Game 4 Post-Game Podcast: Kyle Lowry Over Everything | Raptors Republic
Don’t pinch yourself, you’re not dreaming: The Toronto Raptors are two games away from the NBA Finals after taking down the Cavaliers 105-99. William Lou grabs the mic to show love to the team, and to break down some key coaching decisions that lay ahead.
‘We’re in it to compete for a championship,’ and other post-game notes Raptors Republic
”He’s made shots. I think he’s been aggressive,” Lue said of his mentee Lowry’s big game and the change from the first two games to the last two. “He made some early baskets that gave him some confidence (that) carried over throughout the rest of the game.” Casey said basically the same about some of tough shots the Cavs made – he suggested they might have to “get in the jersey with them” to do a better job – and wants the Raptors to do an even better job closing out on their shooters, perhaps committing less to the roll-man.
Both Casey and Lue were asked about the set the Cavs kept running to fuel their comeback, with both saying the Raptors only got one stop. Casey was adamant they’ll find a solution. “We finally found a solution for it at the end but it was almost too late,” he said. More on this tomorrow.
The crowd was incredible again tonight. Everyone spoke highly of their impact again, and I really can’t wait to see what the atmosphere will be like in an elimination game on Friday.
Dahntay Jones suspended, Dwane Casey fined | Raptors Republic
The NBA has fined Toronto Raptors head coach $25,000 for public criticism of officiating following the team’s Game 3 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.
In his post-game press conference, Casey initially appeared to be trying to bite his tongue, but he reached a point where he apparently decided it was worth the hit to his wallet to unload. And unload he did.
The Raptors had his back, with several players also complaining about the refereeing (as well as every person on Twitter). Nobody was willing to talk about it on Sunday, though.
Raptors took LeBron’s best shot and won: Arthur | Toronto Star
Well, in the biggest game in franchise history the Raptors, for one of the only times ever, lived up to what you wanted them to be. I asked Lowry when he allowed himself to believe that this is possible. “I believe every day,” said Lowry. “I believe every time I work out in the summertime. I never don’t believe.”
“We’ve been counted out, and we like that challenge,” said DeRozan.
Here’s what these two games showed: Cleveland is mortal, and Cleveland can be beaten. Kevin Love tweaked his knee stepping on a referee’s foot and is a mess right now. At times, all of Cleveland’s bad habits were there: Kyrie Irving taking contested jumpers, J.R. Smith taking contested jumpers, LeBron taking jumpers at all. Per basketball-reference dot com, LeBron shot .361 from three to 10 feet this season, .348 from 10 to 16, .404 from 16 to the three-point line, and .309 beyond that. The Raptors wanted LeBron to play weightless basketball, alone.
For a while, he did. On some shots they left LeBron wide open, and didn’t bother running with the scrambling ferocity they had displayed all half. He missed. LeBron finished with 29 points on 16 shots, and six assists, but he didn’t deliver at the end. Lowry and DeRozan did. The Raptors believe they can beat this team. Jonas Valanciunas and his sprained ankle were active for the Raptors, but he just sat and watched one hell of a show.
“When they punch, we punch back, and if they punch three times, we punch four times,” said Lowry. “We got to continue to understand that they’re not going to lay down . . . we ain’t laying down either.”
There are cracks to the Cavaliers, and the Raptors are finding them.
Jonas Valanciunas wants to help in any way he can | Toronto Sun
DeMar DeRozan might be playing his best basketball as a Raptor and he’s doing it in the conference finals.
He’s enjoying it after he and the Raptors were written off down South and after his poor play earlier in the playoffs made him the butt of headline and copy rip jobs in Canada as well.
“I mean, that’s what it’s all about, especially when you see things and headlines and things being said, and you really sit there and wonder, where did we get this from, where do these people get these suggestions, allegations from,” DeRozan said, thinking specifically of the embarrassing furor over Kyle Lowry taking some time to decompress during Game 2.
“It’s crazy just to see it sometimes because people don’t understand how sick or upset we are after a loss, especially after how we lost the first two games. We felt embarrassed. We knew that wasn’t us.
“To see things like that is definitely frustrating, and the only way to shut it up is to go out there and play.”
DeRozan was also bothered by the talk of Cleveland being some sort of a superteam.
“It’s not like we’re playing against a Dream Team of players,” he said.
“Anybody is capable of being beaten, and we showed it all year, being resilient, and you know, we’re always going to — as long as we have an opportunity to go out there on that court, we feel like we can beat anybody.”
Cavaliers face serious questions in wake of Game 4 loss to Raptors | Sportsnet.ca
“I thought at the start of the game, they hit us first,” said Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue. “We still continued to react until I think late in that third quarter when we got aggressive, started blitzing the pick-and-rolls, just having trouble guarding at the point of entry one-on-one, attacking us one-on-one, taking the challenge defensively one-on-one.”
The poor start and porous defensive play were the post-game focal points for the Cavaliers as their performances in Toronto stood in stark contrast to their dominating efforts at home in two lopsided wins to start the series.
Those blowout victories created a sense that the Raptors would be fortunate to pull out a single victory in the best-of-seven, but then they shot 46 per cent on Saturday and 54 per cent on Monday in cutting up a defence that had totally shut them down.
Asked what was happening on the defensive end Monday, Frye replied: “Obviously nothing. They shot 54 per cent. We’ve got to look at the film and do better, that’s some bull****.”
Biyombo’s hard work lifts Raptors and wins fans | Toronto Star
“He was huge because one, he’s creating situations where they’re committing two or three people to boxing him out and creating alleys for us,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said of Biyombo. “I know Pat (Patterson) got a big offensive rebound because they’re worried about Bis, as they should be.
“He’s such a good offensive rebounder. He’s one of our best screeners. He didn’t make his free throws — he was 1-for-4 — but he’s been making his free throws (in other games). He’s huge for us.”
With Lowry and DeRozan carrying the scoring load, Biyombo continually found ways to make huge non-scoring plays. He met Kevin Love at the rim and sent the Cavs star’s dunk attempt back. He was fearless in the second quarter, putting his outstretched body between James and the rim on an alley-oop. He was whistled for a foul on the play, but it sent a message: There’s nothing easy in the paint, not with the six-foot-nine, 245-pound Biyombo waiting, ready to send anyone’s shot back at them.
Bismack Biyombo a beast once again for Raptors | Toronto Sun
Funny how things work out. Biyombo had a huge month filling in for an injured Valanciunas in the regular season and now has come up with a number of monster outings in the playoffs, particularly the last two against Cleveland as the Raptors squared the series.
Biyombo collected 14 more rebounds in 41 minutes of action, never once looking tired. He was so good, that a now healthy Valanciunas wasn’t even called upon. Biyombo blocked three shots, the biggest an unbelievable job on J.R. Smith who was trying to take a three-pointer. How many centres can guard out there, can move their feet and come up with a huge defensive play? The list is a small one.
Biyombo is now in Cleveland’s heads. He has blocked LeBron James at the rim twice and who does that? Forget that he got called for fouls each time, they were both clean. All Biyombo could do was laugh at the one on Monday. He was shown on the big screen at the ACC — the loudest crowd ever to witness a Raptors game in the 21-year history of the franchise howled with delight. Later, when Biyombo went to the free throw line, they chanted “M-V-P.”
He was a beast, Toronto’s newest folk hero.
“He’s playing great, he’s feeling very confident, he’s helping us big-time, we’re winning in the conference final, 2-2, we’ve totally changed the momentum in this series,” fellow starting big man Luis Scola told the Toronto Sun.
How Bismack Biyombo Has Turned Into A Playoff Monster | The Sports Quotient
Biyombo played within himself throughout the entire game, which has really been his saving grace during these playoffs in place of Valanciunas. He understands that he’s not a creative offensive weapon, and he doesn’t try to do too much. He has freakish athletic ability and a nose for the ball, despite being a somewhat undersized 6-foot-9 center.
Overall, Biyombo’s effort and play has been surprisingly impactful in the playoffs. He is in the top 10 for rebounds (9.4 per game), ahead of players like Draymond Green (9.3), Tristan Thompson (8.5), LaMarcus Aldridge (8.3), and Enes Kanter (7.1).
The statistic that shows his versatility and athleticism best, though, is his average rebound distance. This tracks the average distance that each player travels in order to get a rebound. Biyombo’s ARD is currently 4.0, which outranks fellow centers Dwight Howard (3.3), Andrew Bogut (3.6), Timofey Mozgov (3.3), and even Valanciunas (3.1).
This was best displayed recently in Game 3 of the Cavaliers-Raptors playoff series. On the brink of going down an impossible 3-0 in the series, Game 3 was an absolute must-win.
Biyombo did not disappoint.
His monstrous game of 26 rebounds and four blocks completely overshadowed his humdrum statistics (3-for-6 from the field, seven points). To put that in perspective, Biyombo had two fewer rebounds than the entire Cavaliers starting lineup. He single-handedly matched the offensive rebounding total of the whole Cavaliers team. Biyombo also had just one fewer block than the Cavaliers.
But what about Cleveland’s low-post gems?
Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson, with contracts in excess of $33 million, combined for three points shooting 1-for-10 with 12 rebounds. Biyombo, his own contract a little over $2 million, more than doubled their points and rebounds.
More than that, Biyombo finally brought a much-needed swagger and confidence to the Raptors team.
Bismack Biyombo blocks LeBron James at the rim, gets called for a foul. JVG doesn’t like it. pic.twitter.com/0u8fqtICLz
— Faizal Khamisa (@SNFaizalKhamisa) May 24, 2016
Lowry, DeRozan guide Raptors to Game 4 victory over Cavaliers | Toronto Star
With Kevin Love still in a shooting funk, the Cavs simply went to the next shooting big man on the list and Channing Frye made three three-pointers in a row.
Biyombo was playing with the spectre of a one-game suspension hanging over his head after the NBA upheld an official’s call Saturday that saddled him with a Flagrant 1 foul. After reviewing the incident from multiple video angles and interviewing some of the participants, the league made no change to the original call.
It left Biyombo with three flagrant foul “points” after being assessed a retroactive Flagrant 2 in Game 7 of Toronto’s first-round series with the Indiana Pacers.
Biyombo was once again the energetic force he usually is — not the tune of 26 rebounds like Saturday — and a deterrent at the rim.
He had what looked like an astonishing block of James at the rim in the dying seconds of the first half but was called for his third personal foul on the play and laughed while racing back down the court to the Raptors bench.
Toronto did have its full complement of players available, as injured centre Jonas Valanciunas was active for the first time since spraining his ankle in Game 3 of the conference semifinal. He did not get into Monday’s game.
Lol Pat Patterson https://t.co/fs9hctagEz
— Right Hook Roogie (@AsherFeltman) May 24, 2016
It’s Cavaliers turn to sweat after losing two to Raptors | Toronto Sun
The bad is how little resistance was being exerted on Bismack Biyombo, who followed up his career night in Game 3 with a 14-rebound night in Game 4.
The most impactful sequence came late when he retrieved a miss.
And yet it was early in the evening when the Raptors set the tone.
“I thought at the start of the game, they hit us first,’’ said Lue. “I though we still continued to react until I think late in that third quarter when we got aggressive, started blitzing the pick and rolls.
“Just having trouble guarding at the point of entry one on one, attacking us one on one, taking the challenge defensively one on one.”
One on one, Kyrie Irving was supreme, making big shot after big shot when there was a hand in his face.
Irving was woeful in Game 3, but he rebounded in a Bismack way in Game 4, drilling 11 of his 21 attempts and dishing off six assists.
LeBron James had it going, scoring 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting, hauling down nine rebounds and recording six assists.
Toronto played off James, almost pleading for him to attempt a three.
He took three, making one.
Cleveland still controls this series because it has home court, but the Cavs have now been extended to at least six games, perhaps even the distance.
Raptors refuse to graciously exit NBA’s velvet-roped party | Sportsnet.ca
Heading into Game 4, with James complaining about the physical way the Raptors were playing him in the series — “I will protect myself.” — the expectation was that he would spend most of the game at the free-throw line. That didn’t quite come true, but he did seem to be playing with some kind of force field around him. He and the Cavaliers could do no wrong.
For the first time in more than six years, the Raptors didn’t shoot a free throw in the first half. Meanwhile, when Biyombo met James at the top of the square to block an alley-oop just before halftime, he was called for a very shaky foul — the second time in as many games Biyombo got the whistle after a seemingly clean block on James.
Twitter thought the fix was in.
Things turned around in the second half — the Raptors shot 19 free throws to nine total for the Cavaliers — but Cleveland is still plus-25 from the line in the series, a margin that likely won’t get smaller as they head back home.
You don’t even have to believe NBA commissioner Adam Silver is trying monitoring your WiFi to see why.
The Raptors in the NBA Finals represents three more weeks of bad television ratings, stateside at least. You could almost hear the broadcast execs, tugging on their ties: “We have enough cute shots of Jurassic Park to last a lifetime, how about some star power!”
The Raptors themselves are smart enough to claim not to hear the noise, or feel the doubt.
Raptors, Cavaliers stars rise to occasion in Game 4 | Toronto Star
DEMAR DEROZAN
It was Lowry’s night most of the way, but DeRozan played very much within himself while Lowry starred offensively and Bismack Biyombo had another outstanding game defensively. The Raptors’ most tenured player let the game come to him, scoring on comfortable mid-range shots and layups. With Cleveland whittling away at what was an 18-point Raptors lead in the fourth, DeRozan continued to chip away with timely shots, racking up 32 points with 12 coming in the fourth. GRADE: A
Raptors earn another home date with Game 4 win | Toronto Sun
The best of Kyle Lowry came out to play in Game 4 against the Cavaliers. You can tell Lowry is at his most aggressive best when there’s a certain bounce in his step, a quickness in taking the ball to the hoop and a certain confidence to hit the threes that isn’t always apparent on his off nights.
As the Raptors went out to a 16-point lead at the half, Lowry had 20 of the Raptors 57 points as Toronto led 57-41 at the half. He was good on eight of 11 shots, four of six from three-point land.
The Raptors backcourt of Lowry and DeMar DeRozan had 30 halftime points, 65.
Raptors eye NBA draft during playoff run | Toronto Star
Ujiri and his staff have found ways to combine workouts with the playoff run in several ways. When they were at the Chicago camp, they could jet off at any point to catch workouts on playoff off-days. They took in a workout for an unnamed client of agent Rich Paul in Cleveland in between Games 1 and 2 the conference final. They have months of knowledge gleaned from scouting during the regular season to rely on; they are not blind to the possibilities, just busy balancing the longest post-season run in franchise history.
It would be different, perhaps, if the Raptors simply had their own late-first round selection because that would limit the possibilities. But having a lottery pick brings a whole new group of players into the mix.
“Everyone talks about (the ninth pick) and yeah, it feels great, but now we have to make the pick,” Ujiri said. “Now we have to do something with it. Whether that is make the pick or trade the pick or whatever it is, I think this is a good, good asset for our organization and something else to add to what we already have.”
Belief is back in the Raptors | Toronto Sun
“Someone mentioned we were in it to win one game. (More than one person said that.) I disagree with that. We’re in it to compete for a championship. We’re here. Again, that’s why we went through the season, trying to go as far as we could.
“We’re not there yet. Right now, we’ve found something. I still say we’re a young up-and-coming team. Got to stay hungry. Got to stay humble. Continue to compete with poise. Nobody thought we were going to be here. Nobody you know gave us a snowball’s chance in you know where to beat Cleveland.
“We just have to keep on churning. Keep on working. Keep on grinding.”
They are now going to a minimum Game 6. This is a heady place for Toronto. That’s as far as the Blue Jays went last October — Game 6 against Kansas City. The Maple Leafs haven’t been this far since they blew the series with Carolina 14 years ago.
This doesn’t happen often in Toronto. This kind of unlikely run. This brilliant display by the Raptors’ biggest names. And now here they are, saying hello to the NBA, introducing themselves as contenders. Who knows what happens now and how this series ends. But this much they know now: The Raptors are on the basketball . They are a factor. They are a team of consequence. They have never been anywhere near this place before — and now a spotlight upon them like they’ve never before known.
“Honestly, we’ve been playing with our backs against the wall,” said DeRozan. They weren’t really against the wall in Round 1 against Indiana because they were expected to win that round. They weren’t against the wall in Round 2 versus Miami. But this is different. This is Cleveland. This is LeBron and Kyrie Irving. This was two blowouts at Quicken Loans Arena. This was a Cavs side that was everyone’s pick to go the NBA Finals. The Raptors have made the Cavaliers notice and now they’ve put them on notice.
“If they punch, we punch back,” said Lowry, who scored 35 to DeRozan’s 32 points. “If they punch three times, we punch four times. We can’t win laying down.”
ECF Game 4: Raptors 105, Cavs 99 | Toronto Raptors
GRINDING OUT IN THE FOURTH
The Cavaliers came out firing in the fourth and didn’t miss a field goal until there was 4:12 remaining. After a layup from Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye connecting on back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to open the quarter, the Cavaliers took a one-point lead with 10:16 remaining. The two teams traded leads until DeMar DeRozan sank a pair of free throws to put Toronto ahead by two with 3:59 remaining, and then Frye finally missed a shot as DeMarre Carroll went to the line and made a pair of free throws to put Toronto ahead by four. Cleveland wouldn’t get any closer than two points the rest of the way as Toronto stayed calm under pressure, stepping up its defence and executing offensively.
Raptors even series with gutsy effort against Cavaliers | Toronto Sun
Fouls continue to be a big story line in this series.
The first foul on the Cavaliers came 3:04 into the second quarter and the crowd was waiting on it, letting crew chief Monty McCutchen and his staff know they were keeping score with a round of mock cheers as soon as it came.
It made one wonder if the $25,000 fine Casey incurred following the Game 3 win for his criticism of the officials was worth it.
Biyombo’s third foul, which came on a textbook block of LeBron James, is one of those the league is going to cringe over. Biyombo, rather than argue his case, just sprinted to the bench with a huge smile on his face, all the while encouraging the fans to raise the noise level a little more.
They didn’t need much encouragement.
The Raptors owned the early minutes of the game opening up a 13-5 lead, eventually giving it most of it back on the wrong end of a 12-5 run by the Cavs. A decent finish to the quarter at least had them with a three-point lead.
The second quarter was by far the Raptors’ strongest as the home side outscored the visitors 30-17 and opened up a 16-point lead at the half.
Now it’s back to Cleveland and Casey has the recipe for success.
“We got to (go with) the same intensity level and focus that we had here,” Casey said. “We can’t have as many droughts. We’ve got to cut those down and make sure we keep our poise in those segments. Match their scoring in those segments and not let them get on those runs.”
HQ Overtime Post-Game Show: Let’s talk about the insanity of it all | Raptors HQ
I’m still not quite sure how it happened, or how I’m still conscious, but the Toronto Raptors are taking the Eastern Conference Finals back to Cleveland tied at two games a piece. They won tonight 105-99, and I’m joined by Daniel Hackett to discuss the fourth quarter response, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan’s dual supremacy, and just what it’ll take to win a game in Cleveland.
InstaCap: Raptors 105, Cavs 99 (Gutwrenching Loss) | Cavs: The Blog
Despite scoring on 14 straight possessions, largely out of the same offensive set featuring LeBron James, Richard Jefferson, Matthew Dellavedova, and Channing Frye, the Cavs were unable to stop Kyle Lowry (70% shooting) or DeMar DeRozan (60% shooting) at any time. Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson were completely and utterly a net negative on the team, and Kyrie Irving phased in and out of impressive shot-making Kyrie / want to gouge out eyeballs Kyrie.
LeBron played an efficient game but was kinda owned by DeRozan all night. He had to carry a heavier-than-2016playoffsusual load and played 46 minutes so I understand the need to conserve energy, but he went under almost every screen on DeRozan or just lazily switched. J.R. Smith the defense wonder was short lived. Iman Shumpert has been useless. If not for some spirited play by Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye this would have been a blowout as well. Cavs have three games to win two.
Toronto Raptors tie the series at two, beating Cleveland Cavaliers 105-99 | cleveland.com
However, the momentum shifted late. Frye stayed on the floor down the stretch, leaving Cleveland’s best rebounder Tristan Thompson on the bench. Raptors big man Bismack Biyombo pulled down a pivotal offensive board with the Cavaliers down four with less than 50 seconds remaining in the game. Toronto called timeout. It was a huge rebound because when play resumed, Lowry drove right by Smith for a layup to go up six with 22.5 seconds left. The Cavaliers would go the next possession and miss two threes and it was Biyombo who gathered the board.
That sealed the deal.
Irving contributed 26 points and six assists. Kevin Love was 1-for-9 with four rebounds in Game 3 and did not play in the entire fourth quarter. To get him back going, Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue said before the game there would be a heavy dose of Love on this night.
Maybe that dose was NyQuil, because Love was asleep at the wheel again. He went 4-of-14 from the field, including 2-of-7 from deep.
Raptors head coach Dwane Casey was fined $25,000 for his Game 3 postgame rant criticizing the officiating and the foul call disparity. The officials apparently didn’t get the message. Cleveland wasn’t called for a foul until three minutes into the second quarter. And the Raptors’ first free throws didn’t come until midway in the third.
Raptors hang on in Game 4, beat the Cavaliers 105-99 | Raptors HQ
The Cavaliers had a part to play in all this, I should add. Despite scoring a meagre 41 points in the first half, Cleveland began inching back into it in the third, before making a serious run in the fourth. The Cavs scored on 14 straight possessions in that final frame to take a lead and put a scare into Toronto. Cleveland was trapping on pick and rolls up top, and trying to force the ball handler, usually Lowry, to make a play. It seemed like the wheels were on there way to coming off. But the Raptors answered back. DeRozan made some impossible shots, Patterson and Biyombo grabbed some huge boards, and Lowry directed the symphony as he has all year.
You want more excitement? DeRozan got horse-collared on a break by J.R. Smith, Kevin Love apparently hurt himself by rolling his ankle on the ref, Lowry stole the ball late from LeBron and drew the foul as James charged into his behind, Channing Frye looked like he’d never miss, the Raptors almost rolled out a returning Jonas Valanciunas, Drake was up and cheering like a maniac, Chuck Swirsky called for the salami and cheese in the first half, and the Raptors proved a host of doubters wrong.
We should have believed Lowry and DeRozan when they said they’d make plays. We should have believed the Raptors would come back in this series. We should have believed it would not be a sweep, that it would be closer than we thought, that it could only ever be one thing.
Raptors keep their cool and stun Cavaliers | TSN
Lowry and the Raptors flipped the script, they took control of the narrative and stunned the NBA universe, including their heavily-favoured opponents. They were supposed to be the worst team to ever advance to the Conference Finals and the Cavs were supposed to cruise to the next and final round. It was supposed to be quick and painless. The Raptors had already exceeded all expectations, making it further than they ever have. They were just supposed to be happy to be there. They weren’t supposed to take one game let alone two and now, just like that, we have a brand new series.
The Raptors had your attention, but they want your respect.
“We’re not there yet,” Casey stressed after his team tied up its best-of-seven series with a 105-99 Game 4 victory at home. “Right now we’ve found something, but again, I still say that we’re a young up-and-coming team that’s got to stay hungry, got to stay humble, and continue to compete with poise, because again, nobody thought we were going to be here.”
“Nobody gives us a snowball’s chance in you know where to beat Cleveland, but we’ve just got to keep on churning, keep on working, keep on grinding to try to continue to win.”
America in shambles as Toronto Raptors storm back to even series | Raptors Cage
Offence: A
35 efficient points from Kyle Lowry and 32 from DeMar DeRozan was the story of the night. This has to be the greatest duo performance in Raptor playoff history. The Raptors ability to continue to pour on points every time Cleveland made a run was incredible. Lowry was amazing, as he went 14-20 from the field and 4-7 from 3. DeRozan managed 14-23 and was monstrous when it mattered. Him and DeMarre Carroll finished with the highest +/- impacts with +11 each. Carroll also chipped in 11 points and Patterson nine. Corey Joseph managed 8 including a pivotal drive against LeBron James to give the Raptors back the lead when the teams were exchanging baskets in the fourth. It was a well rounded performance led by the two All-Stars in Lowry and DeRozan.
Is This Reality? DAMN RIGHT IT IS!! | TRAP’D Since 95
Something special is happening here. I said it when we signed Jason Thompson and I still believe it. This team is one road win and one home win away from the NBA Finals. Let that sink in Raptor fans. We are almost there. Whatever happens this team has exceeded every expectation from even the hardest of hardcore fan.
Eastern Conference Finals: Toronto Confident? | King James Gospel
Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan both had better games, especially DeRozan, can they keep it up?
The only complete game the Raptors have played this post-season was the clincher against Miami. Otherwise, every game has produced a different result, including several games where both our All-Stars were dreadful. Yet here we are, still with a pulse.
It would be a brave man or woman who would predict whether tomorrow’s night Raptors backcourt will resemble Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde.
How to eat like Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry | Toronto Star
“On game day, we’ll do egg whites and gluten-free pancakes — just to get the carbs in there — turkey sausage, avocado, fruit. We’ll do a big breakfast, so I can burn the calories all day. Once game time comes, I’m already fuelled and ready to go.”
That’s what the Raptors’ Kyle Lowry told us a while back, when we asked what he eats for breakfast. And now, ahead of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, we’re uncovering the secrets of this breakfast of a champion.
Did I miss something? Send me any Raptors-related article/video to rapsfan@raptorsrepublic.com
