Less than two weeks ago, the Raptors were sixth in the NBA in three-point shooting, hitting at about a 40 percent clip. They've been stone-cold since then, shooting less than 30 percent from beyond the arc, falling to ninth in the league. It's been one reason their offense has gone south in the past few games. And unless they can get back on track, it's going to be tough sledding against quality opponents like Houston, Miami and Orlando, who the Raptors face in their next three games. Because there really isn't an inside presence beyond power forward Chris Bosh. Starting center Andrea Bargnani operates out on the perimeter. Good shooting in a must for the Raptors to have any kind of consistent success. And the coach wants more attempts.
"I'd like to see us take more three-point shots," said Jay Triano. "I think we've become a little bit hesitant because we haven't had the success of making them right now. I think a lot of that comes down to practice time as well. We haven't really had days where we can get in there and get lots of shots up."
Whatever the reason, the Raptors need to shoot better to keep themselves in games because their defense is so soft.
HAWKS 111, RAPTORS 89: The Raptors dropped their second in a row and fell to 6-5 at home as Chris Bosh was held to just 14 points by an aggressive Hawks' defense. And with Toronto shooting just 2-for-10 from beyond the arc, there was no one capable filling the void behind Bosh. Andrea Bargnani returned from a one-game injury absence to lead the Raptors with 17 points.
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