The Raptors still can’t start their games

After the “comeback” against Washington (victory despite 23 points behind), which itself followed a “comeback” against San Antonio (victory despite 22 points behind), the Raptors assured that they no longer wanted to wait until their head was underwater to wake up. But against Milwaukee yesterday, suffice to say that Darko Rajakovic’s players did not really put their words into practice: trailing by 23 points at halftime!

For the third time in a dozen days, the teammates of a Scottie Barnes very lonely (29 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists) actually missed their start. And if they were able to come out against the modest Spurs and Wizards thanks to a late awakening of the senior players, the slope was far too steep against these Bucks who were far too solid to crack, particularly defensively, despite the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“ We missed shots early on, and I think that affected us the rest of the match », Regretted the young winger, whose Raptors shot 35% (9/26) in the first quarter. “ It’s as if we had turned each other on, we lost our enthusiasm. We are at our best when we play freely, without thinking about the previous shot. The same goes for defense. It is a source of rhythm. But they quickly chained shots, we never made their lives difficult in attack. »

Unexplainable ailments?

These Raptors have therefore suffered from chronic inconsistency in the first period since the start of the season, and this is starting to become a worrying problem since the margin for error in each game is minimal for this squad. Yesterday, Darko Rajakovic admitted in any case that he had no explanation for these repeated ignition delays…

“ We had no juice at the start of the match. I honestly don’t know why, but we weren’t there “, judged the Serbian coach of the Raptors. “ At times I found it to be communication issues on defensive coverages. On Damian Lillard in particular [24 points et 8 passes à la mi-temps, ndlr], he cut up our defense. While we played without any energy. »

Same refrain from Jakob Poeltl, symbol of these difficulties in the first half, particularly in defense, when he was replaced in the major five after the break by Precious Achiuwa, more mobile.

“ I honestly don’t know. A lack of energy, of preparation? », asks the kingpin. “ But the bottom line is that, in any case, we have to find a way to do better, it’s that simple. »

Comments collected at Scotiabank Arena