Raptors Appear to Have Answers to Frontcourt Questions

Making starting lineup changes at 1-6 to start the season is not where any NBA team wants to be. It was a concerning sign when Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse opted to send centre Aron Baynes to the bench for Alex Len on Friday night against the Sacramento Kings. Clearly, he was searching for something from his frontcourt.

While the Raptors certainly didn’t find the answer immediately, the Raptors might finally have an answer to their frontcourt woes. All it took was a little more searching and some very strange lineups for the Toronto Raptors to clinch their second win of the season, downing the Kings 144-123 on Friday night.

With Kyle Lowry out due to personal reasons, Nurse had to shake up his starting lineup a little bit. Not only did he ask Norman Powell to step into the starting rotation for the second time this season, but he also tabbed Len to take over for the struggling Baynes.

“We’re trying a lot of guys here, you know, different positions and I’m trying to figure out where guys play best and maybe, you know, maybe it changes a look for a guy,” Nurse said prior to the game.

It didn’t change much for Len.

The 27-year-old Ukrainian played all of five minutes in the first half. The Kings attacked him on defence and it wasn’t long before Nurse yanked him, opting to play Chris Boucher and a variety of small-ball lineups for the remainder of the night.

After surrendering 43 points in a horrendous first quarter, the Raptors came alive in the second. Pascal Siakam continued his attacking ways — a carryover from Wednesday night — chipping in seven points with a pair of nifty assists in the quarter. That playmaking carried over throughout the game as he tallied 11 assists to go with 12 points and nine rebounds. It was the kind of stat-stuffing night the Raptors have been looking for from their do-it-all star.

With Len back on the bench, Boucher took his turn at trying to impress Nurse. The 27-year-old Canadian has been very up and down this season, but Friday night was certainly one of the better nights for Boucher. He was highly efficient from the floor and shot well from behind the arc without overdoing it. He finished the night with 23 points and nine rebounds to go with three blocks.

When Boucher wasn’t on the court, the Raptors went to their small-ball lineup, either with Yuta Watanabe or Stanley Johnson playing alongside OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam in the wings. It marked the first real commitment from Nurse to a small-ball lineup throughout the game.

“I think the biggest thing is playing small, it does a number of things for us, but the biggest thing it does for us is it enables us to switch all the pick-and-rolls,” Nurse said prior to the game. “Then secondly, it puts, it almost puts OG and Pascal in the handling and screening situations.”

On Friday that small-ball unit without Baynes or Len on the court helped Toronto dig out of their early hole.

“It has been a couple of games in a row where our defence looked more like itself with the small lineup,” Nurse said. “So I think that there is still a lot of investigating to do about who else we can play, but I would say we are still searching for some help at the backup wing and the backup four.”

Norman Powell did what he seems to do every time he finds his way into the starting lineup. With Lowry out, Powell stepped up, scoring 22 points on 6-for-8 shooting. It was the continuation of a trend that has followed Powell throughout his career. Put simply, he plays better when he starts.

“When you’re starting the game you can kind of feel how the game is going, the flow of the game early on, where your spots are coming, how the defence is guarding you, the pace of the game,” Powell said. “I think that’s what I mean by being able to find the rhythm and flow of the game. When you’re starting, you’re able to dictate and get into a rhythm. Coming off the bench you’re trying to catch the game. You’re trying to watch and study how the defence is guarding us, what they’re doing and how the offence is going, where the shots are going, and you’re coming in trying to pick that up and enhance the energy and things like that.”

Though it may be hard for the Raptors to find a spot for him in the starting rotation, the modern NBA game may afford Nurse the ability to go with Toronto’s top five players and swap Powell into the rotation. It’s something Nurse said he would consider.

“He’s had two really good games as a starter and I would hate to count how many not so good games coming off the bench so I would consider that at this point,” Nurse said.

Up Next: Golden State Warriors

The Raptors will have an off day before heading to San Francisco to take on Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and the Golden State Warriors on Sunday at 8:30 p.m.