The Toronto Raptors looked like a serious team in the East despite the departure of Fred VanVleet. They started off strong with the core of Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, and OG Anunoby with a win against a crumbling Chicago Bulls team. But, the squad seems to have cooled off and gotten to a losing skid. Their game against a young Portland Trail Blazers squad may have exposed the symptoms of a sickness that they need to fix for the season.

The Raptors had an unfortunate night from far out against the Blazers. They all collectively only notched four three-pointers while attempting 29 shots from that area. With minimum attempts of 25, this is the second-worst outside shooting slump that they have experienced in all of franchise history, per Sportsnet Stats.

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Shots were not falling especially in the third quarter. The Raptors did not have a player score more than 20 points in this game. Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes notched the most buckets for the squad. But, no one else was able to replicate the same performance nor stepped up such that they could get the win.

The Raptors just needed eight points to send the game to overtime. But, their effort to mount a comeback also fell short. They had only scored 17 points which did not at all look good for the team. Not being able to stay competitive in the rebound battle was also a big factor in the losses and even in their win against the Bulls. Will they be able to bounce back and pull off the impossible against the Milwaukee Bucks?