10 things: Raptors overwhelm Spurs with size and athleticism in 43-point blowout

Here are 10 takeaways from the Toronto Raptors' 143-100 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

One: The Raptors repeated the exact same script for another blowout victory. Just as they did against the Atlanta Hawks, the Raptors overwhelmed the San Antonio Spurs with their signature blend of size and athleticism. Gregg Popovich was forced to call a timeout after the Raptors jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first two minutes, and they kept pouring it on from there.

The Spurs share the ball selflessly and play with great energy, but so did the Raptors, except they actually have the talent to deliver results. It genuinely appeared as if Toronto had the eight best players on the court on this night.

Two: The Raptors have scored 84 points in transition in their last two games, including 41 against the Spurs, and that somehow undersells their effectiveness. It was a relentless showing where the Raptors turned every stop into an opportunity to run, and scored in every way imaginable.

There were the standard give-and-go layups on a two-on-one break, the steal setting up the breakaway jam, the kick-out to the shooter flaring out to the wing, the drives against a backpedaling defender for the foul or the and-one, and even the early post-up with a big wing versus a guard. Toronto has always thrived on the break under coach Nick Nurse, but this is the first season where the team has been league leaders in defensive rebounding percentage, which is allowing them to push the break more than ever.

Three: Pascal Siakam is the main driver of the transition attack, as six of his 11 assists were on the fast break, with another three that were in the first eight seconds of the shot clock. He has been tireless in sniffing out transition opportunities, starting with leading the team in rebounding, then having the extra burst to dribble through defenders on the break before making the right read. He keeps improving in the halfcourt too, as he made five jumpers off the dribble, in addition to a handful of impressive drives where he used his footwork to fake out defenders.

Four: This play by Siakam deserves its own section. Look how he draws all five Spurs defenders into the paint before setting up Dalano Banton for the wide-open shot.

Five: This next step in Chris Boucher's growth is consistency. Boucher used to be a player who showed up in spurts, where his boundless energy would lead him to rack up boxscore contributions that seemed to overstate his impact.

Now it's the opposite, where Boucher is routinely delivering game-changing performances to lift the second unit. He rarely makes mistakes, which has been his biggest transformation over the years, while maintaining the same aggression. Boucher played the entire second quarter, scoring 12 points and snaring seven rebounds, and he was the reason the Raptors were able to pull away and never look back.

Six: One of the many benefits of playing bigger is that Gary Trent Jr. can attack more mismatches. The six-foot-five guard was the smallest player in Toronto's rotation, which meant that the Spurs had to cover him with six-foot guard Tre Jones, and that was all the encouragement that Trent Jr. needed.

He hunted the Spurs' point guards, pulling up in their faces without even creating much separation because he knew his shot wasn't going to be blocked. Trent Jr. is quietly second on the Raptors in scoring, and has especially thrived as the outlet in the two-man game with Siakam.

Seven: O.G. Anunoby's defense is so good that it's directly translating into offence. He followed up his six-steal, two-block masterclass against Atlanta with five steals and a block in three quarters.

The most impressive part is that every single one of those six stops directly led to the Raptors scoring in transition. Anunoby grabbed three steals in the first three minutes of the game, and at times was so calculated that he would slow down a half step in transition, make the opponent think that the crosscourt pass was open, only to pick off the play.

Eight: Nurse suddenly has lots of options to choose from on his bench. Precious Achiuwa got the first look off the bench in his usual pairing with Boucher, but he was just a tad too indecisive on offence and not as disruptive as he could be on defense, so Nurse swapped him out with Christian Koloko, who had started the game in place of Fred VanVleet.

Koloko's stat line hardly stands out, but he quietly contested 14 shots in his 23 minutes, which was nine more than any other teammate. Nurse has also gotten great production of late from Khem Birch, who looks to be more active and rejuvenated after undergoing off-season knee surgery. Playing bigger with at least one center on the floor at all times is an aberration for the Raptors, who typically start without one when VanVleet is healthy, but it's an option that Nurse can turn to this season that he never could last season.

Nine: Otto Porter Jr. fit in seamlessly in his Raptors debut. Porter Jr. fit right in as another six-foot-nine forward who could switch seamlessly across all positions, and contest for rebounds, while knowing where to position himself for open jumpers off kick-outs.

He didn't try to do too much, knocked in a wing three and was fouled on a turnaround jumper over a smaller defender, but otherwise played defense and kept the ball moving. Nurse's rotation was already crowded even with VanVleet missing, so it remains to be seen where Porter Jr. would find his minutes, but the second unit could really use another shooter.

Ten: Banton had his first strong showing of the season, knocking down three triples along with a pair of breakaway dunks. It's encouraging that his three-point shot has improved, as that's the easiest way for any second unit player to distinguish himself from the pack, but Banton's strength is still attacking the basket, which he has not taken enough initiative on. Thad Young also played in third-string minutes against his former team, which also benched him for weeks at a time, and was sharp.