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Toronto – Action, action, action, action.
Yes, we get it. The Toronto Raptors don’t want to see how they got to this unexpectedly happy point. It is simply a product, they believe, of a steady, monastic commitment to small things that add up to big things.
As if the whole organization had read and memorized it Atomic habitsor Cut wood, fetch water, Or falls asleep (quickly, and in a temperature-controlled room, of course) to healthy podcasts.
The other day, I asked Raptors head coach Darko Rajkovic if his club’s surprising start to the season — this was a team Vegas oddsmakers pegged to play 39 or 40 games — might somehow have changed his internal goals or outlook.
“Nothing will change with us,” he said. “We’re serious people. We’re not going into the season and changing our goals like the wind, that doesn’t work. At this level, in this organization, we know exactly what we want. We know it’s about the process, getting our guys better and then focusing on the process. One game at a time, one possession at a time.”
After the Raptors braced themselves for Brandon Ingram’s first official Raptors hitter — he scored a season-high 37 as the Toronto shortstop held off the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 110-99 win that extended their winning streak to eight games — I tried again.
Given that his team has lost one game in November and won 12 of its past 13 — the longest streak the Raptors have enjoyed since winning a franchise-record 15 games in 2019-20 — does he enjoy it? Did his team, which was 4-14 through 18 games a year ago, get to enjoy it?
“There’s nothing to joke about,” Rajkovic said. “Here’s the next game coming up very quickly, on our way. You know, it’s good for confidence. It’s good for us to continue to learn through these experiences, to understand our chemistry … there’s always work to do. … We’re enjoying each other, we’re enjoying the journey, and that’s the most important thing. And thank God we’re winning, too.”
But the joy is spreading, whether Rajkovic and his charges are aware of it or not.
Seats at Scotiabank Arena fill up early and the crowd stays late. ‘Defense’ slogans are more appropriate. The Raptors have opted to have the crowd sing the Canadian anthem rather than sing along with the anthem singer. It was temporary at the start of the season, but seemed to gain momentum with each home win.
Winning is the greatest legal addiction ever created, and it’s been sorely missing around the Raptors since they last made the playoffs in 2021-22, Scotty Barnes’ rookie season.
Now that the Raptors are handing out a handful of winning shots, you’d think a team hungry for some good stuff would go with it, like kids on high school fire.
“I don’t think one person in the locker room talked about the streak,” said Ingram, who speculated that the last time he was on a team that won 12-of-13 was when he was winning a state title for Kenston High School. It certainly wasn’t when he was stuck in basketball purgatory with the New Orleans Pelicans. “I don’t think Darko is going to let that creep into the locker room. We’re taking it day by day. Every day is an opportunity to get better. Just worry about the next opponent. It’s definitely a good feeling. We know we have to keep it going so we can keep it going.”
They did what was necessary against Cleveland. Both teams were playing on back-to-back nights, but without RJ Barrett, missing the game with a right knee, Toronto was healthy. The Cavaliers had an injury list that took more than the fingers of one hand to count.
A lot has happened for the Raptors this month, with the schedule serving weaker teams, or short-handed teams or teams on short rest. But instead of looking at the opportunity, the Raptors and their process have run the tables.
The Raptors were never able to get much separation from the Cavs (12-7), but held remote for most of the night. The Cavs cut Toronto’s lead to four with 4:37 left, but Ingram answered with a tough step-back three, and the Raptors got the steal. And when Shade made three of his free throws after drawing a foul on a three-point attempt and Toronto was back up by nine with 2:21 to play, they stayed the course from there.
They got Ja’Kobe Walter (starting for RJ Barrett), Jamal Sheid (nine points on three-of-four shooting and seven assists) and Uchiha Agbaji in a wave of Cavs star Donovan Mitchell, one of the NBA’s leading scorers on 17 points on 5-14-14, or 14 points below his season average.
They trusted Burns to manage Evan Mobley, the Cavs’ other star, and he did his usual bang-up job, limiting Mobley to 14 points and a matchup against his 2021 draft class teammate.
“And then the fourth quarter when the game was on the line, Scotty just turns into this monster where he gets all the stops and turnovers and rebounds and points,” Rajkovich said as Barnes finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. “He did a fantastic job for us there.”
And then there was Ingram.
Did he expect a big night? Ingram said that with Barrett, he knew someone had to step up, and: “I didn’t do much last night (he had 14 points on 6-of-18 shooting against Brooklyn), so it was time for me to do something.”
The Cavaliers chose to guard him in single coverage for most of the night, so the Raptors were happy to let the six-foot-eight bucket-gutter go to their spots, and he delivered again and again, scoring on the kind of contested two-point attempts that are illegal for most NBA players, but he routinely does.
“I think when he’s going like that, he’s proven it over and over again, you know, not just this year, but throughout his career, that once he gets going, give him the ball,” said Shead, who read the memo. “He’s not going to just shoot it every time; he’s going to make the right play. But tonight, that didn’t happen twice. We didn’t have to go and play out of a swing-swing situation. He just has to shoot the ball. So I think it was really good, you know, to have a night.”
And the Raptors have a season. Whether they choose to enjoy it or not is up to them. Not everyone needs to worry about the process, they can be happy with the results.
1. It will be fine: There were some real concerns about the nature of Barrett’s knee injury after he left in the third quarter of Sunday night’s win over the Brooklyn Nets.
That he attempted a routine fast-break dunk in favor of his right (foot) leg had some of the worst horrors in his circle. But after undergoing medical imaging and consulting with specialists Monday, everyone around the Raptors can breathe a sigh of relief. There was no structural damage, it was really just a mild sprain, and he was listed as day-to-day after sitting out Monday night against Cleveland. “Very peaceful, very nice,” Rajkovic said. My feeling, as I made some inquiries, was that Barrett’s absence would be of short duration, perhaps a week, to the great relief of all involved.
2. Not an MVP candidate, but: The entire MVP race in the NBA is ridiculous. If you don’t have a historically high season, ideally a championship match, you don’t need to apply. Does Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell qualify, given he arrived in Toronto averaging 30.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists while shooting 51.5 percent from the floor and 39.3 percent from three. Mitchell, at least, should have an inside track on being named first-team All-NBA for the second straight season.
“I think it’s because he’s passing the ball,” Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “… He’s got that good balance between being a scorer – and we need to score right now – (and finding his teammates). I don’t see a hint of selfishness, which is incredible, given what he’s been doing. To be close to the best part of his career on both sides of the ball.”
3. The CMB sees: It won’t end on any highlights or reels because the shot didn’t go down, but there was a play late in the first quarter that captured one of the (many) reasons the Raptors are excited about rookie Colin Murray-Boyles’ long-term potential. After Shadd split the Cavs defense, he extended a lob to Murray-Boyles that was too high, but Plant got all over it, and in one motion tapped it back off the rim to the feet of a wide-open Sandro Mamoklashvili. The shot didn’t go in, but that doesn’t make it less likely that it’s the kind of thing where Murray-Boyles makes this an interesting prospect.
