So I mustered up the courage to watch the fourth quarter again, and documented how Paul George ate up the Raptors. All his fourth quarter shots (including misses) are below, and a breakdown of who’s guarding him in what context follows. But before that, make sure you don’t miss our coverage of Game 1:
Quick Reaction :: Casey’s crazy comments :: Post-game news and notes :: Reaction podcast :: DeRozan’s off night
The key possessions where he burned DeRozan:
- 6:35 – 1 point game, vs DeRozan, blows by him and assists for a three. Just poor one-on-one defense by DeRozan who gets crossed over way too easily.
- 5:43 – 1 point game, vs DeRozan, steps back behind a screen for a three. DeRozan can’t fight the screen and George gets enough daylight to get a good look.
- 4:57 – 2 point game, vs DeRozan, shakes DeRozan and steps back for a two, he put him on his hip and faded the other way for a relatively easy look, though Biyombo was helping.
George is now hot, so Casey tries to put a different guy on him – too late:
- 3:45 – 3 point game, vs Patterson, drives on him using a screen and sets up Turner for an easy two. DeRozan comes over to help but George isn’t affected by him at all.
- 3:17 – 4 point game, vs Carroll, takes Carroll, JV forced to help as Carroll is stuck, finds Turner for a dunk.
- 2:36 – 6 point game, vs Carroll, Carroll caught on screen and George drills the jumper
These possessions don’t even matter since the game is practically over:
- 1:49 – 10 point game, vs Carroll, drives and sets up Ellis for three.
- 1:24 – 11 point game, vs DeRozan, isolation, gets a FT jumper but misses.
- 1:05 – 11 point game, vs DeRozan, gets into the lane, misses floater.
- :45 – 9 point game, vs Lowry, steps back for an unblockable jumper
Don’t miss the reaction podcast for Game 1:
