Doling out Grades: Raptors Defence Struggles to Start the Season

The Toronto Raptors defence has taken a significant step back to start the season as new players get used to Nick Nurse's defensive scheme

Aaron Rose | Mar 9, 2021

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

If the Toronto Raptors' offence has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the first half of the NBA season than the Raptors' defence has been one of the biggest disappointments.

Toronto came into the season expecting once again to have one of the league's top defensive units. The Raptors ranked second in the NBA in Defensive Rating last season and even had a knack for shutting down the league's most explosive offences. This year, however, things haven't been quite the same. Toronto's second-ranked defence last season has dropped all the way to 18th in the NBA this season and opposing teams are averaging 111.6 points per game against the Raptors.

Prior to the season that probably would have been a bit of a surprise to some, but as Kyle Lowry pointed out last month, it really shouldn't have been. The Raptors turned over a significant chunk of their roster in the offseason including almost their entire backcourt and with that has come a lot of adjusting this year.

"You’ve got different guys, different size, different movements, different understandings of where to go, where to be, and how to do it," Lowry said.

Repeatedly this season the Raptors have been a step slow in rotation or had breakdowns in coverage lead to easy buckets at the rim. It's in part why they're giving up the fifth-most 3-pointers per game this season and why opposing teams are shooting 65.3% at the rim, the ninth-best percentage in the league. That's not to mention the Raptors also rank below-average in both pick-and-roll defence both against the pick-and-roll handler and against the roll man, according to NBA Stats.

That all comes with timing and whether it's been because of constant injuries that have forced Toronto to use 14 different starting lineups or just working new players into the system, the Raptors haven't quite been able to get things going this season.

Grade: C-

Toronto's defence has been slightly below-average this season and considering their past history, that just won't cut it for the Raptors.

There are, however, reasons for optimism. Toronto still forces a ton of turnovers, 16.3 per game, the second-most in the NBA, and with more time to gel, the Raptors should be able to get back on track to their defensive dominant ways. But until that happens, Toronto's defence deserves a very mediocre grade for their first-half performance.

Grade: C-

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