1-0 – Game 2 tonight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWzS1Ib5eZ8
Adjustments
There were no between-game adjustments because this was Game 1. Instead, we’ll quickly highlight some tactical points that either could require adjustment later or stand out as notable responses to questions we had entering the series.
One thing to watch with the 76ers’ pick-and-roll defence is how long they remain willing to have their centres drop back deep. Leonard was able to get what he wanted, pulling up over screens in the mid-range. This is something that’s made easier not just by the drop-back but by having either Gasol set the screen — he’s a good screener and the threat of him popping requires Leonard’s man to at least consider a switch — or having Green do it in order to involve Redick in the action.
Gasol was used intelligently as a screener like this most of the game, by the way, and it needs to extend to Ibaka, as well. When Ibaka is in against bench units, and Marjanovic in particular, short-rolling into traffic where the big has dropped back is counterproductive. Ibaka’s 3-ball isn’t really there this year, but he’ll help the offence much more popping to the elbows than rumbling into space.
If Marjanovic gets stretched, the Raptors can play him off the floor:
Not to belabor the Ibaka point, since I thought he responded well with a solid second half, but this kind of read here is the gap between him and Gasol on offence. The 76ers are going to show quick help to Ibaka if they trap a ball-handler, betting they can goad him into putting it on the floor instead of making an instant read.
Let’s show a better one, to be fair (to be fair).
Using Green as a screener to involve Redick in actions appeared to be a point of emphasis, by the way.
Marc Gasol is giving Joel Embiid the Nik Vucevic treatment – Yahoo
If you break it down even further, Embiid actually scored 11 of his 16 with Gasol on the bench, which means he only managed five points during Gasol’s 26 minutes in Game 1. Embiid was able to manhandle Serge Ibaka in the post and capitalize by getting layups and free throws, but he was completely blanketed against Gasol.
The game plan for Embiid isn’t all that different from how the Raptors played Vucevic. Embiid can hoist as many jumpers as he wants, but he’s not getting anything easy in the paint. Gasol is making Embiid catch the ball farther out than he would normally like, cutting off his drives, boxing him out on the defensive glass, and keeping his arms straight up to contest so Embiid can’t get to the line. If Embiid does score, it will either be off a broken play, a long jumper, or a contested hook shot over a seven-footer, and the Raptors will live with that.
Gasol’s post defence is textbook mixed with bits of improvisational brilliance. He has all the physical tools to resist Embiid’s rampage, but pairs that with excellent positioning. The first time they matched up, Gasol forced Embiid to catch it at the three-point line, remained in position on the crossover, and stayed light on his feet to close out on the pull-up jumper. The second time, Gasol cut off Embiid’s roll to the rim, bodied up twice on the block, and even had the presence of mind to step in and eliminate the gap when Embiid went to the turnaround jumper so there was absolutely nowhere to go.
Embiid lives off post-ups because he either outsmarts or simply overwhelms his defender, but neither edge exists against Gasol. Embiid averaged 8.5 points per game out of post-ups this season — good for about a third of his scoring average — but he only produced four points on 12 attempts in Game 1. Philadelphia is dead in the water if this pattern continues.
That being said, it’s foolish to count out a great player like Embiid after just one game. Philadelphia will pore over the tape and invent new ways to give Embiid easier looks, and Embiid is versatile enough to still impact the game when his go-to move isn’t working. For example, the Sixers might look to get Embiid matched up more against Serge Ibaka at the start of the second and fourth quarters, while also getting Embiid attacking in space off pick-and-rolls and on dribble hand-offs.
Making those adjustments, however, is easier said than done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD7MoRhrZAY
Gasol having subtle, but big impact on Raptors’ playoff run – Video – TSN
Marc Gasol was a force defensively for Toronto in the first round and was up to his usual tricks against the Sixers in Game 1, helping his team shut down All-Star Joel Embiid. When asked about his individual matchups Gasol won’t provide much of an answer, but don’t let his modesty fool you, as the Raps’ big man has had a huge impact on the team’s success. Josh Lewenberg has more.
Raptors’ elite-level basketball IQ an overlooked playoff advantage – Sportsnet.ca
Among the examples from Game 1: The Raptors were able to discombobulate 76ers all-star centre Embiid as he was held to 5-of-18 shooting and 16 points, well off his regular-season efficiency and production; Butler, Philadelphia’s all-star wing, was 4-of-12 and Toronto held the Sixers starters – the most productive unit in the regular season and the playoffs – to a manageable net rating of plus-9.5 points per 100 possessions as opposed to the plus-62.2 they had against the Brooklyn Nets in the first round.
The Sixers will naturally be adjusting for Game 2. Both Simmons and Embiid mentioned the need to be more aggressive in bringing defence to Leonard and Siakam, who combined for 74 points on 74 per-cent shooting in Game 2.
Similarly, the Raptors have areas they would like to improve on. That sharp-shooter Redick was able to wriggle free for 12 threes and go 5-of-7 in the third quarter was noted. That the Sixers got 13 offensive rebounds – to the Raptors’ two – was also a point of emphasis.
But the benefit the Raptors have is they can figure it out – both in advance and on the fly.
“It helps a lot,” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. “It’s a very intelligent, very experienced group. You see it not only in the game but you see it on days like today. The film session’s very… it’s meant to be improvement time. It’s not us just telling them, it’s us working together and there’s a lot of good ideas.
“Our coaching staff’s ears are open, there’s an exchange of ideas because these guys have been through hundreds of games and lots of playoff runs and all those kinds of things.”
In other words, it’s worth listening. Chances are there is something to learn and something that could make the difference in Game 2 and beyond.
Those insights are measured in W’s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNKy9sHICdM
High-IQ Raptors are hacking the NBA playoff system | The Star
“I think we’re really smart,” said Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry Sunday. “Our starting five, our group overall IQ, is really high. I think our starting five might be honestly up there with any other starting five, IQ-wise. Honestly.
“It gives us an advantage to be able to figure it out, and be able to communicate it. We’re able to communicate what we want to do, verbally and physically, a lot easier.”
As the Sixers spent their Sunday figuring out how to stop the two Raptors who combined for 74 points on 38 field-goal attempts in Game 1 — what a strange sentence for a Toronto basketball fan to read — the intelligence of this particular Raptors unit might be their greatest collective strength as they hope to go deeper than any Toronto team before.
“It helps a lot,” said head coach Nick Nurse, who has been experimenting with combinations and coverages and sets all season, with his mix-and-match crew. “It’s a very intelligent, very experienced group. You see it not only in the game but you see it on days like today. The film session’s very … it’s meant to be improvement time.
“It’s not us just telling them, it’s us working together, and there’s a lot of good ideas. Our coaching staff’s ears are open, there’s an exchange of ideas, because these guys have been through hundreds of games and lots of playoff runs and all those kinds of things.”
He was asked if this team’s IQ and defensive ability is rare, in combination. He said, “I hope we can get to rare.”
It’s not that the Raptors don’t make mistakes. Point guard Fred VanVleet said the film session revealed several, especially defensively, on a night they gave up just 95 points to a team that was eighth in offensive efficiency this season. He said, “I don’t want to say we went through the motions, but there were some lapses you can’t really have and we were just bailed out by two guys having great offensive nights.”
The key with this team is that they don’t usually repeat the same mistakes. There was no one effective strategy or action that Philadelphia found and kept using beyond J.J. Redick getting loose for some threes, because the Raptors kept solving problems with length and brains. Watch how they switch and recover on Joel Embiid, or Jimmy Butler; watch the help when Sixers enter the lane, only to find a thicket of swarming Raptors in the right place, swiping at the ball or walling off the basket, waiting to take a charge.
2019 NBA Playoffs That’s A Rap #19: Post-Game 1 Raptors-Sixers Reaction – Raptors HQ
s it crazy to think this may not be the “Kawhi Game” that will define these playoffs? Kawhi scored a career-high 45 points and got whatever he wanted offensively. He also compiled the first 40-point, 10-rebound game in franchise history. All very fine numbers. However, the way in which Kawhi relentlessly attacked the Sixers’ defense has every Raptor fan salivating over what else he can do.
While Toronto had the two best players on the floor (again) in Kawhi and Pascal Siakam, it’s easy to forget about Marc Gasol and his continued dominance on the defensive end – both in the playoffs and against Joel Embiid. Adding to the positives, the Raptors also managed to get to the line more than the Sixers. Shocking because Philly was one of the top teams in the first round at getting free throws, while Toronto ranked dead-last.
If Kawhi was Michael Jordan, then Siakam was definitely Scottie Pippen. Pascal had his way with Tobias Harris, scoring 22 in the first half alone. On the defensive end, Siakam was able to cool off JJ Redick at the tail-end of the third quarter. Meanwhile, both Raptor centres played their butts off. Gasol shut down Embiid (again), and Ibaka filled in admirably off the bench, adding a pair of blocks and affording Gasol the necessary rest before continuing his battle with Embiid.
Toronto’s bench continues to struggle, getting held to 10 points. At the end of the day, the starters dominating the Sixers’ starting five make any gripes about the bench shrug-worthy. What was worthy fretting over was the offensive glass. Toronto may have dominated from the start, but Philadelphia’s ability to grab some offensive boards kept the game closer than it should’ve been.
Redick was red-hot to start the second half, hitting five triples. Once Kyle was removed from chasing Redick all over the floor, Siakam guarded Redick, and kept the sharpshooter scoreless.
There really aren’t a lot of adjustments required by the Raptors, outside of ensuring the bench doesn’t hemorrhage points and maintains the lead given by the starters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZuRAFExFNg
As Brown rightly wondered how they could adjust, knowing that forcing the ball out of Leonard’s hands would open opportunities for the league’s most accurate 3-point-shooting team following the trade deadline — Danny Green, Lowry and Fred VanVleet got off only nine 3-point attempts between them, hitting just one — Simmons turned into a Monday morning quarterback.
“I don’t think we showed enough help,” Simmons said. “I think as a team we have to treat him more honest. … Be vocal a bit more, and try and get the ball out of his hands. Downhill he’s one of those guys who can get a bucket easily, and he’s a physical guy.”
We will see how the 76ers adjust; one obvious move would be trying to stick with Simmons on Leonard instead of turning it into an equal-opportunity defensive assignment. Simmons has the size and strength to at least make Leonard’s path to the rim thornier, and the matchup data from Saturday reflected that. When Simmons was the primary defender on Leonard, the Raptors scored 31 points on 27 possessions, with Leonard scoring 10; when it was Harris or Butler, the Raptors had 53 points on 38 possessions, with Leonard racking up 27 himself.
That might prove meaningful; the series is young yet. As Leonard continues to thrive, one thing has become abundantly clear: The Raptors were right to be cautious, perhaps even overly cautious, with Leonard’s health following his 2017-18 season, in which he played just nine games because of a quadriceps injury and, depending on whom and what you believe, broken trust between him and the Spurs organization.
“We’ve said the bigger picture is April, May and June from the start,” said Green, Leonard’s teammate in San Antonio and Toronto. “We need him at his highest level and healthiest right now. Hopefully, he’s that. He’s showing it, anyway. The couple days of rest we got (after beating Orlando) were important for everybody, especially him.”
“I’m the same as I was coming down the stretch at the end of the season,” Leonard added. “I keep saying this but these guys did a good job of putting a plan together and making sure I’d be healthy at this point. I have no complaints right now.”
Hard work fast tracks Siakam’s rise as Raptors’ No. 2 scoring option | Toronto Sun
From an outsider’s perspective, Siakam’s rise has been meteoric. And while, yes, it has been fast, it’s not as if someone or something suddenly flipped a switch and the wiry 25-year-old Cameroon native became a star. According to those behind the scenes, the build was methodical and sometimes painful.
A day after going off for 29 points in Game 1 of the second-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena, the only reason Siakam’s name wasn’t trending on Twitter was because Leonard basically owned the spotlight. His 45 in Game 1 was so off-the-charts ridiculous it was like no one else even played in the game.
But Siakam’s story is so compelling and so unique that, a day later, the majority of the media covering the series seemed anxious to circle back to it. And his coach and his teammates were only too willing to comply.
“This guy, he’s trying to get better all the time and I think that’s been the key,” Raptors’ head coach Nick Nurse said. “I think I mentioned it last night in my third-quarter interview. They asked me about Pascal, he’s got 29 already and I just said: ‘Well, he seems to be getting better every week. I think that’s part of his makeup. He’s probably out there right now (pointing to the practice gym behind him) or he was at some point today, trying to figure out a way to get a little bit better than he was yesterday and that’s a credit to him.”
The question his teammates always get about Siakam is how surprising it is that he’s actually made such a drastic jump in such a short period of time.
Fred Van Vleet arrived on the Raptors’ scene in 2016, the same year as Siakam, so he’s had a front-row seat for all of the rapid climb and probably, because of that, what he is seeing now isn’t really that surprising.
“Yeah, I’m not trying to take anything away from him the guy, trust me, but he works every day, every single day,” Van Vleet said explaining his lack of surprise. “This year, with him playing 40-plus minutes a night, is the first time I have seen him take days off in the three years I have been here. You are talking about a guy who is in the gym every day. He’s here before practice, staying after practice and he just works. He has an unbelievable motor and a great energy and just a love and pure joy for the game. You can see that in the way that he plays.
“He has been unbelievable and he continues to get better each day and he adds new stuff each day,” VanVleet said. “Obviously, the jump shot is coming along. He is shooting mid-range pull-ups now. There’s so much he has added to his offensive game to go along with the energy and effort that he already plays with. It’s been a lot of fun to watch and he’s obviously a big part of what we do.”
Philadelphia 76ers need to adjust defensive strategy for Kawhi Leonard – The Sixer sense
The Sixers’ main defenders on Leonard in Game 1 were Simmons (27 possessions), Butler (24 possessions) and Tobias Harris (14 possessions). Those numbers should get even more skewed toward Simmons in future contests.
Leonard grilled Butler for 16 points on 5-6 shooting. He also grilled Harris for 11 points on 5-5 shooting. It’s clear Simmons, who presents the best combination of size, length and strength to counter Kawhi, is Philadelphia’s best hope of slowing him down.
Those numbers also serve as a testament to Simmons, who has transformed himself into an All-World defender when operating at 100 percent. He’s versatile enough to defend five positions, but also fights through screens and effectively contains quick-twitch guards on the perimeter. He’s a special talent on both ends.
The Sixers could also benefit from throwing more double teams at Kawhi in Game 2, though there’s some obvious risk there. Leonard is an underrated playmaker who made some nice reads and quick decisions Saturday night. Simply throwing extra defenders at him could lead to weaknesses elsewhere.
With Simmons locked onto Kawhi, Brown will also need to find more ways to slow down Pascal Siakam. He won’t shoot 80 percent again, but even so, the leading candidate for Most Improved Player found minimal resistance all night. It’s a two-pronged attack the Sixers need to counter.
One way Sixers may be able to slow down Kawhi Leonard in playoffs | NBC Sports Philadelphia
The one player that was actually successful was Ben Simmons. Simmons didn’t shut Leonard down, but held him to 4 of 9, including two missed threes. It seemed like Simmons’ length bothered Leonard a little bit as Leonard actually airballed his first shot attempt with Simmons on him.
Still, Brown has said all along he’s going to show Leonard a variety of looks and it sounds like he plans to stick with that game plan.
“You want to avoid a steady diet of a similar look,” Brown said. “These guys are that good that if you can maybe keep people guessing and a little more off balance, maybe that’s where the adjustments have their most effectiveness.”
While that type of performance will happen with a guy like Leonard, the emergence of Siakam as Toronto’s No. 2 option has been a scary development for the Sixers. Siakam is known for his speed in rushing down the floor in transition, but his game is becoming more diverse.
He was at 37 percent from three during the regular season, a number that has grown to 42 percent during the postseason. He also killed the Sixers on dribble drives, finishing with his great length and athleticism.
If “adjustments” was the big word, “showing them a crowd” was the big phrase. The team kept repeating that refrain in reference to both players.
The Sixers feel good about the changes they’ve made in their game plan for Game 2.
“I think really locking down on Kawhi and Siakam [is the biggest adjustment],” Simmons said. “Two guys that obviously had great games against us [Saturday], but we’re confident going into the next game.”
Will we see more of Simmons on Leonard Monday night?
“Yeah, probably,” Simmons said.
While Brown continues to harp on mixing things up on Leonard, it seems like he’s open to changes.
“Adjustments rule the day,” Brown said. “I can tell you that I wake up feeling good to go. I really feel like we can just come and be better than we were than the first game.”
They better be.
The Sixers need Zhaire Smith’s defense to help defend the perimeter – Sixers Wire
Brown said after Game 1 that Korkmaz received minutes instead of Smith because he wanted to utilize Korkmaz’s shooting ability. Korkmaz shot 1-of-6 from the field, though, and he scored five points.
The Sixers already don’t match up well with the Raptors because of how versatile Toronto is on both ends of the floor. On defense, all the Raptors’ starters are capable of switching on screens.
On offense, each player has a role. Leonard is the superstar. Siakam is a budding star who can handle the ball, play defense and make threes; Danny Green is a good shooter, and he plays solid defense; Kyle Lowry sets his teammates up well; Marc Gasol can make threes and distribute the ball well for his size.
Brown playing Korkmaz didn’t help the Sixers’ cause in defending the Raptors, as he had a defensive rating of 114.
Smith is inexperienced; he played six games in the regular season because of a fractured left foot he suffered last summer. Along with the left foot injury, Smith also had thoracoscopy surgery because of an allergic reaction he had to a food product earlier in the season.
But while he hasn’t played much, Smith has shown an ability to defend well because of his athleticism and quickness.
As Brown searches for answers to defend Leonard and Siakam better, he should look at using Smith. The Sixers don’t have one pure lockdown defender who can contain Leonard. They’ll need to use a few of their wing best defenders, players such as Ben Simmons and Jimmy Butler, to try and stop him.
Toronto Raptors: No matter what, Kawhi Leonard gamble worth it – Hoops Habit
Most fans would trade certainty of failure for a brief opportunity at success, especially the type of success a franchise has never before witnessed.
That’s why last summer’s trade was worth it. That’s why Ujiri would do it all over again if given the chance, despite no insight into Leonard’s future plans.
As for those plans, they remain mysterious to all, except perhaps to Leonard himself. He hasn’t said much about his intentions throughout the season, though the rumors linking him to one of the Los Angeles teams have remained persistent.
For now, the focus remains on the present. The Raptors still have to string together 11 more victories to claim the team’s first ever title. That won’t be easy, especially since they’re not even the top seed in their own conference.
Thoughts on Raptors’ defence, Warriors Game 1 win and more – TSN.ca
1. RAPTORS DEFENCE: Once again the Raptors played terrific defence in Game 1 versus Philadelphia and get a win. That makes five straight games of holding their opponent under 100 points & 40 per cent from the field (the 76ers shot 39 per cent from the field and 34 from beyond the arc and had 14 turnovers). Toronto can play with and beat any team in the league when they commit to this degree with sustained defensive effort and focus. Game 2 will be the toughest game they’ll have to try and win all season against a wounded and desperate opponent. They must bring the same commitment Monday night.
‘Sky is the limit for him’: Raps gush about Siakam’s growth, immense potential – Video – TSN
Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam combined for 74 points in Game 1 to lead the Raptors to victory over the talented 76ers. Are opponents underestimating Siakam? ‘No…he’s just that good.’ Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet and head coach Nick Nurse gush about Siakam’s growth as a player and his immense potential, crediting his work ethic for his success.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmN_lkTDHYw
The morning after the Raptors dominant Game 1 win, Lowry was asked how he avoids becoming a spectator at the Kawhi Show.
“You try to just make sure you help him as much as you possibly can,” he said. “If that’s screening the right way, if that’s rolling, if that’s calling a play for him, if that’s helping him on defence and helping him save some energy, you try to help him and help the team no matter what in any type of situation, whatever you can do, you gotta get out and take his man for a second or screen his man or back cut just to get him open. . . . You don’t help him by just standing and watching.”
While Leonard plus Pascal Siakam, who had a 29-point night, hogged the spotlight on the offensive end, Toronto’s defence was on a string. Lowry and Leonard were the motor and Marc Gasol the anchor as the Raptors held one of the league’s most potent offences to 39 per cent shooting, and forced 16 turnovers.
“Defensively, there seems to be a lot of connectivity out there,” coach Nick Nurse said. “I keep saying when Kawhi and Kyle are playing as hard as they can play, everybody that steps on the floor probably is willing to play hard, too.”
Nurse said it “helps a lot” that his starting lineup – Leonard, Lowry, Gasol, Siakam and Danny Green – a unique group that because of injuries, trades and Leonard’s load management he’s only been able to use for these six post-season games, boasts significant experience and basketball IQ.
“It’s a very intelligent, very experienced group,” the coach said. “You see it not only in the game but you see it on days like today. The film session . . . it’s not us just telling them, it’s us working together and there’s a lot of good ideas. Our coaching staff’s ears are open, there’s an exchange of ideas because these guys have been through hundreds of games and lots of playoff runs and all those kinds of things.”
Gasol, an NBA defensive player of the year winner, held Joel Embiid to 5-for-18 shooting for 16 points.
“We’ve got some thing we like to do prior to a guy like Embiid getting the ball. Marc does those well, and so do the other guys. So there’s a lot of little things that are going on out there before Embiid gets it,” Nurse said. “And then after he gets it, we try to provide a little less space maybe than he would like to have. A lot of credit to Marc.
Raptors’ Siakam cleared for takeoff, and the sky’s the limit | The Star
The truth about Siakam in this series is that the Sixers simply don’t have anyone who can guard him. And if Philadelphia finds some way to limit Kawhi Leonard, perhaps by double-teaming him to get the ball out of his hands, that just creates more space for Siakam to work the game, read it and dominate.
“He’s difficult because he’s so dynamic going downhill,” Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said Sunday. “It requires a sense of awareness and urgency early.”
The Sixers realize that if they pay too much attention to Leonard, Siakam could explode and vice-versa. It has to be a mix: a few changes and a few more changes that add wrinkles the Raptors might have a hard time handling, for at least the short term.
“They have the NBA’s best three-point shooting team, completely,” Brown said. “So you usually get back into a steady diet. You want to avoid maybe a steady diet of a similar look — these guys are that good — so if you can maybe keep people guessing and a little more off balance, that’s where the adjustments have the most effectiveness.”
One of the most important improvements in Siakam’s play this year has been with patience. He’s not running willy-nilly all over the place and kicking the ball around because he’s going a hundred kilometres an hour. He reads situations so much better, knows when to slow down and when to speed up, and has somehow found stuff in his personal tool box to deal with whatever opponents throw at him.
And it goes back, as it always does, to work no one sees.
“I don’t think he’s trying new shots. I think he’s just adding in what he’s worked on in the summer, right?” teammate Kyle Lowry said. “And I think he’s working on things that teams are trying to take away from him in the playoffs … So it’s not things he’s trying. It’s things he was working on all summer, that he’s able to incorporate now because these are things they’re taking away. These are things that they’re giving him.”
[AUDIO] Scoop B Radio Overtime f/Ric Bucher [B/R Senior Writer] (2019) – Scoop B Radio
“I believe-know what? I’d probably stop right there. That’s the only team, I think the Boston Celtics can be real, I’m not buying the Denver Nuggets, I’m not buying the Milwaukee Bucks and I don’t believe that the Golden State Warriors are just playing the way they’re playing just because they’re bored. I think you’re seeing the reflection of the grind over all these years.”
STINSON: These Raptors are some kind of different | Toronto Sun
Coming into this series, it was generally assumed to be a battle between two top-heavy rosters, with the Raptors and Sixers sporting the two best five-man starting units in these playoffs. And right away, Toronto’s big stars asserted themselves, with Leonard and Siakam in particular piling up quick points. That 1-2 combination that had proved such a handful for the Orlando Magic rolled up 34 combined points in the first quarter alone — each of them with 17 on matching 7-for-9 shooting.
Underlining the way in which this Raptors team is unlike previous editions, it actually started a little cold, with the 76ers jumping out to a 7-2 lead, before ripping off a 9-0 run to get the Scotiabank Arena crowd into it and force Philadelphia coach Brett Brown into a quick timeout to cool things off.
In previous playoffs, those ugly starts often metastasized into deep holes, with missed shots leading to more missed shots as the Raptors started to press and the home crowd worked itself into a right panic.
Not this bunch. They stuck to the plan, which in this particular case appeared to be: Do not miss. After the rough start, the Raptors hit 13 consecutive field-goal attempts over about seven full minutes of game time.
The players on this team have said, repeatedly, that they are not the least bit troubled by previous Raptors bumbles and stumbles in the post-season. Sometimes they have politely explained that it couldn’t possibly bother them because they were in places like San Antonio and Memphis when the Raptors were busy getting speed-bagged by LeBron James every spring.
Before Saturday night’s game, where the Raptors had a bleak 2-14 all-time record in playoff-series openers, coach Nick Nurse was asked whether there was something different about this group. Was it experience? Personalities? Experienced personalities?
“I mean, listen, I think that I’ve tried to approach this season or even now, the playoffs, with the same mindset, and that is: Whatever happened before really doesn’t matter a whole lot,” Nurse said. “This is this team. I think there are some really good, experienced pros in there. Not only are they really good players, they’re experienced, they’ve been deep in the playoffs, they’re great to coach.”
Still, it is one thing to say they aren’t haunted by Raptors ghosts, but another to go out and put in the performances that prove it.
Last year’s team didn’t really deserve the choking-dog label that was attached to it after the sweep at the hands of the Cavaliers, and things might have turned out very different if they had just been able to convert a freaking layup as the clock ticked down. The statistical probability of missing four consecutive put-back attempts is something like 5%, and yet they somehow managed it. With any luck at all, they win that game and probably don’t death-march through the rest of that series.
NBA playoffs: Kawhi Leonard puts on a show – Yahoo
For Leonard, who built himself up from a high school nobody to a Division-I star to a first-round pick to a defensive specialist to an All-Star to a Finals MVP, stagnation would be akin to regression. He’s still climbing the escalator of greatness, a more complete player today than he was two years ago. “For sure,” Green said. “He was still coming into his own. He was an elite defender. He’s become a very elite scorer. But now he’s trying to read defenses, starting to pick them apart. I think he’s definitely more of a well-rounded player than he was.”
Before Gasol’s arrival, the Raptors made Leonard their de facto nucleus, putting the ball in his hands more than ever before, to splendid scoring returns and mixed playmaking returns. But now, a willingness to make unselfish plays is starting to blossom into the aptitude to find the right man. “Kawhi was just in the zone,” teammate Kyle Lowry said. “And he probably could’ve had more, but he facilitated.”
The Sixers, who did not double-team Leonard on his assaults to the rim, will test his new-found abilities in Game 2. “I don’t think we showed enough help,” Simmons said. “I think as a team we have to treat him more honest, be vocal a bit more and try and get the ball out of his hands.” Head coach Brett Brown mostly agreed.
At shootaround Saturday morning, Sixers sharpshooter JJ Redick was asked if he believed Leonard could generate defense. Leonard answered that question emphatically when Redick, who had unfurled four triples in the opening three minutes of the third quarter, was switched on to him. With the Sixers clearly looking to get Redick going, you’d think Leonard would have glued himself to the 6-foot-4 guard. But he left him wide open, at first trying to goad Simmons into kicking the ball out so he could intercept it and be off to the races. Simmons thought better of it, pass-faking and reversing it to Butler, who drove into the lane. Leonard crashed into the paint and crouched down low, as though he was about to rise up and block Butler’s layup attempt. Butler opted to pass to Redick in the corner. Leonard stunted backward at the last minute and deflected the ball, which ricocheted off Redick’s foot and landed out of bounds.
“He’s reading the plays, reading the passer’s eyes,” said Green. “He’s just able to get there a little faster, easier because of how much space he takes up and how long his arms are. He’s able to get deflections on the ball or get a steal or block a shot because of the space he can cover in a short amount of time.”
Leonard’s trademark defense — the ferocity and size and anticipatory power and, above all, the confidence that allows him to manipulate the game — was in full force all night, stymying the Sixers in transition and at the rim, all the while adding fuel to the Raptors’ transition game. When he was a junior in high school, Leonard would tell his trainer, Clint Parks, that he wanted to be the best player in the world. After a two-year diversion, Leonard is back on that path, declaring his supremacy over the Sixers’ stack of stars, with the command and confidence of a man who knows he is above it all.
