Jakob Pöltl is currently running like clockwork in the NBA. Although his Toronto Raptors last suffered a 125-132 defeat against Oklahoma City Thunder, the Canadian franchise previously celebrated eleven consecutive victories, leading the Eastern Conference 52-18.
In addition, Austria’s Serge Ibaka overtook as his team’s best shot-blocker, although he was nine minutes down per game.
“It’s important that the number of blocks has risen significantly this season and especially lately. That I overtook Serge is irrelevant, but of course a cool thing and confirmation of my progress in the defense,” Pölt remains modest.
But the Raptors have also made an offensive showing in the last 23 games, with Pöltl and Co. I wasn’t even aware of this, but this year and especially in the last few weeks we have improved to the point that we score a lot of points even on a bad throwing day. We have so many other options that we are not only dependent on the outside throwing percentage,” Pöltl analyses.
The 22-year-old doesn’t want to overestimate the end of the winning streak against Oklahoma City Thunder, he sees the defeat as a shot in front of the bow at the right time: “We had some problems and maybe the Thunder are not the best matchup for our defence. It is good that such games are happening at this point so that we can learn for the important phase.”
James Harden is currently the clear favourite for the MVP title, he is by far the best player in the Number 1 team of the Regular Season,” says Pöltl.
We knew we couldn’t keep the Houston Rockets in check for an entire game, but we tried to prevent their greatest strength – the trio – as much as possible,” Pölt reveals the Raptors’ recipe for success against the currently best NBA team.
Twelve games are still to be played in the Regular Season and besides first place in the Eastern Conference, Pöltl still has a personal goal.
“Personally, I would very much like to achieve 60 victories, that would be madness. I realized a few weeks ago that we had a real shot at this. The rest of the schedule isn’t easy, we’re going to have to win a few difficult games,” says Pöltl of the Raptors’ tough rest programme with two Boston, two Cleveland, Indiana and Miami.
However, you have to beat every opponent anyway if you want to be at the top at the end, Pöltl knows that too. The Cavs, for example, have been severely weakened by injuries, they are stronger than the table says. In the playoffs they must be a tough nut to crack,” he strews LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers roses, but restricts:
“I personally wouldn’t care if they finished fourth or fifth and we were up against them in the second round. If we want to win the conference, we’re gonna have to get past everybody anyway.”