10 things: Nick Nurse unveils five-forward Raptors lineup to great effect

Here are 10 takeaways from the Toronto Raptors‘ 129-104 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

One — The Raptors took care of business against lesser opposition and are back to .500 on the season. More difficult challenges await with Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Utah over the next week, but this is also the best time to face them. The Raptors finally have their full complement of players available, the stars are playing like stars, Nick Nurse can finally have his rotation the way he likes, and the results are coming easily. This win over the Spurs was never in doubt as they pushed the lead as high as 31 points before calling in the third stringers.

Two — Nurse is on to something with the five-forward lineup that bullied the Spurs at the start of the second and fourth quarters. Reserve options Svi Mykhailiuk and Yuta Watanabe joining health and safety protocols left Nurse without any viable guards on the bench, so he just opted to play with five forwards on at once.

Scottie Barnes ran the point, OG Anunoby was a beefy two-guard, Pascal Siakam served as a lanky three, while Chris Boucher and Precious Achiuwa handled the more traditional front-court duties. The lineup featured five players with seven-foot-plus wingspans, all with the ability to switch freely and to guard on the perimeter, and they simply crushed the Spurs on both ends.

The main question was how the Raptors would score, since there’s only one three-point shooter in that group, but the answer is built into the design of the lineup. There are bound to be size mismatches against opposing guards, and that’s where the Raptors went, with Siakam and Anunoby scoring easily over the helpless guards who tried to match them. The rest of the offence was supplemented by the transition opportunities that came as a result of their defensive pressure.

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Three — This is the front office’s vision for the team. This lineup was foreshadowed in Summer League, when Nurse was asked about his team’s off-season moves, where he joked that he would play five forwards at once. Masai Ujiri, Bobby Webster, and Nurse are aligned in aspiring to play this brand of basketball that is interchangeable, that is overflowing with athleticism, and that is rooted in defence.

In the short-term, the Raptors will be looking to see how their five-forward strategy reacts to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. But the bigger question is what it will take for it to work long-term, because almost every core piece aside from Fred VanVleet was acquired with this strategy in mind.

Four — VanVleet continues to rip through 30-point efforts like it’s nothing. He jump-started the team after a bit of a sloppy start, pouring in 14 points in the quarter, while winning a handful of key defensive sequences to keep the Raptors in the lead. From there, he caught fire from deep before finishing with seven treys in three quarters, and was so hot that he was even nailing HORSE shots. It’s hard to decide which one was better between a flip shot over his shoulder on a drive to the hoop, or the banked in turnaround fadeaway to beat the shot clock. Either way, VanVleet is timing his all-star push perfectly.

Five — Siakam continues to thrive as the co-star next to VanVleet. He battled foul trouble at the start, picking up two quick calls in the first two minutes of the game which led to Nurse shuffling his rotation, but Siakam was sharp from that point onward. He looks to be in incredible condition, as Siakam continues his string of double-digit rebounding games with 12 boards in 27 minutes, while also looking extremely fast in transition. Siakam even knocked down two threes, which has been the one missing element in his game over the past few weeks.

Still, the catch-and-shoot jumper is mostly a luxury, as Siakam will always be effective so long as he’s able to impact the rim.

Six — Barnes is playing “the Marc Gasol role” with the starting group, says VanVleet. It’s an unlikely title, given that Gasol and Barnes are nothing alike, with one being big and plodding and the other being a manchild, but their function is similar.

Offensively, Barnes is sacrificing in terms of shot attempts, where he only took seven in 33 minutes, but he often has a hand in dictating play. The most similar visual is Barnes holding the ball at the top of the arc, marshalling his teammates around to set up the play before finding them open as he designed, which was the play that Nurse always dubbed as “give it to Marc and cut.” Barnes’ ability to facilitate play is the key to playing big, and it’s allowed Nurse to cut out his unreliable backup guards from the regular rotation.

Seven — Gary Trent Jr. was able to stay effective on offence even without the outside shot. The Spurs adjusted at halftime, selling out with extra bodies on VanVleet which freed up Trent Jr. to emerge, and while his threes continue to spill out, Trent Jr. was crafty in how he was able to find his shots. He showed great touch on a runner in the lane where he floated it over the seven-footer Jakob Poeltl, then mixed it up another time by putting his shoulder into Poeltl to neutralize the shot blocker before banking in the layup. Trent Jr. also curled between the defence for a short push shot.

The luxury of being a strong shooter is that there will be chances to play on the catch, and Trent Jr. should continue to look for these chances to mix up his offence.

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Eight — Anunoby is also having to sacrifice some of his offence with everyone healthy. But for the moment, he’s still looking to get his when the ball swings to him. The numbers will look better once his catch-and-shoot threes start dropping again, but in the meantime, Anunoby is showing faith in the practice that he’s done on his isolation game.

He has the strength advantage in most matchups, and when he has a good command of his handle, Anunoby can get to his spot and either rise above the defence for finish, or spin to his short fadeaway. It’s not always the best look, but it’s good that Anunoby is trying to recapture the inklings of success he had earlier in the year as a creator.

Nine — Justin Champagnie’s extra work is paying off. Champagnie nailed three triples in addition to his usual opportunistic hustle around the basket for offensive rebounds, and revealed post-game that his routine of late has been to come in each day and make 200 threes.

Champagnie’s defensive effort is consistently high and he is a smart player who understands his role, so his future in the league really comes down to his ability to capitalize on open jumpers. Nurse clearly likes him, and has kept Champagnie in mind even with the roster getting back to full strength. But with only four total makes from deep in his 18 NBA appearances to date, there is still lots of work to be done.

Ten — Chris Boucher has quietly turned his season around. In his last 10 games, Boucher averaged 14 points and eight rebounds including 53 per cent shooting from the field, and while that was buoyed by a couple of outlier games, it’s clear that he’s back to being the Raptors’ best bench player. He only scored four points in this game, but Boucher was effective in all the ways the Raptors needed from him, which is mostly energy on the defensive end. Boucher blocked two shots in the post, made a smart read to intercept a high-low feed, and even collected a rare steal on the perimeter which allowed him to collect two free throws on the fast break.

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