Dinos & Digits: Do the Hustle

Welcome back to Dinos & Digits, a column where we dive into the box scores and find five interesting or strange Raptors statistics and put them on front street for discussion.

We like to explore a mix of both individual player and team statistics, ranging from raw box score numbers to some interesting and funky advanced metrics. The goal is to present the numbers without too much opinion attached, leaving those debates for the comment section.

OK, let's get down to it. Here are this week's interesting digits:

According to NBA.com’s Hustle Stats, the Toronto Raptors are third in the NBA in screen assists at 12.8, third in deflections per game at 18.1, and fourth in loose balls recovered at 6.2.

Jonas Valanciunas leads the team in screen assists with 4.2 per contest (eighth in the Association), while Kyle Lowry leads the team in both deflections with 3.6 (10th) and loose balls recovered with 1.1 (15th).

Kyle Lowry is seventh in the league in adjusted assists at 9.5.

Adjusted assists is a stat that combines regular assists (7.1, 11th), free throw assists (1.0, 2nd), and secondary assists (1.4, 12th).

DeMar DeRozan scores 9.7 pull-up points per game.

That ranks him third in the NBA, trailing only Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul, who both score 9.9 points per game on pull-ups.

DeRozan also shoots an efficient 45.0% on pull-up jumpers. That is the third-best percentage among players attempting at least five such shots per contest, trailing only George Hill at 50.0% and Chris Paul at 45.1%.

As a team, the Raptors are second in pull-up points per game at 24.4 and first in pull-up field goal percentage at 42.5%.

Since November 28th, the Raptors have had a defensive rating of 104.4 (points allowed per 100 possessions).

That ranks them sixth in the league over that 16-game span.

They have also ranked first in the Association in both offensive rating (115.2) and net rating (10.8) during that period.

Cory Joseph’s 5.76 dribbles per touch is the third-highest mark in the NBA.

The only players in the league who take more dribbles per touch are Aaron Brooks (6.26) and John Wall (5.91).

All stats courtesy of NBA.com/stats.