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Whiteside and Valanciunas out for Game 7, and other post-game notes

The Heat played well small in Game 6. They're not gonna have much choice but to do it again in Game 7.

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Well, that kind of sucked. With a chance to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time ever, the Toronto Raptors turned in their worst defensive game of the series, surrendering 103 points to Goran Dragic and the Miami Heat. The offense, other than the two star pillars who seem to have rediscovered themselves over the last two games, was also found wanting. It was, all told, not great.

“We came here to try to win the game,” Dwane Casey said after the game. “We wasn’t coming here wanting a Game 7.”

But. This series was always going seven, and there’s a reason you fight all year for home court. The Raptors have the opportunity to take another Game 7 at home on Sunday (at 3:30), and as they have all playoffs, there’s reason to believe they’ll bounce back. It’s still sitting right there. Take a deep breath, throw Coloring Book back on, and let’s regroup for Sunday.


Until then, here are some post-game notes and quotes.

Lowry and DeRozan try to go it alone

Of all the times for the supporting cast to be missing in action, this was a pretty bad one. Lowry and DeRozan combined for 59 points for the second consecutive game, and while the ball was quite sticky, that was borne of necessity as much as anything else. Non-All-Star Raptors shot 14-of-34 overall, 1-of-8 on threes, and other than Patrick Patterson, nobody was effective on the offensive glass. Cory Joseph, meanwhile, turned in maybe his worst two-way game of the postseason, and the bench as a whole provided little.


There are two ways to look at this. On one hand, Lowry and DeRozan seem to have hit their stride, and if they can play this well, the Raptors are in good shape for Game 7. On the other, they just lost with them playing well, and there’s a chance they don’t play quite as good next time out.

Lineup chess match

How’s this for single-game annoyance?


Part of the better shooting for Miami may have been the decision to go small, which Erik Spoelstra chalked up to doing “whatever is required” after the game. The sample is now down to ONE, and if the Heat think they can take advantage of Toronto, who didn’t swing the rebounding or rim-protection edge their way big, again, then they’ll probably ride those small groups for Game 7.


The Raptors also couldn’t score against that small group despite the size advantage. They only managed 0.88 points per-possession against the small group (I have to go back and pull full-series numbers), and those groups have been a huge positive for Miami over the last three games. Even when the Heat weren’t small-small, Josh McRoberts seemed to outwork everyone (the Charlie work, as it were). The Heat’s starters were “only” a +2 in 14 minutes, but a group with Josh Richardson in place of Joe Johnson was also a plus-5 in seven minutes.


Casey didn’t credit the lineup matchup for the loss, saying instead that the Raptors’ inability to contain dribble penetration was the primary cause of their issue. He was also fine with the offense, saying it “Wasn’t our issue,” and “Defensively, we have to keep the ball in front of us.” The Raptors’ starters were somewhat surprisingly a plus-2 in 19 minutes together, and there were no groups that stood out as awful or great, it was just kind of an all-around bad game.

“Sometimes unconventional works,” Wade said, pointing out how it can change the comfort level of opposing bigs, and the value of opening up space in transition and in the paint.

“It’s just one-on-one defense,” DeRozan said. “We’ve gotta just buckle down and not rely on help defense as much.”

Dragic Azteca Jr. just burnt down The Temple

There’s probably no hoping for “regression” from a ridiculous Goran Dragic night. The Raptors guards simply have to do a better job stopping him, in semi-transition and in face-up situations. He was unbelievable, and you could kind of see it coming in Game 5. It’s tough when the solution is “be better,” because the Heat did a nice job forcing Bismack Biyombo away from the rim and out of good help position, even with Justise Winslow out there.


“What do you mean?” Dragic said laughing when asked what got into him. “I don’t want to go home to Europe.”

“The way they played today, that’s the style he’s accustomed to. He plays downhill,” Lowry said.

No centers for Game 7

*Jonas Valanciunas’ status hasn’t changed. “I don’t think so..I would say not,” Casey said, adding that he’s “nowhere close to being ready.” And Hassan Whiteside’s doesn’t sound like it has either, with him telling Ethan Skolnick he won’t play in Game 7, though he will travel.


*DeMarre Carroll played little down the stretch, as he was dealing with his left wrist injury and a tweaked ankle. It seemed to be a strategic choice, though, not an injury related one, as there was little mention of his health after the game.



*Dwyane Wade spoke incredibly highly about the impact of having Luol Deng play, pointing out the ways he contributes off the stat sheet. No doubt. I thought Deng was terrific defensively despite DeRozan scoring 23 points, and those Heat small-ball groups aren’t possible without Deng’s ability to both space the floor and bang inside. He also played a team-high 41 minutes despite the wrist bruise. Warrior.

Assorted

*The Gardiner is closed on Sunday. This should be fun!

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