Well…that sucked.
I keep getting sucked into it. I get overly excited for the moment and then have to sit through one of the least enjoyable playoff basketball games in recent memory. We took the game to overtime but certainly didn’t deserve to extend it to extra time.
Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to come up with a list of positives from the game. It’s a lot harder than one would think. Just look at this:
This is the coach who just out strategized Dwane Casey. He can’t even figure out how to hold the whiteboard, even though a basketball court looks the same from either side of the court. Watch it again and focus in on Bradley Beal’s face. Deep confusion. So before we try to find any semblance of a positive spin on this game, let’s take a look at what all went horribly wrong:
- Lowry fouled out of what may have been his worst game of the season. He fought hard on the boards, finishing with 8 rebounds on the afternoon, but was atrocious in every other facet of the game. He made dangerous passes, shot just 2-of-10 from the field (0-for-4 from three), committed 3 turnovers to offset his 4 assists, ended the night with just 7 points, and was -9. Craptastic performance.
- DNP-CD: James Johnson. Casey after the game said that “James will play in a matchup situation.” If Pierce playing power forward isn’t a ‘match-up situation’ then I don’t know what is
- Casey was outmaneuvered by Randy Wittman. Randy!!! Wittman!!!
- The Raptors played their worst possible game and still managed to force overtime. This sounds like a positive, but the Wizards also played their worst possible game. As much as we can say the Raptors can’t play worse, the same can be said for the Wizards. Beal shot just 1-for-7 from three and 6-for-23 from the floor, and Wall shot 5-for-18.
- Washington had a rebounding advantage of 13, with the rebounding differential being much worse for the majority of the game. They also played tough defence for the majority of the game. Shooting can come and go, but defence and rebounding can easily be carried forward from game-to-game.
- Terrence Ross thinks they Raptors played a good game…this is a scary thought.
“We played well,” said Terrence Ross, who may think he is orbiting Mercury
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) April 18, 2015
- The Raptors are 0-2 after Masai Ujiri curses publicly at an opponent.
Now for the positives:
- Valanciunas has a defensive rating of 85.5 (second only to Hansbrough’s 84.2) and was the only player with a net rating anywhere near positive (-0.7, with DeRozan being second with a net rating of -5.1). For a man who still struggles so regularly defending the pick and roll well, that number is astounding. He also chipped in 8 rebounds in just 24 minutes of action.
- DeRozan, despite shooting just 6-for-20 in Game 1, produced in a variety of different ways. He led the team in 5 free throws, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists. A few of his shots weren’t great selections, but the majority are shots that he could regularly hit. He attacked Pierce off the dribble to try to use his speed as an advantage, while also trying to post-up and shoot over the smaller Beal.
- Patterson’s three point shot was falling, as he hit 2 from long range.
- Terrence Ross played effective defense on John Wall for stretches. I’m hoping that Casey gives this an extended try during game two, but am worried that Ross was only given the opportunity due to Lowry being in foul trouble for most of the game.
- Despite the Raptors being 0-2 after Ujiri publicly curses at an opponent, I still love it. He even did it this time with the Adam Silver standing beside the stage. The man will do what he thinks needs to be done, and that is a good sign moving forward.
- Vasquez was good? Colour me surprised. He wasn’t exploited terribly, and mostly took reasonable shots. He was easily our best point guard…which is bad. Sorry I reverted into the negative for a second.
- The Raptors had 5 players score in double figures (Vasquez, Lou, Pat-Pat, Amir, and DeMar).
- The Air Canada Centre didn’t spontaneously combust.
- I work Tuesday night and will therefore miss watching Game 2.
But once again, I will manage to talk myself into being excited for game 2. It’s one of the joys of sports. Game 1 was as ugly and unpleasant as it possibly could have been, but that can change. Casey and the Raptors could come with a strategy that will change the series in their favour.
Or it could be much the same as game 1 and I could console myself after the game by eating the other half of the block of cheese.
