Raptors defensive struggles continue in loss to the Nets

TORONTO – It was just over a week ago, after a Raptors pre-game shootaround in Indiana, that Dwane Casey was asked about his team’s defensive progress.

There’s been no shortage of storylines that have followed the Raptors at different points this season. The team’s dominant start; the string of comeback wins; the campaign to get Kyle Lowry to the All-Star game; James Johnson’s redemption; DeMar DeRozan’s groin injury.

Their struggles on defence, however, have been a constant theme and something Dwane Casey has been addressing all season.

The Raptors were top 10 in defensive rating last season, allowing opponents to score just 102.4 points per 100 possessions and many have been waiting for the team to return to that defensively-sound form since the beginning of the season.

It hasn’t happened, and though Casey has said that the Raptors may simply be a different team this year – one that relies more on its production on the offensive end – he acknowledges that defence is an area in which his team needs to improve if they want to be serious contenders come playoff time.

Heading into a Wednesday night tilt with the Brooklyn Nets, Toronto ranked 19th in defensive efficiency and since Jan. 1 they’ve been one of the league’s worst team’s defensively, allowing opponents to score an average of 105 points per 100 possessions and shoot 46.6 percent from the field.

“We’re not panicking about it,” Casey said prior to a 109-93 loss to the Nets. “We’re going to keep harping on it, but we’re not going to lose sleep over it.

“We want to get better at it but until we get some extended practice time and time where we can get into the gym and do drills and get back to the basics a little bit more, we have to improve through individual film, walk throughs, that kind of thing.”

For a large portion of the season the Raptors have been able to hide their flaws on the defensive end with effective play on offence – they have the fourth best offensive rating in the league – but nights like Wednesday prove that the team struggles to win games when its offence dries up.

While Kyle Lowry came out strong scoring eight points in the first quarter, he and DeMar DeRozan each finished the game with just 13 points on a combined 10-of-26 from the field, Lou Williams went 1-for-11 and as a team the Raptors shot just 34 percent in the second half. This just two nights after Toronto shot an abysmal 32 percent from the field in a loss to Milwaukee.

Toronto’s backcourt was also trounced by a pair of Brooklyn guards in Jarrett Jack and Alan Anderson, both former Raptors, who combined for 46 points on 16-for-22 from the field.

“[It’s frustrating] because we’re losing games that we know we’re capable of winning,” Kyle Lowry said after the game. “We know where we want to be and we know where we can be and we lose games like this it’s always difficult to swallow.”

Unfortunately for the Raptors things aren’t about to get any easier.

They play the Los Angeles Clippers Friday, the first in an eight-game stretch that includes tilts against some talented opponents including Atlanta, San Antonio, Houston and Golden State.

The last time the Raptors played that tough of a stretch was during a west coast trip back in late December, early January. They went 2-4 over that six-game trip, but were given somewhat of a mulligan because they were without DeMar DeRozan, who was still recovering from a groin injury, and likely suffering from the fatigue that comes with the west coast time change.

But now they’re healthy and while the next eight games won’t make or break their season it will most certainly give fans and critics a much better idea of how the Raptors measure up against some of the NBA’s elite teams.

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