"Just how good can these Toronto Raptors become? On a frigid Sunday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, a winter storm constricting much of North America, the Raptors channeled that energy in their icy grip on the Thunder's offence. Toronto played a near-perfect game and as a result topped the league's best. It's hard to call a 54-50 half perfect for the Raptors, but that's more or less what the first half was."
"Toronto's defensive gameplan saw immaculate commitment from its players. The plan was to swarm the middle, help early and often, and only recover to some shooters, not all. Players like Lu Dort, Jaylin Williams, Cason Wallace, and Kenrich Williams saw half-hearted closeouts if at all. Some of those resulted in burns - Dort hit four triples in the first half - but the tactic saw the four combine to shoot 4-of-12 in total in the first half."
"And so Toronto won its game of the year. In fact, this could be Toronto's best win since ... the 2019-20 season? It's clear that as long as the Raptors have a modicum of health, they can punch with anyone. Toronto finished with 11 more shots than Oklahoma City. Barnes may not be the world's best scorer, but he found his way to a superstar performance anyway."
Toronto executed a near-perfect defensive performance, limiting Oklahoma City's offense through aggressive help, middle denial, and early double teams on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Specific perimeter threats received half-hearted closeouts, producing inefficient shooting for that quartet, while Toronto's backline forced turnovers and deflections by reading passes out of traps. The Raptors led 54-50 at halftime and finished with 11 more shots than Oklahoma City. Scottie Barnes delivered a superstar performance and sealed the win with an offensive rebound on a missed free throw. Depth and health are identified as keys to Toronto's ability to compete with top teams.
Read at Raptors Republic
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