Morning Coffee – Fri, Nov 30

19-4 🔥🚀

10 things I saw from Raptors-Warriors (Nov. 29) – The Defeated

Development: Toronto’s best secondary scorer this season might be Siakam, who scored a career-high 26 points on just 10 shots and iced the game with key free throws in overtime. Siakam drilled three triples, and was consistently aggressive off cuts and post ups. However, Golden State will eventually counter with the likes of Stephen Curry and DeMarcus Cousins, and that will likely render Siakam’s improvements moot. The Warriors are simply unfair.

Raptors rise to the moment but prove they’re still a work in progress – Sportsnet.ca

The Raptors did win, extending their lead atop both the NBA and Eastern Conference standings. They showed well with the entire world watching. And they got a remarkable performance from Pascal Siakam who scored a career-high 26 points on just 10 shots and iced the game at the free-throw line in overtime.
But there were concerns.
They blew leads as their second unit was largely out-played and out-scored by a stripped-down Warriors rotation. After jumping out to a 32-14 lead before the first quarter was over, they avoided blowing the Warriors out before halftime by coughing up eight turnovers in just over nine minutes, propping up a reeling opponent.
They surrendered 17 offensive rebounds — a problem the Raptors have had all season — giving the most dangerous offensive team in basketball 13 more shots than Toronto had. And down the guts of the game, the Warriors did what teams have always done to the Raptors: send multiple defenders to their primary scorer — substitute Leonard for DeMar DeRozan — and force anyone else to beat them. That Toronto scored just 23 points in the fourth quarter suggests it’s a strategy that still works.
On one possession with two minutes left three different Raptors — Siakam, Serge Ibaka and Lowry — passed up decent looks before Ibaka (20 points on 13 shots) was forced to rush a deep three with the shot-clock expiring. On Toronto’s last possession — after Durant hit his near-impossible corner three over Leonard to tie the game with 8.6 seconds left — Leonard was swarmed and couldn’t get the ball to someone open before the clock expired.
So while it was tempting to celebrate a dramatic win over an elite — even if short-handed — opponent, when held up against the Raptors aspirations of playing in June, it’s important stay at least a little sober.
“If we took care of business, kept the pace that we wanted to keep, we should have been doing better,” said Green, one of two Raptors with a championship ring, and who looked the part as he hit two of his three triples in the fourth quarter and overtime. “That’s us being young and immature. We [get out] to pretty big leads and can’t sustain them.
“It’s a part of growing. It’s a part of being mature with this group … obviously they’re a great ball club, a championship ball club. They’re gonna fight. They’re gonna come back. They’re not gonna quit. We’ve got to do a better job of being mature, learn how to close out quarter, learn how to close out games and learn how to keep leads.”

Final Score and Recap: Raptors hang on in OT to beat the Warriors, 131-128 – Raptors HQ

In the process, that inner confidence went on down the line. Serge Ibaka, starting in the pivot, did damage in his usual spots, putting up 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Pascal Siakam was perfect through three quarters, only missing a pair of shots in the fourth, to finish with 26 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 from three (and a very clutch run of 5-of-6 free throws in OT). Danny Green calmly filled his roll on defense, went 5-of-10 from the field for 13 points (including a 3 in OT to seal the win), and chipped in with five boards and three assists. And Kyle Lowry was at his Kyle Lowry-iest — the shot was off for Toronto’s emotional leader, but he still had 12 assists and you’d trust him with your life while on the basketball court. Lowry looked unsure of a three late in the fourth, looking himself off the line, but then drilled one in the final minute of regulation while fading to the corner.
If there was a downside to this game it was the unfortunate assurance that Jonas Valanciunas likely has no place in a game against the Warriors, that OG Anunoby is still finding himself as a productive, consistent player, that Delon Wright needs a confidence boost (despite, yes, his pair of 3s tonight), that Fred VanVleet’s shot is still more out than in; and that C.J. Miles may be all the way gone. If nothing else, the Raptors learned who their 16 game players are vs. their 82 game players, and that’s not nothing — especially with such a deep cast of characters involved. In a seven game series with the Warriors, Toronto will likely be forced to roll with, at best, an eight man rotation — the starters, OG, FVV, and whatever you can get from Delon, and that’s it. It’d be a storybook ending if that were enough against the Warriors on the sport’s biggest stage; we may as well start believing now just in case.
I repeat: Still, nevertheless, that said — the Warriors at full strength are a whole different story for the Raptors and every team in the NBA. Any team employing Curry, Thompson (23 points tonight, on 9-of-20 shooting with an unlucky run of huge misses late), Durant, and Green (plus Boogie Cousins, let’s not forget) at the same time will be incredibly tough to beat in a seven-game series. The Raptors would not be favoured in such a contest were it to come to pass. They’d have to play perfect basketball, which is not something even the most adventurous writer would dare write up.
The fun part here is, of course, dreaming about it anyway. There are all kinds of silly cliches here to capture the mood — believing in your dreams, shooting for the stars, and so on — but, like those tired talking points, that doesn’t make them any less true. Maybe it’s just a magical tale we’re going to tell ourselves for today, forgetting about tomorrow, the extenuating circumstances, the reality of the next six months even.
As Nurse was heading into the media room to answer post-game questions, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps jokingly asked about his now absent electric jacket. Presumably Nurse had taken it off to cool down — it felt like the entire city had just collectively exhaled along with him. As Nurse took to the podium in the tiny media room, the crowd now dispersed, the bright lights and loud music turned off, and the book on the night nearly closed, he had an answer ready.
“The rental expired.”

Kevin Durant’s 51-point night isn’t enough as Warriors fall to Raptors in OT – SFGate

Though only so much can be gleaned from a late-November matchup that Green and Curry watched from the bench, the Raptors appear as capable as any team the Warriors have seen in the past two-plus seasons.
But even Toronto, with its roster loaded with length and athleticism, has little answer for Durant.
In Curry’s absence, Durant has reasserted why he is one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, totaling 144 points over the past three games on a mix of fade-away jumpers, deep three-pointers and drives to the rim. For the first time in his career, Durant has scored at least 40 points in three straight games.
That Durant is about to get some help from one of the greatest shooters in NBA history is a scary reality for the rest of the league.
Curry, who has missed 11 games, will return Saturday in Detroit. Green hopes to come back toward the end of the team’s trip, perhaps in Cleveland on Wednesday or Milwaukee on Friday.
“Like I said before I even got to this team, (Durant) is the best offensive player I ever played against,” said Jonas Jerebko, who signed with the Warriors in July. “To see him do it for my team, it’s unbelievable. He can score at any point.
“Too bad we didn’t come out with the win, but Kevin doing his thing, we need that. It’s going to keep happening.”

Warriors fall short in comeback against the Raptors, losing 131-128 – Golden State Of Mind

The Warriors kicked off their 5-game road tour with an overtime thriller starring the unflappable (unless asked if he’s a fun guy) Kawhi Leonard, Klay “Ice cold in the veins” Thompson, and the one-and-only Kevin “Easy Money Sniper” Durant.
With the absence of Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, many saw this as a scheduled loss considering the Raptors have been the early-season pick to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.
The game sure appeared to follow that script when the Warriors fell behind by 18 points midway through the second quarter.
But behind the hot-hands of Durant and Thompson, these comeback Warriors managed to fight back time and time again up through the final buzzer.
The Warriors managed to withstand more than a handful of runs by the Raptors, always clawing their way back into the game, which set the stage for the final 5 minutes of the game.

Even if they did not thrive, Raptors’ mere survival against Warriors has some meaning – The Athletic [subscription]

It would be a little too neat, too clean, to say you could tell which Raptors had been in situations like these before and succeeded — namely Green and his longtime Spurs teammate, Kawhi Leonard — and which ones had not — everyone else. In the Raptors’ 131-128 thriller of an overtime win, they had timely plays from nearly everyone. Pascal Siakam had 26 points on 10 field goal attempts. Kyle Lowry excruciatingly passed up a wide-open three-pointer in the fourth quarter, and then took and made a tougher one a few possessions later. Serge Ibaka hit his usual collection of mid-range jumpers, while Delon Wright was the only member of the newly named #BenchSob to really step up in the second half. Overall, however, Leonard and Green looked the sturdiest of the bunch.
While just about everyone was saying that this was just another regular season game, it had the feel of a playoff game in the sense that you could feel certain players shrinking from the moment, almost giving their coaches no choice but to pull them.
“I’m telling Freddie (VanVleet) and Delon, just because Kawhi is out there, we (have) got to keep running through our (system) stuff and triggers and let it happen a little bit,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “Don’t start throwing him the ball and then going and standing (still). I thought Delon made a couple of big shots. Freddy didn’t find much tonight. But it’s a work in progress. Long way to go with that stuff.”
“If we took care of business, kept the pace that we wanted to keep — we should have been doing better,” Green added. “That’s us being young and immature. We (get out) to pretty big leads and can’t sustain them.”
It beat the alternative, which the Raptors saw before when Kevin Durant stole a game from them in his Oklahoma City days, but it was hard to feel too good about the manner the Raptors won. (Beggars can be choosers, it turns out.)

Podcast: Locked on Raptors #427 – Raptors Survive the Warriors w/ John Gaudes – Raptors HQ

In Episode 427 of Locked on Raptors, Sean Woodley is joined by John Gaudes mere moments after the Raptors 131-128 win over the Warriors in what might be the game of the year so far. They chat about Kawhi Leonard going toe-to-toe with Kevin Durant, the struggles of the bench unit, and how the game made them feel about a potential match-up with the Warriors come June.

Raptors pass ‘character test’ in resilient victory over Warriors – Sportsnet.ca

Overtime was a test. Be honest — did you think the Raptors were going to pull it off? Did you have faith? Or had you seen that story too many times before? Had you seen the Raptors cough up a big lead, get forced into overtime, and drop a game they’d later say they definitely should have won?
“When a team gets dragged into overtime like that, because of some tough shots or whatever,” Nurse said, “a lot of times that team will feel sorry for themselves and not come out and play.”
It was a focus of discussion on the Raptors bench in the moments before overtime began. They needed to come out with energy. They needed to believe in one another. They needed to believe in themselves.
“I was telling guys, ‘This is a good character test,’” Green said. “Continue to trust each other offensively and defensively. Move the ball, find each other.”
That’s exactly what the Raptors did. They scored four quick points on a couple pass-heavy possessions, each set up by a Lowry assist. The Warriors tied it and had an opportunity to take a lead, but Leonard found a turnover and found Lowry in transition. He found Green trailing. And Green’s three-pointer found the bottom of the net.
“It’s what I told them in the locker room — that I was proud of them for that,” Nurse said. “To take the emotional punch in the gut, and take a few deep breaths at the end of the game, and go back out there and play the overtime the way they did.”
From there, it was a matter of defence, possession, free throws, and an ending. A victory over the defending champion. One that was undeniably earned.

Raptors’ imperfect storm all about balance | The Star [subscription]

“I think that maybe I’m seeing a little less bad play in the off moments,” he said. “We’re getting better shots and turning it over a little less. Some of those guys that are good shooters for us (but) haven’t made any shots, they’re starting to make a few and again that kind of keeps things ticking over, too. So that helps.”
If nothing else, Nurse has a grasp on reality that is in some ways quite refreshing. Knowing what kind of concentration, execution, good shooting luck and, often, poor play from an opponent is necessary for a team to dominate, he doesn’t expect the Raptors to do it every time.
But the ability to do it for longer each game is the season-long target.
Last week in Memphis, the Raptors were awful for the entire first half and a lot of third quarter, but turned it around to post an impressive come-from-behind road win against a tough opponent. The bad stretch was too long for any coach to accept, but the ability to correct it made Nurse happy.
“We gave up 71 points to a team that scores 100, in the first half, and then we absolutely locked them up,” he said. “Somebody told me the score was 65-31 from two minutes to go (in the third quarter) to the end of the game. That’s dominating the game against a really good team.
“Do I want us to play that way more often? Yes … but I’m trying to evaluate if that’s realistic or not. Yes is the answer, but maybe our fourth-quarter defence becomes a priority and then we start creeping it back a little bit.”

Raptors outlast Warriors in powerhouse showdown | Toronto Sun

Pascal Siakam carried the Raptors in overtime with seven points, five of them from the free throw line. He finished the game with a season-high 26 points on just 10 shots but he was not involved in the battle of the night.
That was an All-NBA matchup between Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard and neither disappointed.
Leonard had a Raptors-high and personal season-high 37 in the game while Durant was in one of those shooter’s zones for much of the night finishing with 51, which is just three off his career high.
It was Durant, of course, who hit the three with Leonard all over him with just 8.6 seconds remaining in regulation to eventually force overtime.
“(Kawhi) thought he had him,” Nurse said. “Drove him into the corner and had him completely locked up and somehow the guy squeezed the shot off and hit it right in the centre.”
It was that type of night for Durant, who, without Curry and Green and with Klay Thompson going a mediocre 3-for-9 from three, had to carry things for the Warriors.

TSN Raptors broadcast and coach Nurse pay tribute to Sager – Video – TSN

In honour of Craig Sager night in the NBA, TSN Raptors broadcasters Matt Devlin, Jack Armstrong and Raptors coach Nick Nurse wear stylish jackets.

Kawhi Leonard has made Raptors trade gamble pay off – ESPN

While executives around the league may think Leonard isn’t quite where he used to be, Durant said he has seen the same version of Leonard he always has as he has watched the Raptors on television so far this season.
“I think he’s back to where he was the year before last,” Durant said. “He’s creating a lot off the dribble, in the post, catching and shooting. He’s just creating a lot of offense in different places on the floor and he’s very efficient at it.”
In one of Toronto’s four losses this season, Nov. 16 in Boston, the Raptors tried to put Leonard on Kyrie Irving on the defensive end in the fourth quarter, but they quickly went away from it after Irving successfully got away from Leonard in a couple of pick-and-rolls. Nurse and his staff are still deciphering the right way to combat situations such as those, to best make use of the former Defensive Player of the Year.
“I think there’s some matchups that we’ll try to get him to, and there’s maybe a scheme or two we’ll try to get him to,” Nurse said. “We might put him on bigs, so when we know screen-and-rolls are coming, then he can switch out to the primary ballhandler.
“Those are things we haven’t quite gotten to yet, as far as our defensive packages, but we’re going to try to get him to be the ‘Shut-the-water-off guy.’ Go shut somebody’s water off.”
The way things are going for the Raptors, they have a long time — perhaps all the way till June — to figure out all the ways they can maximize Leonard’s gifts. In the meantime, Toronto already has seen plenty to be excited about.

Golden opportunity within reach for Raptors | The Star [subscription]

“Just try to do whatever it takes, each possession, try to be the best version of me,” said Durant. “Easier said than done, but I try to focus on that.”
That’s Toronto, too. The Raptors are still finding their extra gears. Before the game Toronto coach Nick Nurse pointed to that Memphis game on defence, where the Raptors allowed 71 first-half points to a good but offensively limited team, and closed on a 65-31 run.
“That’s dominating the game against a really good team,” said Nurse. “Do I want us to play that way more often? Yes, but I’m trying to evaluate if that’s realistic or not. Yes is the answer, but …”
Escalation is the next step. The NBA is a carnival, but Golden State’s dominance has been so extreme with Durant that it makes everything else feel like it’s a distraction from the crushing certainty of the bigger picture; something to do while the Warriors blot out the sun. LeBron James brought Cleveland back from 3-1 and the Warriors added an MVP, and LeBron got crushed twice in the finals before he decided he would rather just live somewhere with a pool you can use all year round, where he can raise his kids in the sunshine.
The Raptors are what is left of the biggest dogs in the East, along with Milwaukee and Philly and whoever else. And with Leonard fitting in, and Pascal Siakam unlocking his electric potential, and OG Anunoby’s quieter but significant potential still simmering, and with all their depth … well, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said the Raptors were playing better than anybody. Kawhi changes everything.
“I think Kawhi is one of those guys that just loves to play and he feels like that’s just his job, to just go out there and play both ends at a high level,” said Durant. “Just playing against him his first year in the league and seeing where he is now is ridiculous, on both ends of the court. Someone I have total respect for.”
Beyond this season Toronto is showcasing itself to Leonard, of course, but also to any other wandering star who might be looking for somewhere you can really have a chance to win. What if Durant really does leave Golden State? He could go to the Knicks, I guess, if he likes the idea of basketball North Korea fused with capitalism. He could go to the Lakers, but why team up with LeBron if he really is tired of teaming with the team that beat him? Leonard is most often linked to the Clippers, who are playing over their heads right now. Brooklyn lurks, too.
But if you believe in the talent — if this team cleans up its messier parts and hones the stuff that has propelled the Raptors to a 19-4 record — what better place than Toronto? This wasn’t a finals preview in the real sense, where Toronto really found out how they match up to the champs. It was another challenge for the Raptors to further knit together, to become a team that can play up to the moments as they get bigger, and bigger, and bigger still.
“It felt like a playoff game, to be honest,” said Siakam, who finished with a career-high 26 points on 10 shots, nailed free throws down the stretch, and is now shooting 43 per cent from three-point range in November. “Those are the types of games we want to get familiar with.”

Can Kawhi Leonard and New Balance Make Each Other Cool? | Complex

To that end, New Balance has only worked with a small number of NBA players over the years. Their most recognized endorser was Lakers great James Worthy, who had his own signature model in the late 1980s. That ended unceremoniously once he was caught with a prostitute. This was huge, because Worthy was the first athlete the brand had ever endorsed, notoriously having a slogan of “Endorsed by No One” for years before. This made them rethink everything.
In more recent times, Matt “The Red Rocket” Bonner was the most notable guy sporting New Balance on the court. That went well – minus that one big time blowout – until he finally ran out of pairs to wear and ultimately signed with adidas.
Kawhi Leonard fits the bill as far as outliers go. He’s been a star caliber player who avoids the spotlight—last season aside. In a league filled with big personalities, the All-Star forward is best known for quiet and consistent manner, choosing instead to let his play speak for him. This approach runs parallel to what New Balance does by relying less on flash and more on the quality and effectiveness of its shoes to win over customers.
Adding Leonard to its roster gives New Balance a solid one-two punch alongside Darius Bazley, the potential first round pick the company hired as an intern while he waits to become draft eligible. For the 2019 season, they’ll have a marquee player, a coveted rookie, and a new model on display nightly. All three are key ingredients for making fans and the footwear industry take New Balance’s re-entry into the basketball market seriously.
The biggest hurdle may be one of perception. As great as he is as a player, Leonard’s personality isn’t nearly as engaging and his presence on social media is nonexistent. New Balance will face the task of making him appealing to shoe buyers. But, they face their own battle cultivating a sense of cool. When the news broke on Twitter, the jokes and memes were endless. Many of the comments referenced the brand’s penchant for making plain gray and white-based running shoes more suitable dads than dudes trying to make waves with their shoes. In order to make arrangement work, New Balance needs to have its design and marketing teams working overtime to create something where currently there’s nothing.