10 Things: As Raptors lean on VanVleet and Anunoby, Barnes looks like a passenger

Here are 10 takeaways from the Toronto Raptors' 116-109 win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday: 

One: It wasn't pretty, but the Raptors took care of business against a young and sloppy opponent. The Raptors put themselves at a disadvantage with a lethargic defensive showing to start, but were able to climb back into the game and trade blow for blow before pushing ahead in the fourth. The possession battle once again heavily favoured Toronto, as it attempted 18 more shots than Houston. 

Two: Fred VanVleet and O.G. Anunoby had to make so many plays to overcome a lack of help from their teammates. The two combined for 59 points and 11 threes, while also causing havoc on defence, and stood head and shoulders above the rest as the best two players on the floor.

Scottie Barnes should be the third playmaker to lead the charge in Pascal Siakam's absence, but he continues to be a passenger rather than a main driver of the offence. Raptors coach Nick Nurse dismissed concerns over a lingering ankle injury and insisted that nothing is physically holding Barnes back from being more aggressive. The onus cannot fall only on the two veterans to make up Siakam's lost production. This is a prime opportunity for Barnes, and he hasn't met the challenge. 

Three: The Raptors made life easier for VanVleet by having him operate off the ball. The Rockets easily came undone with one screen away from the play, and the Raptors were able to find VanVleet repeatedly for open threes off pin-downs.

He finished with seven triples on the night, and was excellent in big moments as usual. VanVleet is averaging a hair under 30 points per game since Siakam went down, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see opponents double-team him more in the coming games to force another player to beat them.

Four: Anunoby continues to be a nightmare for opposing offences. He pushed the lead to double digits in the third quarter by collecting three steals in the span of five possessions.

On the first play, he ripped the ball free and set Gary Trent Jr. on the break for a layup. On the ensuing play, Anunoby broke up the play once again, pressuring Jalen Green into a turnover, where he took it in for a dunk. A minute later, Anunoby dove on the floor to win another possession, which led to a triple for VanVleet and a timeout for the Rockets.

Anunoby isn't just locking players down, but he is actively creating offence with his aggressive style of defence. 

Five: Precious Achiuwa became a main plotline after Nurse called him out in the pregame press conference. Nurse plainly laid out that Achiuwa needs to play better, and had made a point to sit down with the third-year player to highlight a series of miscues from recent games that have led to brief benchings.

Achiuwa did not step up to the challenge, however, as he was poor in both stints off the bench. In his first shift, he blindly drove into an over-eager charge, allowed Green to blow right past him for a layup, got stuffed at the basket, missed an open corner three, and then was caught ball-watching as the last man back on defence, which allowed the Rockets to leak out for a dunk.

Nurse cut him off until the third quarter, where he was erratic once again. In a play that summed up the night, Achiuwa was wildly out of control on a drive and was clipped while airborne. 

Six: Achiuwa had to be helped to the locker room and was diagnosed with an ankle injury with more imaging to come in the following days.

If he misses time, he will be the eighth rotation player to miss time early into the season. The Raptors thankfully have adequate depth in the frontcourt, but Achiuwa's much-anticipated breakout season has hit yet another setback. Expect more of Christian Koloko and Thad Young in the coming games to make up for Achiuwa's absence. 

Seven: Young has consistently provided a steadying force, and it remains a mystery as to why Nurse initially had him out of the rotation at the start of the year. Young didn't even score a single point but finished the game as a plus-21 just by being solid on both ends.

His reliable decision-making in the high post allowed the Raptors to run more set actions for VanVleet and Anunoby to get to their shots without needing to handle the ball, and Young was persistent on the offensive glass to win extra possessions.

Defensively, Young held up well in the post and showed good hands to create deflections. He is a great insurance policy that is really paying off at the moment, but should be included even when everyone is healthy.

Eight: The Raptors are running more halfcourt sets in Siakam's absence to generate offence. One of their go-to's has been horns action, where the Raptors line up two players at the elbows with one holding the ball, while the other sets a screen for a shooter coming up to receive the ball. Young was especially effective in running this set, where his five screen assists led to 12 points for the Raptors.

Nine: Otto Porter Jr. is another dependable veteran Nurse can turn to. Porter Jr. is still getting up to speed after a delayed start to the season, but it's already clear that he fits what the team needs in terms of outside shooting and disruptiveness on defence.

Porter Jr. knocked down back-to-back triples in the fourth to give the Raptors breathing room, and was reliable on defence. When he is playing at his best, Porter Jr. can even eat into some of Trent Jr.'s minutes, as he gives more size at the expense of less aggressive shooting.

Ten: Dalano Banton delivered a mixed performance off the bench. Banton showed good aggression in attacking the rim and earned six trips to the line, while also taking the right types of threes despite not connecting.

However, he also made glaring errors like not containing Eric Gordon off the dribble, or getting stripped in the open floor and then failing to hustle back for the stop. Nurse prefers Banton over Flynn at the backup spot, but Banton needs to be more consistent to actually win it outright.