45-17; lol Celtic suck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhbuOtxpXKc
It is hard to quit on the idea of these Raptors’ ceiling – The Athletic [subscription]
When they look good, as they did in their 118-95 romp over Boston, it is not as if they overwhelm you with a specific style. They are not gunning three-pointers at an unbelievable rate, not pushing the pace extraordinarily, not swinging the ball from side to side to side, even if they had 33 assists on 46 baskets on Tuesday. Instead, they just adjust, going from strength to strength to strength. Their identity, when they play well, is they can beat you in about a dozen different ways. Siakam can outrun you, Lowry and Gasol can outthink you and Kawhi Leonard can outmuscle you.
For all those concerns about chemistry, this is why you cannot give up on the Raptors, even on days like Sunday against Orlando: The talent they have, if it comes together, raises their ceiling immensely.
“I’m new here, so I have no idea what the ceiling can be,” said Jeremy Lin, who continues to struggle offensively but helped keep Kyrie Irving quiet. “I’m looking around, and seeing, and I’m amazed by the talent that there is. People aren’t even talking about Pascal, night in and night out. I’m not even talking about reporters — I’m saying from a game plan standpoint, when we’ve been playing against the Raptors on my former teams and stuff, guys like him you don’t always have time to go over because you’re so worried about Kyle and Kawhi and other people. There’s a lot of talent here, so I don’t know what the ceiling is, but I know there’s more. Me, Marc, some new guys, we’re not even comfortable. Me and Marc were just talking about it, it’s going to come. We just need to keep chipping away at it.”
Tuesday was a hint at what it could look like when, or if, it comes on a regular basis. The Raptors held Boston to just 30 percent shooting from the floor. There was luck involved, as the Celtics shot 6-for-30 from three-point range, including many misses on open looks.
On the other hand, the Raptors were continuously forcing the Celtics to make one extra pass, to exert themselves just a bit more. Does that kind of scrambling tire a team out offensively and contribute to a bad shooting night? Probably not a whole lot. It has to take a mental toll on an opponent, though, to know how much work it is going to take to get an open look.
“That was as well as we’ve helped each other in a long time,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “Not maybe all year, but in a long time. It was early help, it was often. It wasn’t perfect, but it was hustle. It wasn’t quite the right rotations all the time, but it didn’t matter, we were pursuing the ball early when we were beaten, making them make another play. And when they would zing it out, somebody would be right underneath that guy and we did it all over again. We contested shots really well as well.
Offensively, the Celtics were simply overwhelmed.
Revamped Raptors provide glimpse of promise in masterful 48 minutes – Sportsnet.ca
But after a night like last night, he can’t help but be impressed. He sees big things. He sees Siakam go off for a game-high 25 points or Kyle Lowry engineer plays out of nothing or Kawhi Leonard score with ease or Marc Gasol split a defence with a pinpoint laser from the top of the arc and he sees no limits.
“I’m new here, so I have no idea what the ceiling can be [for this team],” said Lin. “[But] I’m looking around, and seeing, and I’m amazed by the talent that there is.”
So maybe blowing out the Celtics to even the season series between the two clubs wasn’t a peak, but only a beginning.
Granted, reality dictates that performances like this don’t come together on a routine basis. It certainly helps when you shoot 14-of-28 from three as Toronto did through the first three quarters, while holding Boston to 4-of-22 from distance over the same stretch.
But it wasn’t like those results occurred in a vacuum. The Raptors defensive effort was outstanding – a contrast to their sleepy effort on Sunday against Orlando – and they got it from everywhere as they held Boston to 38.4 per cent shooting.
“From what I could see tonight, that was as well as we’ve helped each other in a long time,” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. “Not maybe all year but in a long time. It was early help, it was often, it wasn’t perfect but it was a hustle. It wasn’t quite the right rotations all the time but it didn’t matter, we were pursuing the ball early when we were beaten, making them make another play and when they would zing it out, somebody would be right underneath that guy and we did it all over again.”
The Raptors had their lunch handed to him by Kyrie Irving in the first three games of the season series, with Irving averaging 30 points and 10 assists. This time around the Raptors used multiple defenders on the slippery Celtics point guard, which allowed Lowry to roam, help and draw charges, sparking a defensive effort where Toronto challenged every shot Boston attempted it seemed. With everyone chipping in, Irving was limited to just seven points and five assists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LuZ5qPsfYQ
Toronto Raptors are the NBA’s mystery contender – SBNation.com
As Kyle Lowry goes …
We’ve been down this road with Toronto so many times, and it inevitably leads back to the question of whether Lowry will be effective in the postseason. To be fair, Lowry was awesome last spring, but few noticed after a tricky six-game first-round series win over a collapsing Washington and an embarrassing sweep at the hands of LeBron James’ Cavaliers.When Lowry is on, there are few better playmakers in the league. Lowry’s numbers have been generally fine again this season, and he still does so many things that don’t show up in the box score. But there are a few worrying trends: lower three-point shooting, along with a continuing drop in usage and rebound rate.
He’s also had stretches where he’s appeared disconnected and out of the natural flow of things. K-Low is one of the smartest players in the league and it’s only natural that he picks his spots as he ages. It’s also fair to ask which version of Lowry we’ll see in the postseason. There’s a thin line between cantankerous and creaky.
So, we’re right back where we always are with the Raptors. Give them home-court advantage, a healthy Leonard, and an engaged Lowry, and there’s no limit to how far they can go this spring. Mess with any of that and the whole thing could implode before the conference finals.
These are not the same old Raptors, but the old plot points remain. They deserve an open mind, if not the full benefit of the doubt. Make of them what you will.
But they may only have one chance to get this right.
Raptors look playoff-ready in rout of Celtics, who still seem in need of repairs – Yahoo
The Celtics, on the other hand, are having a harder time dealing with young trade assets playing alongside a trade acquisition.
“Same old, same old,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “Obviously, we struggled to score in those stretches, and then that bled into transition defense, bled into our defense.” Boston tried to make a run in the second half, with Jayson Tatum securing an offensive rebound, Smart stealing one later and Marcus Morris connecting on a four-point play, but the Raptors kept executing in the halfcourt, while the Celtics faced the fear of another kind of habit formation lasting into the postseason: their lack of consistency and seriousness finally catching up to them.
“The reality is that we’re taking a lot of shortcuts and not being as solid as we have been in the past in the last two games,” Stevens said. “I thought we were really good against Milwaukee [in a close loss last week]. So it’s not like we don’t know what we need to do, but for whatever reason, we’ve taken too many shortcuts.”
For how similar the Raptors and Celtics are, they sure look different right now.
Perhaps that’s where there is a virtue to silence (which was an approximation of Irving’s postgame tone). While the speculation surrounding free agency and trades has seeped into locker rooms and psyches across the league, the Raptors have largely managed to avoid it. Leonard could very well pack his bags and leave for Hollywood this summer, but you won’t hear much about it, largely because everyone knows there is no point in asking Leonard any questions about free agency — or the mystery surrounding his breakup with the Spurs, or any of the speculation around it. Multiple teammates have said he didn’t even privately address his return to San Antonio as anything more than your average game, or address being booed after the fact.
As a result, the spectacle held less weight, because that’s all it was. Mind over matter, and all that. For two teams that have so many wrinkles to sort out in the next six weeks before the playoffs, one less problem could be the difference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMf-1YakT8A
Celtics blown out by Raptors 118-95 – CelticsBlog
The Celtics had five turnovers during the ugly second quarter, where Toronto ultimately pulled out to a 29-7 run. With three minutes left before the break, Boston trailed by 20. They finished the second quarter with 13 points on 4/15 shooting, which was their lowest scoring second quarter of the season. The Raptors had runs of 18-0 and 11-0, thanks to the Celtics committing eight turnovers. They made only four shots while being outscored 36-13 during this span. Boston trailed 66-45 at the half.
The Celtics began the second half moving the ball really well. This combined with a burst of energy from Marcus Smart helped them jump out to a 7-2 run out of the break. Smart had 4 rebounds in the first 2:49 of the half. Despite the quick start, Toronto refused to let Boston back in. The Celtics certainly didn’t help themselves, failing to adjust in multiple areas.
Body language and effort has been a problem at times for this year’s team, and Tuesday night was a prime example.
There was also a multitude of issues from an X’s and O’s standpoint, but all of them come back to a lack of adjusting. Pascal Siakam’s corner threes stick out as much as any. The Celtics did not adjust while Siakam killed them from deep. It wasn’t only his perimeter game however. The 24-year old finished with a game-high 25 points and 8 rebounds on 10/16 shooting.
Boston trailed by 31 with just over a minute left in the third quarter. This one would never get close. Toronto would ultimately win 118-95.
Pascal Siakam proved to be a difficult cover for Jaylen Brown, as he scored 11 first-quarter points thanks in part to hitting three of four from deep. Brown, though, had answers of his own both scoring seven points and working a two-man game with Jayson Tatum, who also scored seven. Boston’s bench, which was thoroughly out-performed by Chicago’s reserves, opened the game outscoring Toronto’s bench by two points, which was also Boston’s advantage going into the second quarter.
Then disaster struck.
The Raptors ripped off a 13-0 run behind eight points from the previously struggling Norm Powell. He drilled two 3’s and finished a layup before Brad Stevens called a timeout with Boston down nine.
The run continued after the break, swelling to 18-0 before Boston finally broke the string with a Robert Wiliams layup. It didn’t do much to stop the Raptors, though, as they just kept on scoring while Boston kept on missing and turning the ball over.
Boston was outscored by 23, 36-13, in the second. They shot just under 27 percent and missed all five of their 3’s. They turned it over eight times, leading to 12 Raptors points. Toronto hit 14 of the 26 shots they took, including five of nine 3’s, and went into the half up 66-45.
The Celtics recovered early in the third, opening with a 7-2 run to try to begin chipping away at the Raptors lead, but Kawhi Leonard would have none of it. He bulled his way to any spot he wanted on the court, drawing fouls on seemingly every possession to not only erase Boston’s run, but fuel a 12-2 run that gave Toronto its biggest lead of the game. Boston was ultimately outscored by six in the quarter. Leonard and Pascal Siakam had nine each to lead the charge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkgRxIi8H0s
Recap: Raptors send the Celtics searching for answers in blowout 118-95 win – Raptors HQ
In a game during which the Raptors let the Celtics score 32 points in the opening frame, but then less than 100 after full time, we should talk about Toronto’s defense at some point. Nurse said tonight represented some of the best weak-side helping he’d seen from his team for awhile. The pressure was indeed relentless from Toronto as they hounded the Celtics into 14 turnovers, while holding them to just 38 percent shooting (and 20 percent from three). The Raptors used that defense to get out to 29 fast break points, which only seems to rev up guys like Siakam and Lowry even more. That Toronto also managed to hold game-breaker Kyrie Irving to a mere seven points is a nice touch too.
Taken together we get the final result: a Raptors win by 23 points and it was never really in doubt by the midway mark of the second quarter. Sure, the Celtics did their usual try-hard thing and hustled the massive lead down to 20 points or so in the second half, but by then it was too late. When even Toronto’s all-bench lineup is finding its way — and hoo boy, with Chris Boucher, Jodie Meeks, and a returned Malcolm Miller out there for a long run tonight, they did indeed get a chance to try — there really isn’t much hope for opposing teams.
So then, how concerned should we be about the Raptors, and what, if anything, does this game actually mean in the big picture? To answer the latter question, I’ll be honest and say: not much. The Raptors appear pretty much locked into second place now behind a juggernaut Bucks team, and are less than a safe bet to win out the Eastern Conference. And yet, I feel less concern by the day as to how this team will do as they enter the post-season. No, this is not the same old Raptors; the players have been changed up and the energy can spike in all kinds of wild directions. But you know what? When Toronto does get hit this year, maybe the outcome will be different too.
Kyle Lowry shows us why he’s the engine that runs the Raptors’ machine – Sportsnet.ca
Leonard’s uncommonly talented in a league of uncommon talents, and capable of carrying an offence with little help from the four players operating around him. Siakam’s a monster, and liable to be Toronto’s best player on any given night if defences don’t respect his ability. Ibaka and Gasol form one of the NBA’s most capable centre tandems, and will have games in which they give opposition big men fits. But Lowry’s the one who can make them all click at once.
When Lowry’s humming, when he’s setting up Leonard with back-door bounce-passes, when he’s operating effectively with Ibaka or Gasol in pick-and-rolls, when he’s throwing outlet bombs to a streaking Siakam in transition, the Raptors look like the team they’re supposed to be.
Which is to say nothing of Lowry’s ability to score himself. For one reason or another, his shooting’s suffered this season — and Tuesday’s game was no exception. He’s currently hitting only 34 per cent of his attempts from deep, which stands in stark contrast to the 40-per-cent rate he posted over the last three seasons combined. If his shot starts to fall, if he begins hitting threes even marginally more often than he has been, the Raptors just add another way to beat you.
And maybe this is the start of something for Lowry. This season’s been a strange one for him. He’s been in and out of the lineup due to a back issue, hot and cold with his shot. And he’s yet to hit that pissed-off, prove-a-point, King-Kong-ain’t-got-nothing-on-me gear he reaches at his best. Tuesday’s game might be the closest we’ve seen.
“Winner and floor general,” Lin said, asked to describe Lowry’s game. “He’s just a winner, man. That’s all he cares about. He cares about doing things the right way. He’s just a bulldog. He’s everywhere. He doesn’t back down from anybody. It’s definitely fun to suit up alongside him and go to battle.”
Celts start well but fade fast as Raps get back on winning note | Toronto Sun
The win gives the Raptors a split of the season series with the Celts with both teams winning on the home court and losing as visitors a couple of times.
Kyrie Irving, who almost single-handedly destroyed Toronto in the two meetings in Boston, was held to just seven points on 3-of-10 shooting and the Celts had very little more from anyone else.
“From what I could see tonight, that was as well as we’ve helped each other in long time,” head coach Nick Nurse said of the Raptors’ defensive effort. “Not maybe all year, but in a long time. It was early help, it was often, it wasn’t perfect, but it was hustle. It wasn’t quite the right rotations all the time but it didn’t matter, we were pursuing the ball early when we were beaten, making them make another play and when they would zing it out, somebody would be right underneath that guy and we did it all over again. We contested shots really well as well.”
But holding Irving to just seven points, as good as that felt, is nothing the Raptors should dwell on says Jeremy Lin, one of two Raptors (along with Danny Green) that Nurse credited with making Irving’s night so tough.
“I think it’s dangerous to feel like we accomplished something or stopped him or whatever,” Lin warned. “He is too great of a player and he has proven that over and over and over again. As for our help defence, we were definitely flying around. I think we had to make up for our defence the last game.”
Marcus Morris, who earlier in the year suggested the Celtics’ team chemistry was in the dumper and no one was having any fun playing basketball, led the Celtics with 17 points while Toronto got 25 from Pascal Siakam and 21 one from Kawhi Leonard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6eFsrT3XmQ
There’s a method to Raptors’ mid-game mad science | The Star [subscription]
“It’s not chaos, really,” he said. “It’s just, can you get to the point where you’re going to deliver something that they’re not expected, or … maybe your game plan was executed really well early and it was nothing you hadn’t been doing different, but you feel like you’re out in front of things a little bit.”
Of course, the vagaries of the game come into play — “A lot of it matters if the ball’s going in or not, too,” Nurse says — but being prepared and able to call audibles, and to have worked on them in real circumstances, matters.
As with almost everything the Raptors and Nurse have done the entire season, the versatility and willingness to try different things is a prelude for what might come in the playoffs. Getting real, live, game-speed practice for something that might seem unorthodox could come in handy for a three- or four-minute stretch of a crucial post-season game. And an 8-0 run that comes about because the Raptors do something they haven’t done in weeks can be vital in turning the momentum of that game.
And even if it doesn’t work in the practice scenario of a specific regular-season game, that doesn’t mean it can’t be tweaked a little bit and used again down the road.
Sunday, for instance, the Raptors used two odd lineups that failed to varying degrees: four guards surrounding Ibaka, and a big frontcourt of Ibaka, Pascal Siakam and Marc Gasol. But it did give Nurse and his staff some live-speed game video to watch and see how they can teach those two groups how to perform better.
That’s the big picture process that’s been so important all season, and why fans might see more moments that seem to make little sense in the short term but are “teaching moments” for the staff and players.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJiR4dM1Cgk
NBA’s best 25 under 25 – New and next superstar rankings – ESPN [subscription]
This future All-Star is now both good enough to help the Raptors try to retain free-agent-to-be Kawhi Leonard and a potential face of the franchise in case Leonard leaves for another team.
That didn’t seem possible when Leonard was acquired from the Spurs. But seven months later, Toronto has a young power forward in Siakam who has gone from a rotation player averaging fewer than 20 MPG in his first two seasons combined to a core player logging 31.6 minutes.
Kyrie is fed up 😂 pic.twitter.com/bi1LUp3OGq
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 27, 2019
Episode 2 of Knuckleheads with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles is full of Hall of Fame perspective, featuring a live panel discussion from NBA All-Star weekend The conversation begins with Allen Iverson and Kyle Lowry, who get right into stories from their college days, specifically touching on the rivalry between Villanova and Georgetown. Kyle also explains his decision to play at a school near home, while Allen talks about the promise that Hoyas coach John Thompson’s made to his mother. Allen also discusses his idolization of MJ, and explains an unexpected perk of being a Hall of Famer. The second half of the panel discussion features Gary Payton, who keeps it real — as usual. Gary discusses the origin of his legendary trash talking, divulges the name of the person who bestowed him with the nickname “the Glove,” and predicts that he will be the only point guard to ever be named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Did I miss something? Send me any Raptors-related article/video to rapsfan@raptorsrepublic.com
