when Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Precious Achiuwa, Gary Trent Jr., Malachi Flynn, Scottie Barnes, Isaac Bonga, Khem Birch, and Justin Champagnie were all in health and safety protocols. The ultimate result, predictably, was a 144-99 blowout loss […]

As the Omicron variant takes hold of the NBA, teams are having to navigate their way through the fetters of uncertainty. With the league showing no signs of stopping (for numerous reasons) as it did in March 2020, steadfast leadership within franchises is more valuable than ever, wherever that may come from. For the Toronto […]

As the old adage goes, people are creatures of habit. That’s doubly true for NBA players, who live and breathe a highly structured lifestyle. The unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 era, then, has completely disrupted those usual patterns, pulling players in and out of health and safety protocols, yanking them from in-rhythm stretches and making […]

Scottie Barnes is not new to the idea of guarding superstars, but when the Toronto Raptors faced off against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night, the roles were reversed. This time, he was the center of attention. This time, the Brooklyn defense had scouted ahead enough to recognize Barnes’ burgeoning offensive abilities, and so they […]

Returning to the mark of a .500 team was within grasp, but unfortunately the Toronto Raptors couldn’t make it happen despite matching up with a seriously depleted Brooklyn Nets squad. Sure, the Raptors looked quite good on the offensive side of things for most of the night, with Scottie Barnes hitting hooks and fadeaways, Fred […]

On a night where everyone was cooking, Toronto Raptors rookie Dalano Banton was no exception. The rookie entered the game and made an immediate impact as the de facto backup point guard, shredding the Sacramento Kings’ defense to the tune of six assists (tying a career-high) while committing zero turnovers. Over and over, the Canadian […]

As recently as a few games ago, Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes was looking like a conventional rookie on defense. That is to say, not particularly stalwart. The effort was almost always there, but he was getting blown by on the perimeter by shifty guards and pounded in the paint by larger bigs. There were […]

It may have been the best game of his young NBA career with the Toronto Raptors. No, Scottie Barnes didn’t explode for 25 points like he did earlier in the season against the Boston Celtics, but the completeness of his performance on both ends of the floor Friday night was a sight to behold. “He’s […]

The phrase “That was a tough one” gets tossed around a lot, but it is exactly the descriptor for the Toronto Raptors’ last second, gut-wrenching loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite OKC being a 7-16 team destined for the lottery, the Raptors managed to make them appear more than competent, allowing for a massive […]

Scottie Barnes may only be 22 games into his NBA career, but the Toronto Raptors rookie has already had his starstruck moment—or so he proclaims. On Monday, Raptors 905 (the parent club’s G League affiliate) played an early game at Scotiabank Arena against the Capital City Go-Go. It’s not unusual to see members of Toronto […]

Practice? We talkin’ ‘bout practice? Well, Pascal Siakam and the Toronto Raptors certainly are, with the team putting in more work at the OVO Athletic Centre this season than is typical for most NBA teams. Often, rest days wind up taking the place of practices due to the arduous nature of the league schedule, but […]

With only 30 minutes or so before the Toronto Raptors tipped off against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night, the team was informed that superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo would not be suiting up. But Raptors coach Nick Nurse said that didn’t affect them too much. “I guess I was pretty neutral on it, to be honest,” […]

Playing games at Scotiabank Arena has not provided the Toronto Raptors with the relief they had hoped it would. After falling to the Memphis Grizzlies Tuesday night, the Raptors are now 2-8 on their home turf (and 3-10 over their last 13 contests). That game was supposed to signal the start of a turnaround for […]

Even before he touched down on Canadian soil, Goran Dragic’s days as a member of the Toronto Raptors were numbered. From the kerfuffle around his initial “higher ambitions” comment that was blown out of proportion by the fan base to the Dallas Mavericks expressing obvious interest in pairing him with his Slovenian kinsman Luka Doncic, […]

The Toronto Raptors couldn’t overcome a severely depleted roster and dropped their second game in a row after losing to the Boston Celtics on Sunday. There were some spirited runs, including a breathtaking third quarter stretch that saw Scottie Barnes morph into the 6’9” version of Stephen Curry, raining three-pointers from a variety of areas […]

The Toronto Raptors are now through about a quarter of their 2021-22 season, a significant chunk of which has been spent away from Scotiabank Arena. In fact, they’ve played 12 of their 20 total games on the road, where they’ve achieved a 7-5 record. Most of those games came within the last two weeks, with […]

After going 2-0 to start the season series against the Indiana Pacers, the Toronto Raptors couldn’t find a way to remain undefeated. At the end of a long six-game road trip, with multiple rotation players missing from the lineup and more injuries accruing during the contest, Toronto just couldn’t muster a consistently high level of […]

Yuta Watanabe returned to the court for the Toronto Raptors in a big way Wednesday night. With just under 11 minutes remaining the fourth quarter, and with the Raptors trailing the Memphis Grizzlies by one, Malachi Flynn sped to the corner to try and contest a Dillon Brooks three. Brooks patiently waited for Flynn to […]

In what may have been the most fun game of the Toronto Raptors’ season to date, they managed to oust the pesky Memphis Grizzlies thanks to a number of thrilling performances. Toronto is now just one game away (Friday against the Indiana Pacers) from completing its 13-day, six-game road trip, its longest journey of the […]

The Toronto Raptors played against the team with the best record in the league, and it showed. While there were some impressive moments, mostly fueled by a spirited bench effort, the Raptors looked largely outclassed by the Golden State Warriors, their hyper-focus on Stephen Curry allowing for red-hot shooting performances from Andrew Wiggins and Jordan […]

Perhaps the Toronto Raptors should only play the second nights of back-to-backs—it seems to work out better for them. That was, at least, certainly the case against the Sacramento Kings on Friday night, whom the Raptors smacked around to the tune of a 19-point victory that was truly much more devastating than that, when considering […]

If you are a Toronto Raptors fan, their game against the Utah Jazz did not have much for you, unfortunately. On the first night of yet another back-to-back (why does it feel like there’s been 15 of these already?), the Raptors fell apart early against the Utah Jazz (by all accounts a very good basketball […]

The Toronto Raptors’ slide has hit two, and all of a sudden they are back below .500. After a red-hot 13-3 start, Toronto went back and forth with the Portland Trail Blazers (who were on the second night of a back-to-back) throughout the game, each team hitting the other with a flurry of buckets to […]

There’s no sugarcoating it: this was the Toronto Raptors’ worst loss of the season thus far. On Saturday night, they were outhustled by the Detroit Pistons, and outplayed by themselves. Despite having numerous opportunities to close the deal late against Detroit even after being weighed down by an egregious defensive performance and putrid free-throw shooting […]