Healthy veterans lead Raptors to big comeback win over Magic

TORONTO — In an alternative universe, the Toronto Raptors could have had plenty of wins like this already this season.

One of the reasons no one predicted the Raptors to be quite so deeply mired in the bottom of the NBA standings halfway through the schedule was that they had some useful veteran talent to stabilize their bench.

Not that the presence of Kelly Olynyk, Bruce Brown and Davion Mitchell — with a dash of Chris Boucher here and there — made the Raptors a threat to the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics or anything, but having veterans who understood their roles and how to play it seemed likely to provide the Raptors a decent floor, if not necessarily a high ceiling.

But it never happened. Olynyk hurt his back in training camp and missed the first 23 games of the season while Brown had knee surgery just before training camp and missed the first 31. Meanwhile, with starting point guard Immanuel Quickly out for all but nine games this season — he missed his fourth straight  Tuesday night with his latest ailment, a strain in his groin and hip area — Mitchell has been in a starting role more than anyone would have envisioned when he was acquired by trade this past summer.

Instead of a fourth-year veteran and former lottery pick running point guard with the second unit it’s often been rookie Jamal Shead — who has performed better than admirably but lacks Mitchell's NBA reps.

In place of veterans, a lot of the Raptors bench minutes — until lately — have been eaten up by rookies with predictable results.

The Raptors' thin bench hasn’t been the only reason they had the NBA’s second-worst record before they hosted the Orlando Magic at Scotiabank Arena, but it was evident in what ended up being a comfortable 109-93 win for Toronto how valuable some veteran talent can be or might have been.

Tuesday’s win was the Raptors' third in their past four games and improved their record to 11-33, and it might have been the best all-round showing by Toronto’s bench this season.

Seeing it in action was a reminder of how things were supposed to work. Brown finished with 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and a steal on 5-of-11 shooting and did his most important work in the first quarter when the Raptors fell behind by as much as 21 points early. Olynyk finished with 12 points, three rebounds, three assists and four blocked shots and was a Raptors season-best plus-39 in his 22 minutes. His biggest contribution came in the third quarter as he helped the Raptors turn a 50-45 halftime deficit into an 85-70 lead to start the fourth quarter that the Magic never came close to chipping into in any meaningful way. 

“It could have been very useful,” said Olynyk when asked about the merits of having some veteran bench help available on a young team before now. The 11-year veteran has rounded into form nicely after being limited to light conditioning work for nearly two months while his back calmed down. He’s averaging nine points, three rebounds and three assists in 17 minutes a game over the last four games while shooting 71.4 per cent from the floor. "I mean, there were a lot of games in the beginning of the season where we were right there and one ball didn’t bounce our way or we couldn’t make one shot or get one stop, but we were in a lot of those games early."

Similarly Brown has found his legs and his comfort zone of late.

“I’m completely comfortable out there (now),” he said after the game with his trademark cowboy hat perched level on his head. "I know exactly what they need me to do on both ends of the floor."

And as for opportunities for him and Olynyk to impact games meaningfully before now, Brown acknowledged that their respective injuries were the only obstacles to that happening more often and sooner.

“We can figure it out,” said Brown, who has scored in double figures off the bench in three of his past five games. “Me and Kelly, we have been in different situations  on a bunch of teams that we’ve been on, so at some point we’ll figure it out.”

It took the Raptors a minute to figure it out against the Magic. Toronto got off to a slow start — a couple of quick turnovers and some lapsed defence had head coach Darko Rajakovic calling a quick timeout just 1:47 into the game — that was made worse when the Magic hit their first five three-pointers. But Brown gave the Raptors a boost as Rajakovic’s first sub off the bench. The Raptors were already trailing by 13 and trailing by as much as 21 in the quarter before Brown helped shore things up with a sequence in the final 3:32 of the quarter that included a lay-up; a steal and an assist on lay-up by Boucher; an assist on an Olynyk three and a three-pointer of his own at the horn.

The Raptors' defence picked up from that point as they held the Magic to 13 points on 4-of-19 shooting in the second quarter and 20 points on 8-of-20 shooting in the third.

A big factor in that was the individual defence that Scottie Barnes played on Magic star Paulo Banchero, who finished with 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting, but had five turnovers, and eventually fouled out. Barnes met the six-foot-10, 250-pound wing with his own brand of physicality while also having the energy to deliver 17 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and a block in his 34 minutes.

Meanwhile, several of the other Raptors starters had strong nights: RJ Barrett was limited to just 28 minutes with foul trouble but still had 19 points and eight rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting, while Gradey Dick had 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including a pair of convincing dunks as the Raptors were surging in the third quarter.

But the Raptors likely wouldn’t have been in position to close out the slumping Magic — who lost for the fourth straight time and sixth time in seven games to fall to 23-22 on the season — without the combined efforts of Olynyk and Brown.

Big picture it’s likely for the best. Even with the win Tuesday the Raptors have the third-worst record in the NBA, which should make for optimal draft positioning come June, pivotal for a rebuilding team. And with the trade deadline just over two weeks away, there’s a reasonable chance that one of Brown or Olynyk could find themselves traded to teams in need of the veteran boost they are showing they can provide.

But for one night, you could watch the Raptors play with a roster as intended and think it could have been different.

Grange for Three:

Rajakovic assists: As a team, the Raptors shot an impressive 53.4 per cent from the floor and 54.2 per cent from three against the Magic, who arrived in Toronto with the NBA’s fourth-rated defence. Toronto also moved the ball well, with 29 assists against just 12 turnovers. The 29 assists also means that Rajakovic and his wife Gaga will contribute another $870 ($US) to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto as well as children’s hospitals in Memphis (where Rajakovic coached before coming to Toronto) and Belgrade, Serbia (where he is from). Rajakovic announced Tuesday that they are bolstering the program they began last season where they donated $20 for every team assist to the various hospitals. This season, it’s $30 as a nod to the team’s 30th anniversary. Last season the Raptors set a franchise record for assists at 28.5 per game and the Rajakovic family donated $46,700 to the cause. The Raptors are averaging 28.9 assists per game so far this season, which would bring the total to $71,094 the Raptors maintain their pace.  “It’s very important to me and my wife,” Rajakovic said of the program. “We have a seven-year-old boy, and we know what it means to have a healthy family, and any opportunity we have to help in the community … it’ s a privilege for us.”

Ulrich Chomche sighting: The 19-year-old’s NBA minutes have been few and far between this season, which is mostly by design for the raw rookie big man Toronto selected with the 57th pick in the draft. But the Raptors wanted to reward him for his efforts in the G-League by putting him on the active roster and the game in control in the final minutes he got on the floor for the first time since January 1st and just the sixth time this season. “He’s been working really hard, he’s learning the game, he’s learning the terminology, there is a lot on his plate,” said Rajakovic. “… And to be honest with you, those two minutes he played tonight, I was so happy for him, could see it on his face, he was genuinely happy to be on the floor with his guys.” Chomche is averaging 7.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.3 blocks in 24.5 minutes per game with Raptors 905.

Brown takes trade season in stride: The seven-year veteran acknowledged that last season was a challenge as he was surprised when the Indiana Pacers traded him to Toronto this time a year ago and then spent the next few weeks wondering if he was going to be dealt again by the Raptors. This season he’s prepared for whatever happens. “It was super tough [last year], just [not] knowing if I was going to be here or not. I would say I didn’t care about it, but I did,” Brown said. “ But this year, it’s just part of the business. And through the summer, I knew that at some point, I was going to face this again, just being on an expiring deal and being on a young team. But if it happens it happens, if it doesn’t, I’m happy to be here.” The trade deadline is February 6th.