Raptors capitalize with Jokic on the bench to pull off improbable win

The legend goes that when the NBA was trying to figure out what this skinny, raw kid playing second division basketball in Greece could turn into, the Toronto Raptors were already sure, and frantically trying, to acquire a first-round pick in the 2013 draft to get a crack at Giannis Antetokounmpo.

But in his first draft as general manager of the Raptors, Masai Ujiri couldn’t get it done. It should be noted the reason they didn’t have a first-round pick was because it was part of the deal that helped former Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo land Kyle Lowry in the summer of 2012.

All things considered, that worked out well.

But missing out on Antetokounmpo frustrated Ujiri and when the 2014 draft came around, he wasn’t going to miss out on another raw, physically gifted player who was otherwise well off the radar, which is how the Raptors ended up choosing Brazilian forward Bruno Caboclo 18th overall.

Which is too bad — and not just because Caboclo ended up being one of the Raptors' more glaring miscalculations in an otherwise impressive player personnel record.

The truly unfortunate thing about how the 2014 draft unfolded wasn’t that they took Caboclo with their first-round pick, but that they used the 37th overall pick on DeAndre Daniels — a forward out of the University of Connecticut who never played an NBA game.

Meanwhile, the best player available in the 2014 draft — and quite possibly the best player in all of basketball right now — remained available until the Denver Nuggets took Nikola Jokic with the 41st pick.

You win some, you lose some.

The Raptors might have lost on draft night seven years ago — most of the NBA did — but they got an unlikely and impressive victory over Jokic and the Nuggets on Saturday night. It was a result that no one would have seen coming given that the Raptors were without two starters in Fred VanVleet (knee) and OG Anunoby (finger) and playing just 24 hours after a massive effort to get the win over Phoenix the night before.

The key to the Raptors' 127-115 victory was the way they took advantage of the moments when Jokic wasn’t on the floor — a must given the Nuggets are 20.1 points better per 100 possessions when Jokic plays than when he sits, the largest differential in the NBA.

Toronto outscored Denver 23-16 when Jokic was out for eight minutes bridging the third and fourth quarter, a stretch which proved the difference.

And they did it with one of the funkier lineups Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has rolled out in some time as newcomer Thad Young joined Khem Birch, rookies Dalano Banton and Scottie Barnes with Chris Boucher as the only somewhat reliable three-point shooter. But their overall length and hustle allowed them to scramble their way to an 18-8 to start to the period that dug them out of a six-point hole to start the fourth and the Raptors didn’t look back.

“Well I think if you kind of look at that stretch, I think Thad kind of made a couple tough shots, Dalano made a play or two, Scottie made a play or two … I think Chris is the one who really, you know, with the put backs and then that corner three, he probably had the most impactful job. But listen, they just wouldn't leave until they scored,“ said Nurse. “They were all three really tough on the glass and then I thought Scottie made some timely just kind of [isolation] moves right down the lane and used the size.”

Nurse stuck with them – he didn’t bring leading scorer Pascal Siakam back until there was just 2:39 left to play and Gary Trent Jr. – coming off a 42-point game in Phoenix Friday -- didn’t play in the fourth quarter at all. 

“It was exciting, they're playing well, they're winning the game, but also, I'm looking at coach like, ‘Yo, am I getting back in the game? What's going on?” said Siakam. “But kudos to those guys.' They came in with a lot of intensity. They played hard, and they won the game for us.”

Nurse was rewarded when Banton, who had five assists in 17 minutes, had a nice finish in the lane and smart lob to Boucher on a drive to the paint to put Toronto up by eight with four minutes to play. Boucher hit a three a couple of minutes later to put Toronto up by 10 with less than two minutes to go, and not even Jokic’s magic could bring Denver back. 

The win was the Raptors third straight and improved them to 37-20 as they pulled within a game of sixth-place Cleveland as they try to pull themselves out of the play-in tournament. 

There were all kinds of contributors. Siakam led all scorers with 33 points while adding seven assists, five rebounds and two steals, while Barnes put up 25 points and 10 assists and eight rebounds and Boucher offered 21 points and 13 rebounds — including nine offensive rebounds — off the bench. 

Jokic did his thing with 26 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, but he didn’t get enough help.

He’s otherwise been carrying the Nuggets. Even without Canadian Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. with season-threatening injuries — and for the night, another starter lost in Aaron Gordon — Denver has remained a threat in the Western Conference, mainly thanks to Jokic. 

They were 22-9 since January 7th before Saturday’s loss and Jokic has been the engine driving everything. The defending MVP is having a better season than he did a year ago. Coming into to Saturday night’s game he was averaging 26.1 points, 13.9 rebounds and 8.1 assists and carrying an ultra-efficient 65.3 true shooting percentage. He leads the NBA in all the advanced statistical measures and would be a runaway favourite for his second consecutive MVP award if not for a pair of other multi-skilled bigs — Antetokounmpo and the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid — putting up historic-level seasons in their own right. 

What is a team like the Raptors to do?

“I mean, we only used about 13 different coverages,” said Nurse.

In the early going, the Raptors mostly stayed home and let Precious Achiuwa handle Jokic alone, although they sent the odd second defender late hoping that it wouldn’t give Jokic time to find an open teammate.

Achiuwa was starting in place of Birch, which was a move that was coming given how well Achiuwa has been playing since the all-star break. In a surprise move, Nurse opted to start Armoni Brooks — signed last week on a 10-day contract — at guard for VanVleet, ostensibly to give the lineup some more shooting. 

Jokic didn’t force anything, which is part of his genius. He ambled his big body to the front of the rim, made catches and finished with his feather touch. He ran the break like the world’s biggest point guard and earned an easy assist. He cruised his way to 17 points, five rebounds and three assists in less than 16 minutes. 

But the Raptors took a 65-63 lead into halftime because Jokic wasn’t the best player on the floor. That honour went to Siakam, who exploded for 23 points and five assists on 8-of-14 shooting. With VanVleet on the sidelines, Siakam ran the point, easily manipulating the defence in pick-and-roll and finding his way to comfortable mid-range jumpers or finding teammates with the next pass. Siakam was helped in his cause by Barnes, who added 16 points, five rebounds and four assists — including a spectacular full-length touchdown to a streaking Siakam in the first quarter — in his 20 first-half minutes. 

Siakam kept it rolling in the third quarter, adding 10 more to his total, but at that point got some help from Achiuwa, who knocked in his third and four triples of the night, setting a new career high in the process. But Jokic just continued to casually dominate. His pinpoint outlet leading to a lay-up for Bones Hyland gave the Denver a six-point they started the fourth up 99-93 as Jokic had nine points and three assists in the quarter.  

But Toronto kept up the pressure and were able to keep a lid on Jokic — at least relatively and ended up with a second impressive win in as many nights.

It would have been nice had the Raptors nabbed him as a second-round pick those years ago, but their job is to figure out how to beat him now, and they did it.

“I like that we showed a lot of toughness these past two nights,” said Nurse. “And that takes you a long way, playing tough.”