Magic 82, Raptors 95 – Box :: Reaction
I remember watching Chris Bosh when he was with the Raptors. Despite having shortcomings that he often got unfairly criticized for, he was the best player on the team and gave strong efforts night in and night out. It was a Raptor team that struggled to finish games and when they were down, they were pretty much out. Other than the likes of Mike James, Jermaine O’Neal, or Jose Calderon catching random fire, there wasn’t a spark which could lift the team when facing even moderate levels of adversity. Those teams missed a leader, someone who would refuse to lose and would rather pour his blood and sweat then accept second best, whether it be individually or collectively. Not this team, this one has Kyle Lowry.
This game turned at the start of the second half when the Raptors were down 8 and had just finished a half where they conceded 59% shooting and 28 points in the paint. Any offensive highlights were more than offset by the defense played, specifically, by Greivis Vasquez who the Magic looked to exploit on every single possession. Porous in transition and conceding drives to Oladipo, Harris, and Fournier, the Raptors discovered that it wasn’t Vucevic that posed the biggest threat, but the Magic guards who are adept at not picking up the dribble and constantly probing a defense eager to swipe and press. The former was checked adequately by Jonas Valanciunas, who appeared to anticipate Vucevic’s turns in the post and met him with the oh-so-beloved principle of verticality that he so loves to showcase.
[aside header=”Casey on Lowry’s 2nd Half Start”]
“He set the tone the first five minutes of the third quarter and that’s what you have to do if you’re serious about winning. He came in and set the tone defensively. He set the tone offensively, being in attack mode, and everybody kind of just followed suit and that’s what you have to have from your leaders.”
– Dwane Casey
[/aside]
Lowry’s display (17 pts, 6-12 FG, 8 ast, 5 reb, 2 stl, 4 TO) in the first few minutes of the second half showed just why he is our most valuable player. Going back to the Chris Bosh years, that kind of a response coming out of halftime was rarely seen, and these days it’s the norm. Lowry drove for two, hit a three, dished to Amir Johnson on a pick ‘n roll, and got fouled for two FTs. These sequence of events delivered the proverbial sucker punch to the Magic whose hard-earned lead born of good tactics had evaporated in front of a home crowd that was poised to push the Raptors through.
From then on, it was a matter of cleaning up the defense. Simple things, like tightening the transition defense where the Magic only had two fast-break points in the entire second half. Better shot contests by not falling for the initial head fake as Oladipo and Fournier are wont to do. Staying in front of Tobias Harris (much better job by Ross, Fields, and James Johnson in second half), and muscling him on his drives instead of giving him the step. He was 6-8 FG in the first half, and 2-7 FG in the second. It’s these small things that add up and end up forming a strong defensive half. It was missing in the first and present in the second.
The Raptors offense wasn’t as isolation-heavy as it was against the Knicks, and they notched 10 assists in the first half, and 15 in the second. It’s been players you don’t generally associate with fluid offense that are playing the most team-oriented basketball. Landry Fields, Tyler Hansbrough (nice clearout), and Amir Johnson are executing certain sets down to mathematical precision, especially when big-to-big is involved. Lou Williams, who is a borderline ball-hog at times, gave up a lot of the shots he might’ve taken the previous night in New York. Correction made.
Landry Fields got the start again, and delivered some nice moments, including running a great break and throwing a behind-the-back pass which the crowd loved. His play is like found money, entirely unexpected and has the feel of a full-on bonus. Nobody, not even even someone whose full-time job might be to make fun of Fields and his situation, ever thought that the man cannot play. He is overpaid, no doubt. His situation is comical, no arguments there. But he is valuable because he doesn’t demand shots, is a fundamentally good defender blessed with good reach, and a very intelligent player without the ball. I feel that Casey has been let off the hook in terms of his management of Fields, because everybody can see that there’s something that Fields can bring to the table that can contribute towards wins. The Brooklyn series and Joe Johnson is obviously the best example of this misuse (or lack of use), and it’s ironic that Fields might be starting when Brooklyn comes to town on Wednesday.
As has been the case all season, the Raptors have overcome bad stretches of defense through their depth and this one was no exception. The Raptors bench outscored the Magic’s 44-25, with Lou Williams and Patrick Patterson providing the scoring punch, and Vasquez improving on his dreadful first half display. By the time the Raptors had surged ahead by 6 late in the third, it was a question of whether the Magic had any runs left in the fourth or whether the Raptors would deliver the killshot.
The Magic did come to within two early in the fourth after the Raptors defense failed to pick up on Channing Frye at the three-point line, but what followed was a typical Raptors burst. A bench lineup of Patterson, Williams, James Johnson, Hansbrough and Vasquez executed a 12-0 run to put the game out of reach. Three of the four field goals in this stretch were assisted and the ball movement on the back of a spaced out court playing small-ball was perfect. This key stretch reflected the Raptors depth, their confidence, and the shot-making ability that players like Williams, Patterson, and Vasquez possess.
Of course, the night did belong to Kyle Lowry again. He had a series of spectacular plays, and I’ll pick my favorite, which is him crossing over Oladipo to setup Fields as the Raptors were surging in the third quarter.
[gfy]CoarseEuphoricEgg[/gfy]
Every time Lowry had the ball, the Magic defense was worried. I realize it’s not the same in absolute terms, but in relative terms I sensed the Magic sensed the same fear that teams facing LeBron James feel. The knowledge that there is nothing you can do stop a player and that you’re entirely at their mercy. In a tweet on the main twitter account, I compared him to Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal, and although that reference will go over 99% of people’s head, it’s the best one I could find. A sheer bulldog of a player that does not take a possession of no matter who the opponent.
We talk about never turning the TV off on this Raptors team no matter what the score, and Lowry’s the biggest reason for that. After the game, things were jovial as DeRozan interviewed Lowry and the Raptors celebrated yet another win, maintaining pole position at the top of the East, and impressively taking their record without DeRozan to 6-3. The trudge through the schedule continues and as posted on Twitter yesterday, the schedule is in a valley before it hits the peak (before another valley):
