Toronto Raptors Again Finishes As Best Defensive Team In NBA

Losing Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol will hurt the Raptors greatly on the offensive end of the court. Both players gave the Raptors the ability to have two reliable big men who could knock down shots in volume from the perimeter. 

This season, Toronto will need some of their younger players to step into bigger roles, which is why defense becomes so much more important for this team. Over the years, the Raptors have never been one of the league’s better offensive teams, but they have made up for their lack of offense with their defense. 

For the last five seasons, the Toronto Raptors’ identity has been built on the defensive end of the court, as they have ranked in the top 10 in least amount of points per game given up to their opponents over that span. Last year, they were the best defensive team in the NBA, giving up just 106.5 points per game to opponents and holding them to just 42.8% shooting from the floor, second-best in the league behind the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Not only have Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet both become solid and reliable perimeter defenders for the Raptors, but Norman Powell and O.G. Anunoby have been two key players that have stepped up over the years on defense. Anunoby led the team last season in defensive win shares, a statistic that measures the estimate of the number of wins a player contributes to his team due to his defense and is one of the better perimeter defenders in the entire NBA. 

Defense will be this team’s identity again this season and if they have any shot of making it back to the NBA Finals, they will have to believe in their abilities on the defensive end of the court.