Finally healthy at the same time, Toronto Raptors flash a glimpse of their potential

So, Nick Nurse, head coach of the Toronto Raptors, do you remember when the last time was you had the top-eight players in your rotation available for the same game?

“I do not,” Nurse said prior to his club hosting the New York Knicks at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Well, it was a trick question. With rookie Scottie Barnes back from COVID protocols and one missed game due to a sore knee, the game marked the first time this season the Raptors have had their top-eight players (by minutes played per game) healthy and available.

“Then no wonder it’s so hard to remember,” said Nurse.

It would have been cause for celebration, given the struggles the Raptors have had keeping healthy this season. With long-term injuries to Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Khem Birch and Yuta Watanabe, as well as assorted bumps and bruises — and all of this before Omicron hit — Toronto has had only one game when they haven’t had at least two of their top eight unable to play.

But with Scotiabank Arena devoid of fans for the second-straight game due to restrictions on indoor gatherings to less than 1,000, things were a bit muted.

How good the Raptors are or can be this season is still a mystery, even three months into the season. With their top-five players — Anunoby, Barnes, Siakam, Gary Trent Jr. and Fred VanVleet — having played just 50 minutes together in the team’s first 32 games, their slightly positive net rating gave away little.

Still, as Raptors president Masai Ujiri sat in section 118 all by himself, freed from his typical spot in the video room, he had to be encouraged by what he saw.

The Raptors jumped on the struggling Knicks early and were able to keep the pressure on for most of 48 minutes. The ball moved; the offence was never forced; there were contributions big and small throughout the lineup and the Knicks were never able to seriously threaten.

Numbers don't lie pic.twitter.com/v9LUmC8VMk

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) January 2, 2022

The 120-105 win was Toronto’s second straight and improved them to 16-17 on the season. The Knicks fell to 17-20 while the Raptors pulled past them and into 10th place in the Eastern Conference, the last spot for the play-in tournament.

“I think we felt good about our group all year, to be honest with you,” said VanVleet, who popped off for a season-high 35 points on 11-of-17 shooting, including 7-of-13 from deep. It was his second straight game topping the 30-point mark, the first time he’s done it in consecutive games.

“I just like our spirit and our chemistry and kind of the enthusiasm that we have for the game.

“It’s going to take time to get it to be where we need it to be, but you would hope if we keep climbing by April and May we’ll be at our best, and that’s kind of the goal. To start the year off with everybody back, and hopefully we can run off a couple here playing good basketball, this is kinda where you want to be. We’ve just gotta continue to get better individually and collectively and I think that we’ll be a tough team to beat if we can keep growing towards the end of the year.”

Siakam added 20 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists while Anunoby and Barnes combined for 27 points and four steals.

The Raptors shot 47 per cent from the floor while holding the Knicks – who got 19 from Canadian national team guard RJ Barrett – to 42 per cent before Nurse emptied his bench with just under five minutes to play.

With so many healthy bodies there was even a question of who would start because, until today, Nurse never had to choose if he wanted to compliment his perceived top five with either Birch or Achiuwa at centre, because the option had never been presented.

Nurse ended up going with a smaller group with both Birch and Achiuwa coming off the bench.

The starters didn’t waste any time going to work. They staked the Raptors to a 17-6 lead with VanVleet scoring 10 quick points. But the early surge wasn’t one guy feeling it. The scores came off defensive stops; off ball movement in the half court and with the Raptors pushing in transition.

As has been the case with the Knicks all season, they picked up steam when their starters went to the bench, but the Raptors were able to keep finding combinations that worked. Birch was the first player in off the bench, coming in for Barnes, but Barnes went back in for Siakam a few minutes later before Nurse dipped any further into his depth.

The Raptors started the second quarter with a 15-1 push that featured steals by Anunoby and Barnes that led to buckets; playmaking by Siakam leading to an easy shot in the paint for Achiuwa and even Chris Boucher finishing off a 2-on-1 with an alley-oop from Achuiwa. The Raptors led by as much as 17 but took a well-earned 56-45 lead into the half.

“I think one of the big pluses was the start of the second quarter, I think that was probably a lineup I’m not sure we’ve drawn up or seen before [with] Precious, Chris, I think OG [and] Scottie running the point,” said Nurse. “… It was good, they did a good job, they got off to a 6-0, 8-0 start, I thought that kinda put a good stint in there for a combo of the second unit and some other guys [and we] got to try some things defensively with a couple of big lineups, it was all right.”

They kept it rolling from there. A pair of Barnes triples midway through the third quarter gave the Raptors a 19-point lead and would have had Scotiabank roaring had there been anyone there, but the Raptors’ bench did their best to make up for it. A VanVleet three out of a Knicks timeout kept the momentum and his dish to Siakam pushed the Raptors’ lead to 24.

The pieces seemed to fit. With VanVleet in a groove scoring, Siakam was content to mix things up and initiate the offence, bringing his second career triple-double into view, while Barnes kept doing what he’s been doing all year – making plays in gaps at both ends of the floor, with some minutes as defacto point guard added. “It’s a position that comes naturally to me,” Barnes said.

Anunoby hasn’t found his three-point stroke after missing 15 of the previous 18 games but was effective bulling his way to the rim and getting to the line where he was 5-of-5.

With more choices available, even an off night from Trent Jr. – he picked up his fifth foul early in the third quarter and fouled out midway through the fourth – didn’t matter. Nurse still had plenty of strings to pull and, with the lineup deeper, the Raptors’ bench – a weak point all season – was able to hold its own with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting through three quarters, helping the Raptors take a 96-74 lead into the fourth.

The constant was the defensive energy remained high, which has been the Raptors’ vision since training camp.

“Just all in all you feel like you have a shot when everyone’s available. I feel good about our top six, seven, or eight and the rest of those guys we got to bring them along and get them up to speed,” said VanVleet. “But even the end of the rotation has been put to the fire this year so they are better for it.

“All of those guys are going to have their opportunity, but I think our core is pretty good and we sprinkle the rest of those guys in and find the rhythm and rotations as we continue to play more minutes together, you just feel good about having a fair shot about it.”

For the first time this season the Raptors looked like they’re supposed to look, and they didn’t look half bad.