Depleted Raptors grind out much-needed victory over 76ers

Everyone has problems.

The Toronto Raptors, for example, might have problems putting a competitive NBA team on the floor. It certainly looked that way when they opened their regular season by getting blown out by 30 against the Cleveland Cavaliers to commemorate their 30^th anniversary season.

It was only one game, of course. And guess what?

For one night, the Raptors looked like they took their season-opening lesson to heart. Every player that hit the floor – 10 different Raptors played at least 12 minutes – delivered a noticeable burst of energy, even if it occasionally meant stacking mistakes and errors on top of moments of inspiration on Friday.

Watching Toronto’s 115-107 win over the depleted Philadelphia 76ers wasn’t for the faint of heart. Three Raptors fouled out – that hasn’t happened for a decade – they had more turnovers than assists, shot just 26 per cent from the three-point line and the two teams combined for 99 free-throw attempts, the most ever in a Raptors game. But if you enjoy young guys with plenty to prove playing like their careers were depending on it, it was your kind of game.

“As you can see tonight, we had a lot of guys that we were not planning to be in the rotation,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “But they end up cracking the rotation and helping the team. So this is a team that’s together. I told them tonight, we out-teamed them and that’s one thing I was proud of. All the mistakes we made, 26 turnovers and a bunch of fouls and whatnot, but we were still able to compete at a high level and get it done.”

The Raptors' star was the star. Scottie Barnes’ energy never wavered, from the driving dunk he opened the game with to the slam he delivered with just over a minute left that told Philadelphia it was time to go home. Barnes finished with 25 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block while anchoring one makeshift lineup after another.

But there was plenty of help from unlikely places. Jamison Battle, undrafted and playing on a two-way contract, scored 12 points on five shots while grabbing six rebounds in 15 minutes for Toronto. Jonathan Mogbo was a team-best +21 as he finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals in 24 minutes. 

"Just play your role,” said Mogbo of his approach in his second career NBA game. “Don’t go out there, try to do something that you don't do. I feel like that's gonna take me a long way. On our team, everyone knows their role, and I feel like we do a great job and it kind of spreads across the stat sheet.”

Meanwhile, the Raptors held Philadelphia to 37.8 per cent shooting (and 9-of-28 from three) while forcing 16 turnovers. The Raptors shot 46.1 per cent from the field (6-of-23 from deep) and converted 39-of-46 free throws, which was enough to make up for their many mistakes.

The night’s general theme was that if NBA-calibre players pull together and push forward, you never know what might happen.

It’s an approach that can overcome a lot of problems.

Now, you might think that Nick Nurse and the 76ers might be an exception to standard NBA challenges.

The former Raptors head coach is lucky enough to coach not one but two legitimate NBA superstars in Joel Embiid and Paul George this season. Embiid, of course, might be the best player in the world when he’s healthy.

Which is the problem. The NBA season is only two games old, but Nurse hasn’t had his two key players for either of them. George’s situation is straight forward – he injured his knee in pre-season and is day-to-day with the possibility he returns early next week.

Embiid’s case is different. The Sixers have stressed that the massive Cameroonian centre isn’t injured but simply ‘ramping up’ to game shape. The NBA is investigating because sitting out games without a specific injury is a violation of league rules as they try to encourage more stars to play more games. 

In the meantime, Nurse is trying to craft together a championship team in a win-or-bust season for the all-in Sixers, while Rajakovic simply is trying to scratch out as many wins as possible in a season that will most likely end with the Raptors in the draft lottery.

At least Nurse has experience with fluid lineups. It was his 2018-19 championship team where the term ‘load management’ was popularized as Kawhi Leonard played just 60 regular-season games. Nurse also navigated the trade deadline makeover that brought Marc Gasol to Toronto.

There were injuries, too. By the time the playoffs rolled around, the Raptors starting lineup had played just 160 minutes together. They figured it out on the fly, however, and the Raptors won a title because of it.

That was Nurse’s first year as an NBA head coach. Now in his seventh season and second with Philadelphia, he’s got the perspective to recognize that even the best teams sometimes come together slowly.

“I think we're kind of under that impression [that it could take some time],” said Nurse. “I mean, we've got like 14 new players. We know we got a lot of pulling it together and figuring out who we are and all that kind of stuff. I know everybody wants to win yesterday and all that stuff. I understand it's not that easy to do. I've got to learn them. They've got to learn me. We got to figure out who works together well. I think there's still a lot of that going on, even besides the Joel and Paul [situation]. Just stuff.”

Fortunately, he’s got former Raptors star Kyle Lowry to lend his wisdom as a steadying veteran voice in his 19^th season. Lowry started for the Sixers against his old team and got a nice ovation when introduced. He finished with 14 points, two assists and three steals.

He’s not the same Lowry who was among the best all-around guards in the NBA when leading the Raptors to the playoffs eight times in nine seasons, but he’s still Kyle.

“He's pretty moody right now,” said Nurse, joking but not. “I've been through that before with him as well. But obviously he's playing hard and brings a lot to the team. Had a long relationship with him. We can kind of ride the waves with our moods back and forth with each other and we'll be all right in the end.”

Where this version of the Raptors ends up is an open question. Rajakovic also has been cobbling together a short-handed line-up. Toronto was without point guard Immanuel Quickley (back), wing RJ Barrett (shoulder), veteran centre Kelly Olynyk (back), rookie guard Ja’Kobe Walter (shoulder) and veteran guard Bruce Brown (knee).

But rather than shrink his already diminished rotation, Rajakovic chose to expand it. With the way the fouls were adding up, he had no choice. By the time the first quarter was over, 10 different Raptors had seen the floor. By the end of the first half it was 13, the exception being rookie Ulrich Chomche.

And all this on a team where quality depth profiles as a potential weakness.

When you roll out rookies Shead and Mogbo, both second-round picks and journeyman centre Bruno Fernando in a lineup ‘anchored’ by second-year wing Gradey Dick – just a sampling of some of the bizarro-world combinations Rajakovic put on the floor – some things are going to happen, good and bad. 

The Sixers also were making it up as they went along, which was reflected in a game that featured a combined 66 personal fouls, 42 turnovers and took nearly three hours to play.

But somehow it worked. The energy and effort level – missing for stretches in the season opener – was running at full capacity. The Raptors led 62-56 at half even while making 14 turnovers because of the efforts not only of Barnes, who started the game off by driving full court for a dunk to set the tone and had 11 points and four assists by the intermission, but the likes of Mogbo. The latter player stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, six rebounds, two assists, a steal and three blocked shots in 12 minutes.

Battle was signed to a two-way contract on the eve of the regular season.

In just his second NBA game, he scored nine straight points – two threes and a three-point play – in a 101-second flurry that helped provide the Raptors some breathing room that neither team been able to find all night.

And then 10 seconds later, Battle was getting a standing ovation after picking up his sixth foul in just 15 minutes of floor time.

“It was tough out there,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever fouled out of a game in 15 minutes.”

For the Raptors, who improved to 1-1, it was proof of concept, that a grab bag of young players who play hard and play together can, for one night at least, find ways to help win an NBA game.

For the Sixers, now 0-2, it was a reminder that nothing can be taken for granted.