By Canadian Press

‘I bet on us:’ Raptors confident in figuring it out entering later stretch of season

Feb 13, 2023 | 12:41 PM

TORONTO — It’s been a season full of highs and lows for the 10th-place Toronto Raptors, but all-star forward Pascal Siakam says confidence hasn’t wavered with just 24 games left in the regular season.

After days of discussion — and criticism — over the front office’s lack of activity at the trade deadline in the midst of a losing season, Siakam says the Raptors maintain a strong belief in their current group to figure things out.

“You go through a lot of adversities and you go through tough times and you have to break through it,” Siakam said at Monday’s practice. “I think that’s the only way. Putting the work in every single day and understanding that it’s going to be hard — really hard in our position — but if someone can do it, it’s going to be us.”

Paraphrasing the mantra of veteran point guard Fred VanVleet, Siakam added: “I bet on us on that, shouts to Fred.”

Toronto has won four of its last five and is coming off a 119-118 victory on Sunday against the Detroit Pistons. After surrendering a fourth-quarter lead in a loss to Utah on Friday and having to hold off yet another late-game rally versus Detroit, Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin has found positives in the team’s play.

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“I like how we are moving in the right direction, I like how we’re playing for each other and trying to help each other, especially on the offensive end and then covering for each other on the defensive end,” he said.

“You can see the effort out there, you can see just a willingness to put forth and do the hard work. So I think that’s kind of the biggest thing.”

Toronto (27-31) was in the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference heading into Monday night’s games. Should the Raptors find themselves between seventh and 10th by regular season’s end, they would have to compete in the mini-tournament for a playoff spot.

But at this point of the year, it’s more about getting the wins and continuing to build for a run.

“We’re getting settled a little bit,” VanVleet said post-game Sunday. “This year, we’ve had our full group more, it feels like, than we did last year and we struggled to piece it together. 

“That’s the challenge of building a team and trying to find ways to be successful and collect those wins. But again, … we got to try to get as many as we can and climb our way into the playoffs and fight from there. … I feel good about our group.” 

Seven-foot-one centre Jakob Poeltl, Toronto’s lone addition at the trade deadline, has provided the Raptors something they haven’t had this year — a strong presence at the rim. He had three blocks in 25 minutes Sunday.

“It’s certainly a luxury to have someone with his size and he’s just a smart, intelligent player,” Griffin said.

“We’re a pressure defence so sometimes we may get beat off the dribble because we’re out there pressuring the ball so much, but to have someone like Jakob at the rim giving us that rim protection and block shots and limit them to one shot — you limit teams to one shot and you can get out on the run, you’re going to have success.”

Just two games in, Poeltl hasn’t taken long to get acclimated in his second stint with the Raptors.

“Obviously I knew about the schemes, I knew about the plays, but I didn’t really have it down yet,” he said. “Like I said, it’s about getting into a habit of doing things so that was tough the first game. I think it was a lot better already in the second game.”

Toronto stares down a fourth and final outing against the Orlando Magic on Tuesday. The Magic hold a 2-1 season series lead after back-to-back wins on Dec. 9 and Dec. 11 in Orlando.

It will be the Raptors’ final game before the all-star break, where Siakam will be the team’s lone representative in the all-star game Sunday.

INJURIES

Forward Precious Achiuwa (right ankle sprain) and guard Gary Trent Jr. (left wrist sprain) are listed as questionable for Tuesday night’s game against the Magic. Forward O.G. Anunoby is slated to miss his ninth straight game with a left wrist sprain.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2023.

Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press