It wasn’t long ago — last year, as a matter of fact — when the Toronto Raptors’ ability to generate offense rested on the shoulders of essentially two players (three if you count Cory Joseph). The Bucks series in the 2017 playoffs and virtually every series from the past four seasons featured stagnant offensive sets capped off by an array of highly difficult closely contested shots. It was painful, stressful, frustrating — use whichever adjective you’d like.
While the Raptors were ultimately victors over the Bucks in six games, it was far closer than they had hoped and once again highlighted an all too familiar set of issues that have plagued the Raptors throughout an otherwise golden era of basketball in Toronto.