Raptors Show What May be to Come, Opening Season's 2nd Half with Victory Over Hornets

The Toronto Raptors have a chance to turn their season around with an easy schedule and victories like Thursday's over the Charlotte Hornets

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Raptors are heading toward a crossroads.

Their first half of the season was hellish. Only four teams faced a tougher strength of schedule and it showed. Through 41 games coming into Thursday, the Raptors sat at five games below .500, half a game out of the play-in tournament and closer in the standings to Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes and the No. 1 pick than true basketball relevance.

That, however, should change. Their second half is considered the 10th easiest in the NBA, loaded with bottom-dwelling opponents and with far more rest-advantage days than rest-disadvantage games. Thursday's 124-114 victory over the Charlotte Hornets was a prime example of what the second half could look like. As it turns out, the Raptors are really good against really bad teams.

The offense clicks against teams like Charlotte. The half-court struggles start to loosen up as the ball whizzes from side to side with ease. Fred VanVleet and Scottie Barnes both had no problem picking apart the Hornets' lackluster defense, hooking up with one another for easy buckets repeatedly while making kick-out passes to open shooters. As a team, Toronto recorded assists on 30 of their 43 buckets.

Pascal Siakam barely broke a sweat, casually racking up 35 points on 11-for-13 shooting including a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc. Even the bench that's plagued Toronto all season stepped up for the second straight night with Precious Achiuwa and Chris Boucher both finding a groove. Achiuwa recorded a career-high five steals in the game.

When Charlotte did go on a run in the fourth, cutting Toronto's lead to just five, VanVleet stepped up, nailing his first three-pointer of the night on a great find by O.G. Anunoby. Moments later Gary Trent Jr. converted a pair of free throws and the Raptors clinched their first three-game winning streak of the season and moved to 19-23 on the year.

“We’ve just got to keep going. Don’t settle for less," said Barnes who finished the night with 21 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. "Stay hungry. That’s what the team mindset is right now, stay hungry."

Toronto now has an opportunity to start piling up some wins in the second half. Between their relatively easy schedule and the talent already on this roster, the Raptors are good enough to make the play-in tournament and contend for a playoff spot. If things go well, they could even push a first-round playoff series to five or six games. 

"We're trying to make some progress here," Raptors coach Nick Nurse added. "I think that there's a good sign with some shots going in. There's some good signs with a high number of assists. There's some there's little bit more life off the bench. There's some good signs there for sure."

But is fighting for a play-in spot the plan? 

A sub-.500 record against a tough schedule thus far has also shown exactly what the Raptors are: They're good enough to hang with or beat the bad teams but not good enough to knock off many good ones. They're a middling group, stuck, for now, in the spot nobody wants to be in.

With the trade deadline less than a month away, Toronto is going to have to pick a path forward. Add to this roster if a first-round playoff series is still the goal. Playoff experience is never a bad thing. But if a first-round exit isn't going to cut it this year, then pivoting the other way can't be ruled out.

Up Next: Atlanta Hawks

The homestand will come to a close Saturday evening when Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks come to town for a 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff at Scotiabank Arena.