Raptors Trio Shows Toronto's Playoff Potential in Come-From-Behind Victory Over Bucks

The Toronto Raptors are going to have some tough decisions to make at the trade deadline as Siakam, VanVleet, and Anunoby impress against the Milwaukee Bucks

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What are Masai Ujiri, Bobby Webster, and the Toronto Raptors front office supposed to do? How are they supposed to judge this team?

With less than a month to go before the February 10 NBA trade deadline, hardly anything is clear about this Raptors squad. Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, and OG Anunoby are good. We know that. But the onslaught of injuries and inconsistency of this squad has left the front office with no clear path forward for next month. I mean, how can you judge a team that gets blown out by the Detroit Pistons one night and then topples the reigning NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks 103-96 on the second night of a back-to-back?

“I think it shows our potential. We’re one of those teams that I feel can compete with anybody when we’re at our best," VanVleet said. "When we’re not, we’re pretty average. The challenge is to be consistent and raise the floor and let your bad nights be better than what our bad nights have been."

It wouldn't take much to make Toronto a legitimate Eastern Conference playoff team. When healthy, the core is solid. VanVleet, Siakam, and Anunoby create a three-headed monster that the Raptors can mix and match in two-man actions to create mismatches and confusion for defenders. It's how they repeatedly took advantage of the Bucks' defense, giving the ball to Siakam and letting VanVleet or Anunoby set screens or vice versa.

"It’s becoming a thing that we’re finding a lot of different areas, you can see sometimes we’re doing it in the middle of the floor and sometimes we’re doing it on the side and sometimes we’re doing it in little passing and cutting thing between the three of them as well," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said of using the three to mix and match their offensive options. "We’re trying to create some matchups that they can take advantage of."

In the final minute, Siakam set a screen for VanVleet before popping behind and nailing a catch-and-shoot three-pointer from VanVleet to put the Raptors up seven with just over a minute to go.

"It’s great because I feel like I have a mismatch every time, most of the time down the floor, OG feels the same way and then also Fred," Siakam said. "So we can set screens for each other, have different matchups, and make reads. I think Fred did an excellent job making reads when they were trapping us, OG did the same, and I think that’s what we gotta do."

The trio had combined for 61 of Toronto's points led by Siakam who recorded his second career triple-double with 30 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds. 

They just need help.

Toronto's bench is filled with defensive standouts. Justin Champagnie once again flexed his rebounding might, clinching 12 rebounds in 30 minutes. Chris Boucher was solid on both ends, with 15 points, three blocks, and some tough defense, something he's shown repeatedly of late. Even Precious Achiuwa contributed with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks, starting in place of the injured Khem Birch. 

"They were huge, especially Precious and Chris. Not only were they making good plays just in general, kinda playing pretty mistake free and then on top of that they’re sticking a couple of jumpers here and there," Nurse said. "They were defending so they were really valuable."

But would it hurt to add a bench scorer to the NBA's worst offensive bench unit? That's all the Raptors need right now, someone who can replace Gary Trent Jr. when he needs a night off or someone who can take the load off the core in bench lineups. They need what Svi Mykhailiuk and Yuta Watanabe are supposed to be and haven't been able to provide.

Saturday night, like last Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns, showed the ceiling of this team. They can compete with the league's best even when they're not at 100%.

But has the front office seen enough? The rest of this road trip will be telling.

Dreadful Start

Toronto picked up right where it left off on Friday night in the first quarter. The Bucks zipped up and down the court with ease as the Raptors mustered nothing offensively. Watanabe was once again a zero offensively and Toronto's offense couldn't find the space to generate anything. It was a matter of minutes before Milwaukee was up 15.

Outfit of the Night

pic.twitter.com/e3SSQy2U0u

— William Lou (@william_lou) January 15, 2022

Wilson's 10-Day Expiring

D.J. Wilson's 10-day will expire prior to Toronto's next game on Monday. He played less than one minute since his re-signing after looking relatively impressive in his first stint with the team.

Up Next: Miami Heat

The Raptors will see an old friend Monday night when they head south to take on Kyle Lowry and the Miami Heat at 7:30 p.m. ET.

"I’m definitely looking forward to playing against the old man, for sure," VanVleet said of his old running mate.