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Raptors pick the wrong poison, and other post-game notes

The Raptors are off to regroup, while Iman Shumpert is off to serve the Khaleesi.

Well, that certainly sucked. With a quick series turnaround and little time to prepare, we spent two days trying to talk ourselves into a competitive series (or even an NBA Finals berth, in the case of some commenters), and for about a quarter things looked alright. And then the offense sputtered, rest overtook rust, and the Cavs’ ridiculous spread attack, led by the otherworldly LeBron James, made a very serious statement.

But hey, there’s still time. The Raptors’ coaching staff has shown they can make smart game-to-game adjustments (maybe not worth 31 points, but still), there were a few small areas the Raptors may have learned helpful lessons, and they almost can’t conceivably play worse. On to Thursday!

But first, some post-game news and notes (and apologies to Josh Lewenberg for using all of his tweets but he’s the only one tweeting and the stream of the conferences isn’t working for me.)

A veritable buffet of canned worms

The defensive choices facing the Raptors are difficult in this series. Guard James one-on-one, and he’ll eat. Send help, and he’ll kick. Protect the rim, and they’ll shoot. Stay tight to shooters, and they’ll drive. But you have to do something right, and the Raptors committed to preventing threes and trying to choke ball movement. At least in the first half, they limited 3-pointers, which appeared to be the biggest threat entering this season, but James hit seven straight buckets in the paint and the Cavs scored 14 baskets in a row in the restricted area. In the end, the Raptors surrendered 56 points in the paint to just 21 points on threes.


That might be the right strategy and it might not be. What’s clear, though, is that the Raptors were uncomfortable with it. Their new defensive identity for the year was to send help on drives and zone up the weak side, then close out on shooters, and Tuesday saw them play every drive straight-up, even when struggling to contain on the perimeter, in order to stay closer to home on shooters.

James, by the way, went 8-of-9 on contested shots, so even though the Raptors (particularly DeMarre Carroll) didn’t do a great job, at least they made him hit tough ones. I don’t know, I’m stretching here.

As far as lineups that worked and didn’t, I did my usual dive through the data waiting on media availability, and it wasn’t pretty – not a single two-man combination that played at least three minutes was a positive together. As always, plus-minus is just descriptive and not a be-all/end-all, but at least the Raptors’ starters (minus-2 in 12 minutes) and the starters with James Johnson in place of Carroll (even in eight minutes) were competitive. That’s…something to build on.

The Raptors didn’t hear no bell

That was about as bad as it could have gone, but there’s a lot of series left. These Raptors have shown all year long that they’re fighters. That might not feel like much right now, in this moment, but there’s still at least three-quarters of an Eastern Conference Finals to enjoy (or endure).


The Raptors aren’t going to make excuses about the time off and quick turnaround, either, as they shouldn’t.


OK, well maybe not excuses, but they’re at least admitting they looked tired, I guess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln-LjaPEEjE
At least they’re taking some accountability, too.

Assorted

*The Raptors’ stars credited their poor combined night (zero free-throw attempts between them, 26 points on 31 attempts) to a lack of aggression early on.

*Hey, at least the Raptors helped make history!

*Hey, the No. 9 pick, right?


*Ahh, yes, the fun you get to have after wins.


*This is incredible:

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