For the second straight night, the Toronto Raptors suffered a frustrating loss; this time it came against the Philadelphia 76ers, 123-112. After blowing a 22-point lead against the Boston Celtics the night before, the Raptors went up 17 in the first quarter before immediately allowing a 15-0 run. While tied at 85 with two and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter, Toronto went cold and plummeted to a nine-point deficit to enter the final period. This marks three losses in four days, and the Raptors have dropped to eighth in the Eastern Conference after going 2-6 in their last eight games. 

It’s worth noting that the superstar duo of Scottie Barnes and Kawhi Leonard have been out due to injuries for all three of their recent losses. Whether the Raptors had a great chance to win going into the games or not, they proved that they could hang with some of the top teams in the league, even without their top two players on both ends of the floor. While it’s natural for Raptors fans to be frustrated after such gut-wrenching losses, it’s definitely positive that they could show a real fight, even if it only lasted three quarters. 

At this point, it may be time to question head coach Darko Rajakovic for the lack of flow on offense during these ruts. After beginning the game with a very well-balanced attack, the half-court offense stalled to a halt, and the answer as to why is clear. They began the game working from the inside out; Immanuel Quickley attacked the pick-and-roll with both Jakob Poeltl and Collin Murray-Boyles on several of the first possessions, and it led to multiple layups. From then on, shooters began to find space as Philadelphia was forced to start packing the paint, and the ball movement was at its best. 

After obtaining a 17-point lead, everything changed. The Raptors began to settle for far too many three-pointers; of the nine straight missed field goals, six of them came from beyond the arc. Toronto ranks 26th in three-point percentage (32.9%) as it is, so for them to even be taking this many consecutive threes is alarming, but when taking into account that the Raptors went scoreless for 4:24 of game time, it’s completely unacceptable to keep going to it as if it's one of their strengths. 

The biggest issue that arises from both last night and Wednesday against Boston is that there is far too much isolation basketball being played by Quickley and RJ Barrett. In fairness to them, they played exceptionally against Philadelphia when hardly any of their teammates were capable of contributing offensively. But in general, and this dates back to last season, these two feel the need to take over the offense when the stars aren’t on the floor, and it has rarely ever worked. When they are playing well, like last night, it’s fine to take a few possessions to force the defense to guard them differently. But after countless empty trips down the floor, the answer is always going to be ball movement; it seems uncanny that Rajakovic isn’t drilling this into the team after countless games last season that were doomed for the same reason. 

There are two saving graces for the Raptors in the given situation; the first comes straight from the Eastern Conference playoff race. Obviously, no team has an eye on the playoffs considering only 12-13 games out of 82 have been played. However, in comparison to the West, the East has severely underwhelmed so far. For reference, the Raptors would plummet to 12th place in the Western Conference with a 5-7 record. The Dallas Mavericks currently sit at 10th in the West at 7-5; in the East, the Atlanta Hawks possess the same record, but they sit at fourth place. This is all said to explain that despite a rough start to the year, the Raptors are by no means out of the hunt, especially so early in the season. They are just two games behind the Hawks for the fourth seed, but they simultaneously are just 1.5 games ahead of the Brooklyn Nets for 13th, so although there’s time, they need to figure it out. 

Finally, the obvious reason for no need to worry is the difference with Barnes and Leonard on the floor. Barnes has shown throughout last season and to begin this year that he is the heart and soul of this team. With his offensive game expanding, he is becoming ever more important to have on the floor to stabilize the offense and neutralize the opposition. As for Leonard, general manager Bobby Webster traded for him specifically to give the ultimate edge to the offense. He is coming off a career-high in points per game last season (27.9), and he has proven year in and year out to be one of the best shot makers in the NBA. Not only that, he is known to be especially clutch, as proven in the 2019 championship run for Toronto, in which he won his second Finals MVP. 

Adding both of them back to the floor will put the ball in their hands far more often than anyone else, and they have proven not only to improve the ball movement and flow of the half-court offense, but also to take over when they need to give a spark. That’s not even including the limitless opportunities they create defensively, both in forcing even more turnovers and in forcing poor shot selection and pushing the pace in transition off of defensive rebounds. The moral of the story is that the recent play has been concerning, including the coaching, or lack thereof, in crucial moments by Rajakovic. However, there’s plenty of time for the role players to continue to find their groove with expanded opportunities, and being thrown in the fire now will only help their ability to contribute once Leonard and Barnes are back to lead the way.