The Toronto Raptors have some new kids on the bench

Wrote about that team from The North. An excerpt:

Through four games, Toronto’s bench five is actually its most heavily-used lineup, thanks to an injury to Jonas Valanciunas. VanVleet, Wright, Miles, Anunoby, and Poeltl have played 35 minutes together, and they’ve outscored the opposition by 17 points. The Raptors ended up losing both games, but the full-bench unit did well against the Spurs on Monday (+3 in 10 minutes) and Lowry/DeRozan And The New Bench groups helped the Raptors strip the lead away from the Warriors in the fourth quarter on Wednesday (they went from down seven to a tie game before the Raptors had more starters than subs back on the floor) before they squandered the game down the stretch.

This bench group is quite different than that of the last few years, and not just because Miles is the only player with extensive experience. There’s a bit more burden-sharing that has to go on, given the lack of a true primary perimeter creator; but that serves the players within the group fairly well. Wright and Anunoby, in particular, have shown that they know when and where they should pass the ball, both on the break and in the half-court. Poeltl’s two-way play has been a revelation, and the shooting offered by Miles and Anunoby has given everybody ample room to operate.

Read the full story at The Step Back.