Andrea Bargnani is not interested in basking in the afterglow of his 41-point performance in New York on Wednesday against the k Knicks. The Toronto Raptors centre said the career-high point total was the result of a good game plan, which allowed him to gain a favour-able match-up in the post.
"I was in the zone, but they were good shots ... it was not that I was making crazy shots or something unbelievable," Bargnani said Thursday. "I was making easy shots inside the paint."
The bigger concern, with the Denver Nuggets in town Friday, is preventing points, not scoring them. Nothing has come easy to Toronto on defence lately.
"Denver is maybe the best offensive team in the league," Bargnani said. "We know we can score points, but we definitely need to play better defence against a team like that. Otherwise they're going to score 120, 130 points."
The Raptors have allowed an average of 104.2 points per game this season, 24th in the league through Wednesday. During the club's last five games, things appear to have gotten worse. Only Washington (112.4) has allowed more points per game than Toronto (112) in that span.
Most teams in the NBA have a winning record when they score 100 or more points, but not the Raptors, who are just 7-8 when they break the century mark. And when the opposition scores 100 or more points, Toronto is just 3-11.
Still, Raptors head coach Jay Triano suggested defence is not a major concern right now.
"I thought we were pretty solid [Wednesday]," Triano said. "[New York creates] tough match-ups. You have to give up something with that team and we decided to take away the three-point shots, and that was the least number of attempts that they've had in, like, five games."
New York made eight of 21 shots from beyond the arc during Wednesday's 113-110 victory. The Knicks are second in the NBA in points per game (107.9), trailing only the Phoenix Suns.
"I thought our strategy and the game plan was very good ... a lot better than it was in Indiana [a 124-100 loss Monday]," Triano said. "As always, every time we can get better at containing [our] own man, then you're not forced into rotations or help defence.
Part of the issue on defence may be the fact new addition Jerryd Bayless, acquired in a trade from the New Orleans Hornets last month, is still growing accustomed to Toronto's system. Shortly after arriving, he told reporters the Raptors defence was very different than what he had experienced during stints with Portland and New Orleans.
While strong defence is important, Triano thinks it is just as important for his team to maintain its composure if a talented team like Denver goes on a run.
"I don't think our energy has been lacking too many times this year," Triano said. "We're trying to stick with our game plan and do what we're supposed to be doing, and for the most part this year we've done that pretty well."
