Programming note: I have no idea where the Gameday is for today. I’ll get something up this afternoon if it still isn’t posted.
This was basically Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey on Monday when asked about the odd scheduling quirk that’s given his team the back-to-back from hell the next two days:
He wasn’t quite that vitriolic, but it’s clear that Casey and his charges are aware that drawing the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors in a back-to-back scenario is somewhat less than balanced. Let’s look at some of the ways to spin the difficulty of this back-to-back:
- It’s the last two NBA champions, back-to-back.
- It’s the two finalists from last year, back-to-back.
- (It’s the team that won 73 games with the unanimous MVP that held a 3-1 lead in the finals last year, and the team that beat them, back-to-back.)
- It’s the favorite in each conference this year, back-to-back.
- It’s the last three players to win an MVP (totalling five straight awards), back-to-back.
- It’s the Nos. 1 and 3 offenses in the NBA right now, back-to-back.
- It’s the Nos. 3 and 4 teams in the NBA by Net Rating right now, back-to-back.
- That’s Nos. 4 and 6 by adjusted net rating. The Raptors rank 5th.
- The Cavs are 38-9 at home in the regular season this year and last, and the Warriors are 38-8 on the road.
- While the Raptors have a back-to-back, the Cavaliers had Monday off between home games, while the Warriors have Monday and Tuesday off to prepare.
And so, Casey’s out for blood. Or keys.
“The computer that spit out the schedule, I’m going to find it and break it. Break the keys on it,” Casey said. “It’s the schedule, it is what it is, it’s a good challenge for us, two of the top teams in the league that we got back to back and it’s a good test for us.”
The Raptors have no choice, but that’s absolutely the right attitude to take.
“Either way we can learn a great deal from it,” DeMar DeRozan said Monday. “We’re definitely going to get tested playing against two teams that was in the NBA Finals. We already played Cleveland so we’ll get another chance to play them again but Golden State will be a new test for us.”
Can't believe the Raptors have to play LeBron James and Patrick McCaw on a back-to-back. Doesn't get tougher than that.
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) November 14, 2016
A Cavaliers-Warriors back-to-back is a great test, and while games in November feel like they mean a little less than those later in the year, the timing is kind of perfect for the Raptors. The 2016-17 season has started off about as well as the Raptors could have hoped given their litany of early injuries, with a 7-2 record, a top-11 mark on both ends of the floor, and a superstar who is setting the league aflame with his ridiculous shooting and scoring. Young players have stepped up, the stars have carried bigger loads than expected, and the defense has locked in more quickly than anticipated.
It’s always best for a test like this to come when things are going well. The Cavs and Warriors are a test in any sense, but it will be especially telling in three regards:
- How the Raptors can respond to a loss (if they drop the first game in Cleveland, where they, like everyone else, have struggled some). The Raptors have only lost twice this year, only one of which was a “bad” loss (the Kings). Losing in Cleveland wouldn’t be a bad loss by any means, but it will be a good test for the resolve that’s proven so strong over the last few seasons to have to turn around and face the title favorites one day later.
- How the defense, which has been far better than it has any business being early on, can handle two elite offenses. The Raptors actually turned in a really strong defensive performance against the Cavaliers the first time out, and Tuesday is a chance for them to refine their LeBron James coverage strategy and maybe experiment with some new elements. Last time out, there was a lot of zoning up behind James post-ups and a lot of extra help being sent at those matchups, whether it was DeMarre Carroll or Patrick Patterson as the primary defender. Those are the two best options the team has for James, but Pascal Siakam could see a few instances as well, particularly if the Cavs get cute with James-Kevin Love actions to try to free the latter for a pick-and-pop.
- Here’s Casey on how James can play mind games with a defense: “You’re more careful as far a double-teaming, you’ve got to be smart because, again, I say he’s (LeBron) one of the best passers, superstar passers in the league. He’s a willing passer, he enjoys picking you apart if you make a mistake on the weak side, so that’s what makes it difficult…We’ve got to (pack the paint). If they make 20 threes, we’re going to lose anyway. We have to protect the paint and make sure we play the percentages and it’s been good to us, that’s who we are. We have to make some adjustments if they’re hurting us on a specific three-ball play but again we’re going to stick to our principles and make sure we protect the paint.
- Building from that need to protect the paint, how might Lucas Nogueira look in this matchup? he’s been a revelation over the last four games, and while he can still be a little mistake-prone on defense, he’s proven effective protecting the rim in weak-side help or when tracking a ball-handler, and he gives the Raptors some additional options when the Cavs go small with Love or Channing Frye at the five.
- And that’s just the Cavs! The Warriors present a major challenge one-through-five, with nowhere to hide any one defender and a major need to switch across positions. It’s another matchup where Jonas Valanciunas might struggle, so there will be a big onus for him to punish the Warriors on the glass when they go small. Defensively, Carroll and Patterson (assuming Carroll is playing both legs of the back-to-back – the team has a plan for him but they’re not revealing it ahead of time) should draw the Kevin Durant assignment, but there’s not really any sense looking at one-on-one battles given the amount you should switch against the Warriors.
- Can we see some Norman Powell on Steph Curry? Cory Joseph and Kyle Lowry did well enough challenging Curry a year ago, but Lowry isn’t playing his best defense to start the year and Joseph has struggled at the other end. Going smaller with Carroll at the four and an extra wing on the floor could allow the Raptors to keep pace with the Warriors in transition and switch more actions on the perimeter, and Powell could be use in those lineups. Tools-wise, he may be the team’s best option on Curry, at least when the Warriors have an extra wing on the floor and they can slide a point guard on to an Andre Iguodala or Shaun Livingston and just risk the post-ups.
- Here’s Casey on how James can play mind games with a defense: “You’re more careful as far a double-teaming, you’ve got to be smart because, again, I say he’s (LeBron) one of the best passers, superstar passers in the league. He’s a willing passer, he enjoys picking you apart if you make a mistake on the weak side, so that’s what makes it difficult…We’ve got to (pack the paint). If they make 20 threes, we’re going to lose anyway. We have to protect the paint and make sure we play the percentages and it’s been good to us, that’s who we are. We have to make some adjustments if they’re hurting us on a specific three-ball play but again we’re going to stick to our principles and make sure we protect the paint.
- Whether or not DeRozan can keep this pace up against defenses that can be elite when they lock in. He’ll start out with J.R. Smith and Klay Thompson on him, but he’s sure to also see James and Durant and Iguodala, three of the best wing defenders in the NBA. If DeRozan drops 30 on Tuesday, he becomes the first player since Wilt Chamberlain to score 30 or more in nine of a team’s first 10 games. He’s on another level right now, but he’s about to run into perhaps the toughest defensive tests this side of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. It’s been size, not athleticism or quickness, that’s bothered DeRozan in the past, so James and Durant will be a really nice heat check for DeRozan.
As good as it might be to ask these questions and test themselves in these ways, the Raptors aren’t going in to the back-to-back as if they have to prove something. It is still just November, and while they’ll surely be up for this set, they’re trying to keep their spirits measured (which is probably smart for an 82-game grind and for internal expectation management).
“It’s good for us. It’s not a measuring stick,” Casey said. “I think we’re still trying to get our rotations down as far as what we want to do in certain situations, who we want to guard who, who can do what in certain situations. Still trying to figure those things out a little bit…It’s that part of the year, I’d rather go ahead and get these two of the best teams in the league in now and go from there.”
Come Thursday morning, the Raptors will be, at worst, 7-4, and they’ll know a lot more about themselves. It’s hard to ask for a safer downside than that coming out of a back-to-back from hell.
