Achiuwa’s rough night ends in injury as Raptors outlast Rockets

TORONTO – Each time you thought Precious Achiuwa’s Wednesday night couldn’t get any worse, it did.

To start the day, the Raptors’ forward was called into a meeting with his head coach. With some visual aids, Nick Nurse showed him why his playing time had gone down recently. Together, they watched film of Achiuwa’s defensive breakdowns – miscues that could have and should’ve been avoided, things that he can correct.

“He just needs to play better,” Nurse said of the promising 23-year-old, who had logged just 14 minutes in each of the previous two games. “You know I’m always talking about playing hard on [defence] and executing. He’s just having too much inconsistency. Some nights he’s unbelievable, he’s into the game and he’s doing it all, and some nights he’s not doing very much of it.”

“[Playing 14 minutes] is not what I envisioned for him this year, and I told him that. I’m envisioning mid to upper 20s-plus [minutes], but I can’t [play him more] if he’s not gonna execute our stuff defensively better.”

The storybook ending would’ve been for Achiuwa to go out and have a big game against the Houston Rockets at home that night, responding to his coach’s challenge and re-establishing himself as a key member of Toronto’s second unit. But that’s not what happened.

Instead, Achiuwa’s night ended with an injury.

Driving to the basket early in the fourth quarter of a 116-109 win, Achiuwa lost the ball mid-air and landed awkwardly on his right leg. After limping to the bench, assistant coach Jamaal Magloire and two-way player Ron Harper Jr. carried him to the locker room. He was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game with an ankle sprain that will require further testing.

What happened in between wasn’t ideal, either. As usual, Achiuwa and Chris Boucher were the first Raptors reserves to check in, roughly seven minutes into the opening quarter.

Early on, Achiuwa ripped a loose ball away from Kevin Porter Jr. to secure the offensive rebound – OK, encouraging! But instead of resetting, he gave it right back when he drove into Alperen Sengun, who was set underneath the rim, and got called for the charge.

But if you had your eyes on his defence, as Nurse did:

First, Jalen Green blew by him for an easy layup. Then, roaming in the middle of the paint, he left his man, Usman Garuba, open under the bucket for another score. After missing a three on the following possession, Achiuwa - the last man back – allowed K.J. Martin to leak out for a fast-break dunk.

There wasn’t a whole lot of defence being played at that point, from Achiuwa or anybody else. The woeful Rockets, who came in ranked 25th in offence and with a 2-9 record on the season, shot 70 per cent and scored 37 points in the quarter.

By the time Achiuwa picked up his second foul, reaching in on Eric Gordon early in the second quarter, and was subbed out, the Raptors trailed by 10 points.

On a night in which Fred VanVleet and O.G. Anunoby did most of the heavy lifting, veterans Otto Porter Jr. and Thaddeus Young were the steadying presence. Young was on the floor with the starters to close the first half, as the team went on a 15-8 run to take a three-point lead into the break.

Once Christian Koloko – who started again in place of the injured Pascal Siakam – picked up his fifth foul early in the third quarter, it was Young who checked in, followed by Porter soon after. Achiuwa and Boucher, who’s also struggled the past couple games, didn’t get in until late in the quarter.

Achiuwa’s second-half minutes were marginally better, but still mired by a missed defensive assignment that led to a Martin three-pointer in the third quarter and a bad turnover to start the fourth.

Without Siakam in the lineup, VanVleet and Anunoby combined for 59 points and were equally as brilliant defensively, carrying their team for the bulk of the evening. Porter hit three three-pointers in less than 90 seconds to help them pull away in the closing minutes, while Young was solid – albeit scoreless – in 27 good minutes (he grabbed eight rebounds and was a team-best plus-21). It was harder than it needed to be, given the level of competition, but the Raptors will take all the wins they can get until their leading scorer returns, which could be three or four weeks away.

Achiuwa finished with four points on 2-of-8 shooting in 12 minutes, and Toronto was outscored by 11 points when he was on the floor.

Coming off an excellent second half to last season, as well as a strong summer, the Raptors had high hopes for their sixth man going into his third NBA campaign, and second with Toronto. While he’s made major strides offensively, making better reads and improving his jumper, his most valuable skill is his versatility on the other end of the court. At his best, Achiuwa is strong enough to guard in the post and quick enough to hang with smaller players on the perimeter. Prior to the season, he told TSN that his goal was to establish himself as one of the league’s best defenders.

Last season, post all-star break, the Raptors allowed 107.2 points per 100 possessions when Achiuwa was on the floor – the second-best mark among their regular rotation players. So far this season, they’re giving up 112.6 points with him out there – worst among the regulars.

He’s still a developing player, and given how high the Raptors are on him, it’s been a bit of a surprise to see his minutes take a hit. Even at the start of last season, as he struggled to find his footing in a new role and on a different team, he was allowed a long enough leash to play through a lot of his mistakes.

But considering his recent slippage and how important he is to this franchise’s present and future, you can understand why Nurse – who’s never been afraid to challenge his players, privately or publicly – would want to send a message.

Now hopefully he’s able to get back on the floor and respond to that message. Achiuwa had his right foot wrapped up after Wednesday’s game and will undergo an MRI to determine the severity of his injury.

“You hope it’s not anything devastating,” VanVleet said afterwards. “Hopefully he’ll be OK… We’re gonna need him.”