The Toronto Raptors are going back to the drawing board after losing 117-94 against the Minnesota Timberwolves in their third game of the season at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
The Wolves have steamrolled through their first three games of the season, winning by 20 points or more in each. This was definitely a tough opponent for Toronto to face. Things were only made tougher when Kawhi Leonard was ruled out prior to the game starting due to right knee swelling.
Here are three observations from the game:
Scottie Barnes Needs Kawhi Leonard
It's clear how much Leonard changes the entire team on both ends of the floor. Offensively, Barnes especially needs Leonard because he cannot shoulder the load by himself. Barnes had a career-low scoring night, missing all 12 of his shots, including all five of his 3-pointers. It was very uncharacteristic of the team's leading scorer to drop a goose egg, but that's what happened against the Wolves.
Last season, we saw how much Barnes improved by playing alongside Brandon Ingram on the wing. Without that dynamic duo, regardless of who Barnes is with, it significantly hurts the team's offensive ceiling.
The 3-Point Shooting Could Be a Problem
The Raptors really struggled to shoot the three-point ball, apart from Ja'Kobe Walter, who made 5 of his 8 shots from distance. Take Walter out of the equation, and the team made just 5 of 30 from downtown.
It's going to be hard for the Raptors to win much if they don't shoot better from distance, so this storyline is going to continue wreaking havoc and causing issues until it is resolved or it becomes the reason they lose in the playoffs.
A Flat Third Quarter
Despite the final score, the Raptors were still in this one at halftime. They trailed by only 8 points and had a chance to possibly make it a game. Unfortunately, they came out extremely flat, and the Wolves took advantage of that. They turned an 8-point lead into a 28-point lead, and the lead grew to as much as 32 points.
It's proof that leads in the NBA are incredibly fragile, and you have to play a full four quarters in order to win a basketball game. It's also indicative of how quickly a game can shift in just a few minutes. Toronto will have to make better halftime adjustments when they face the Orlando Magic for their two-game series at Scotiabank Arena this week.
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