The Toronto Raptors were looking to even their first-round series against the Indiana Pacers at one game apiece, salvaging one of their two games at home and steadying confidence after seven consecutive playoff losses. They entered the fourth quarter ahead by eight, but the lead felt more tenuous than that number would suggest. A piping-hot start had cooled considerably, and with the threat of an equally hot Paul George taking over the fourth quarter, anxiety was the emotion of the moment.
As he’s done all season long, head coach Dwane Casey turned to one of his best units to start the fourth quarter, deploying point guard Kyle Lowry with four reserves. It’s the normal rest period for DeMar DeRozan, who takes a seat after Lowry gets a late-third reprieve thanks to the also-very-good DeRozan-plus-bench group, and it’s usually a time in the game where Lowry and the second unit thrash opposing benches.
On Monday, the second unit was without Terrence Ross, who left at halftime as a precautionary measure under the league’s concussion protocol. That vaulted Norman Powell into the small forward position with the rest of that highly effective fivesome. Powell was presumed to be on the fringes of the rotation through no fault of his own before the game, with the Raptors opting to try to get DeMarre Carroll going against Paul George by bumping him to the starting lineup. Powell got a good stretch of first-half run due to early foul trouble for Carroll, and as has often been the case for the rookie, he provided a game-changing energy.
The Lowry-led reserve unit didn’t miss a beat with Powell in the place of Ross. By the time Casey was ready to make a substitution – he normally does so about four minutes into the final quarter, opting this time to wait an extra two minutes – the lead had swelled to 14, and the game felt mostly in hand.
As the quarter rolled along, Casey opted to make an outside-the-box decision, one that seemed straightforward given the flow of the game but one that was surely difficult: He kept DeRozan on the bench.
DeRozan had bet he wouldn’t go 5-of-19, his Game 1 shooting line, again, and he was right. He was 5-of-18 through three quarters, and he wouldn’t get the chance to get a 19th attempt off. He was held off the free-throw line completely, dished just two assists, and while he did a good job on Monta Ellis at the defensive end and had an impressive jump-cut steal, he wasn’t at his best. For the second game in a row, the Raptors couldn’t get their top scorer going, a huge credit to the defensive effort of George and the Pacers and also just the sort of random ebbs and flows that occur in a playoff series.
“I don’t know if it’s tightness or what it is,” Casey said. “I know his offense, he didn’t get to the line, how many times, and he was number two or three in the league in getting to the free-throw line. I don’t know if that’s frustration or what. His teammates picked him up.. He’ll come around. You don’t forget how to play offensively, to attack the rim. I know the last couple of playoff series it took him a couple of games to get going.”
Casey did opt to bring Jonas Valanciunas back into the game for Bismack Biyombo at the midway point of the quarter, and that group rolled similarly, closing out the game until Pacers head coach Frank Vogel waved the white flag at the 3:16 mark.
The Raptors had closed out a playoff game – really, won a playoff game – with their top scorer on the bench for the entirety of the fourth. It’s a major roll of the dice, benching a star, and it shows the confidence Casey has not only in his depth but in the maturity of DeRozan to handle it in stride.
To his credit, DeRozan did just that, playing the good soldier and adopting a cheerleading role from the bench as Powell and company surged.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m at my best, he’s at his best, JV is at his best, or not at our best; a win is a win,” Lowry said. “That shows an All-Star right there. That man did not complain about not playing the fourth, he cheered us on and we got a win. All he cares about is us getting a win. That to me shows a great player. He doesn’t want any credit and he’s just happy that we got the win.”
While a late benching might risk a player’s confidence, how Monday’s game played out may actually serve to help DeRozan. He still has to figure George out and find ways to make the tough shots he normally makes, and that’s going to be tough against a defender who seems custom-built to stop him. DeRozan’s going to be fine at some point in this series, and has spent this season, the best of his career, overcoming tough defenders who gave him trouble in the past. Now, though, DeRozan and the Raptors know that they can win when DeRozan’s not at his best, and the knowledge that he doesn’t have the team’s fate on his shoulders may serve to ease that burden moving forward.
“It says a lot especially with the shooting struggles that me and Kyle have had these first two games,” DeRozan said of getting a win when he wasn’t at his best. “To come out and play like the way we did today it’s definitely scary. It shows you the potential we have. Once we get our rhythm it’s going to be a scary thing.
“It’s funny that people think I feel a certain way that I didn’t go back in the fourth. A lot of time I tell the coaches to keep going with the group of guys that are in there, whoever is in there, keep rolling until the second runs off if need be.”
The list of players who stepped up during DeRozan’s off night is impressive, but none stood out more than Powell. His ascension is well-established at this point, and he continues to find ways to contribute even as his role theoretically disappeared. He did an admirable job on George, for example, something few Raptors have been able to do during his torrid start to the series (the Raptors have turned to throwing a lot of different bodies and looks at George to try to break him out of his comfort zone, none of them particularly effective). It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what Powell brought Monday from looking at the box score, but it certainly felt like an occasion where plus-minus – he was a plus-21 in 22 minutes – told a more accurate story than the box score – he had three points.
“Not playing him in the fourth, I just liked the energy and the defensive toughness that Norm was bringing at his position,” Casey said. “Again, it was a team effort, and everybody had to step in and give it to us all the way around.”
Patrick Patterson turned in another great game. Lowry shook off his own rough Game 1 and a poor shooting night to turn in the typical Lowry performance that’s come to be expected of him. Cory Joseph continued to function as a godsend as a secondary ball-handler and option on the Pacers’ quick cadre of guards. And Jonas Valanciunas picked up the offensive slack in a major way, punishing the Pacers for a second game in a row, and staying on the floor this time, to boot.
“We all gotta step up. It’s not an individual sport,” Valanciunas said. “Some nights are tough for Kyle, some tough for DeMar, some tough for me. Everybody has tough times. So everybody has got to pull for each other.”
That’s never been more clear than Monday, with the team’s leading scorer turning to a fourth-quarter afterthought and seeming just as happy as every other player about what transpired with him on the bench.
“All I care about, we won this game,” DeRozan said.
There are at least three more for DeRozan to take his turn stepping up.
