"The Toronto Raptors have the Los Angeles Lakers right where they want them. They are behind by a point at halftime and have butchered the Lakers during Doncic's minutes. Their pressure and traps are putting the ball in his teammates' hands, and Toronto's defence is holding stout. The Raptors have made only one triple compared to the Lakers' seven - surely, when that stabilizes, the Raptors will jet into the lead and swipe the game."
"For too long, the Raptors have let games fall out of their grasp by virtue of their pitiful long-range shooting. They scored 41 points in an entire second half against the New York Knicks and made a single triple all half. They shot 2-of-9 from deep in the fourth quarter against the Orlando Magic in the next contest to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."
Toronto's defense has been stout, trapping and pressuring to force opponents into secondary ball-handlers and holding stars like Doncic in check. The offense has been crippled by abysmal long-range shooting, often going 1-of-9 or 2-of-9 in decisive quarters and failing to convert early leads. The Raptors are shooting 34.0 percent from three on the season, ranking 28th in the league, with only two teams worse. Only two teams have more games missing three-quarters or more of their triples. The team has gone 6-3 in such poor-shooting games, showing resilience. Relying on survival undermines ambitions to dominate games.
Read at Raptors Republic
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