Number two, the offense at times is far too predictable, and has easily been stalled by zone defenses. When the team is getting stops and running the floor things are fine. The defense has driven their hot starts against the Pacers and Clippers, but as both teams started making shots the Raptors had to face a set defense more and more with diminishing returns.
James Harden saw multiple bodies on many of his on-ball possessions, Toronto swarmed any drives LA could muster, and this led to fastbreak points off of leak outs. Jamal Shead's fingerprints were all over this one early, especially as a playmaker, his speed empowering him to swing the ball around and slither his way to the basket. He finished the opening period with 10 points and 5 assists, reaping the benefits of his drives to the basket in the form of layups and free throws.
Raptors sophomore point guard Jamal Shead recorded a new career-high 13 assists against the Los Angeles Clippers tonight. Shead's playmaking has been outstanding this season, and due to being placed in the starting lineup due to all the injuries Toronto faced, he was given able to have the opportunity to reach this career high. Shead is posting averages of 7 points per game, and 5.5 assists per game.
After nearly a full year away from official NBA action, Brandon Ingram returned to the court in style during his Raptors debut in Vancouver. Over four preseason games, Ingram looked every bit like a franchise cornerstone, averaging 18.3 points in 27.8 minutes per game on 44.8 percent shooting from the field, a blistering 52.9 percent from three, and 92.3 percent from the free-throw line.
Jamal [Shead], a lot's been made about your leadership on this team, especially being a young player and you organized with the guys and some stuff. I was just wondering like, how I guess, it comes naturally with you, but how hard is it to do when you're, you know, just going into your second year? Some guys might feel like more, you know, bashful, more like shy about it, but you don't. So, where does that come from? And how comfortable are you in that role already?
