Toronto Raptors Two-Man Game: Kyle Lowry’s Injury

Feb 26, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) reacts from the bench during the fourth quarter in a game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Air Canada Centre. The Toronto Raptors won 112-106. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 26, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) reacts from the bench during the fourth quarter in a game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Air Canada Centre. The Toronto Raptors won 112-106. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /
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Toronto Raptors
Feb 27, 2017; New York, NY, USA; Toronto Raptors guard Delon Wright (55) drives around New York Knicks guard Ron Baker (31) during the second quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /

The playmaking of the starting Iineup is lacking and assists have fallen into the dirt. Should the Raps start Delon Wright just for his passing?

Demar: Dwane Casey doesn’t care about assists, never has never will. The entire offence is built to take advantage of mismatches in one-on-one situations like in the 1990s.

Even when Lowry is on the court, the offence runs the same. He just had a keener eye to see when others were open.

Wright sees the open man often, but his lack of shooting combined with the Raptors’ already shooting-challenged starting lineup shrinks the floor, making those passing lanes too small to fit the ball through. The Drake’s just have to stay the course and hope that DeRozan and Ibaka can carry the load for the time being.

Chris: I don’t think so and I doubt Wright would make much of a difference. The Raptors have never been a team that generates a lot of assists, so I don’t know why that would change all of the sudden.

Offensively, the Raptors’ philosophy and approach is what it is. I know fans don’t like to hear that, but overhauling an entire offensive system takes work and I think that’s something the Raptors will do over the summer and implement during training camp next fall.

Until then, we might see the odd game where they rack up a ton of assists. However, I wouldn’t expect that to be a regular occurrence.