The Toronto Raptors are boasting one of the 10 best offences in the NBA this season and they are doing it by committee.
The Raptors have a well-balanced offence where all five players are dangerous on any possession. RJ Barrett explained how important that is to their system and identity.
“There’s one guy that’s not gonna be as good of a defender, and he’ll probably have to be on me or (Immanuel Quickley) or Scottie (Barnes) or whoever,” Barrett said via The Athletic insider Eric Koreen.
“When there’s attention to another person who is a high-calibre player, an All-Star-calibre player who is scoring over 21, 22 points a night, when there’s someone over there with that shotmaking ability, there’s someone over there the defence has to focus on. And the defence can’t focus on five people at once. You have to give up something.”
Toronto Raptors guard Jamal Shead shoots in the third quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers. | David Richard-Imagn Images
Raptors offence clicking to start season
The biggest difference between last year and this year has to do with the addition of Brandon Ingram. Adding Ingram has given the Raptors another dimension of the offence for opposing teams to worry about.
“The best defenders are guarding him,” Barrett said of Ingram via Koreen. “Most teams don’t really have five really good defenders.
“Now we have BI, so I was gonna be in a position to shoot more 3s. I worked on defence, closeouts, being more controlled on my drives, being able to use my body, my physicality a little more to get easier finishes. … It was really planned out.”
The Raptors are hunting mismatches on the court and have confidence in whoever is being put on the weaker defenders. That’s why we’ve seen a bevy of Raptors go off all season long.
Four players have led the Raptors in scoring in the first 10 games of the season and Barrett is the only player to be the leading scorer in back-to-back games (Nov. 2 against the Memphis Grizzlies and Nov. 4 against the Milwaukee Bucks).
If the Raptors can continue this level of a balance on offence, it could lead them to continue climbing the Eastern Conference standings, making them one of the toughest teams in the league to go up against.
The Raptors are back in action tonight as they take on the 1-11 Indiana Pacers, who are in the midst of a six-game losing streak. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
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