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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 a level of confidence that can only be brought on by a recent winning streak and good health.
Both teams were stalwart defensively, creating and picking off loose balls, stifling guys one-on-one and zooming around to contest triples. Phoenix, in particular, did a great job of preventing Fred VanVleet from even getting his hands on the ball, constantly crowding his space and attempting to keep him from entering the action.
“It was a physical game,” head coach Nick Nurse told reporters postgame. “It was slow-paced and grinding. I thought they were definitely trying to out-physical us and we hung in there really good and I thought we handled it really well and actually played really physical ourselves. Could’ve probably gone either way, really.”
BIG 3⃣ FROM OG!!!#OGAnunoby l #NBAAllStar
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— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) January 12, 2022
Despite this, VanVleet didn’t force things much, instead choosing his spots carefully and looking for others to help out. And help was there in the form of Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, who each looked stellar individually despite the attention they received.
Together, the Raptors’ core trio scored 68 of the team’s 95 total points.
Unfortunately for Toronto, it was the role players who couldn’t provide the extra firepower necessary to push the club to a victory. Chris Boucher continued his magnificent recent stretch, dropping 13 points and nabbing 16 rebounds (nine of which were offensive), but the remainder of the team only managed to muster 14 points.
“We probably didn’t shoot the ball well enough,” Nurse said. “But we played as hard as we could play.”
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Without Gary Trent Jr. and Scottie Barnes on the floor, the Raptors were simply too thin, unable to make up for the missing buckets. It also didn’t help that Yuta Watanabe, returning from health and safety protocols, had a tough night, or that Svi Mykhailiuk couldn’t deliver Nurse rotation-caliber minutes.
Even so, the Raptors were right there at the end of the game, clawing and scratching to snatch one away from the reigning Western Conference champs. The process for the night was good, from the effort to the shot selection to the defensive stands, and there’s not much more that can be asked from a team than that.
“You’ve just gotta appreciate the fight, be proud of the fight,” VanVleet said. “That was a really tough, intense game. Probably as good as it gets without a crowd in there. They certainly raised the level, that’s the reason they have the best record in the NBA is because they play that way every night and I thought that we answered the call. It was a good test for us. Obviously, we didn’t come out with the victory but you appreciate the fight.”
In case you missed it 👀#FredVanVleet | #NBAAllStar
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— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) January 12, 2022
Toronto will need that inspiring mettle as it steps into the upcoming phase of its 82-game journey, with 16 of its next 22 games on the road. Right back in the thick of things now, snagging a playoff seed (perhaps one as high as sixth, fifth?) is right there for the taking—but it’ll require this version of the team showing up more often than not.
“I wouldn’t say we played great the last couple games, but we found a way to win,” Nurse said. “And that’s kind of the meandering through the league schedule, you’re not always going to play that great, and then tonight when you have to play really hard and tough against a really, really good team, you can do it.”
