After giving the league a firm reminder of where they stand in the greater hierarchy of the NBA (contenders), the Raptors are prepared to do battle – and by battle I mean a heavily regulated sports game, where being violent is not a good thing – against the Heat, from Miami.
First up, here’s Es with the three points:
Playing the Heat and Lakers back to back will be good for the Raptors, I think. At least, it’ll be good for fans and analysts to get a decent measure of the Raptors current range on defense. The Lakers, an uber-impressive offensive machine that is powered solely (almost) by the talents of LeBron James and Anthony Davis; the Raptors played an aggressive and intuitive brand of defense, shutting down the mid-post for both players, and funnelling the ball to shooters who were well off their timing. It was good stuff. Today they play the Heat, who don’t have any players as impressive as ‘AD’ or ‘Bron’ (although Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are damn impressive), but they have a multifaceted attack that might be better equipped to make the Raptors pay for their sometimes overzealous defense.
In previous games the Raptors have had trouble tracking Duncan Robinson around the perimeter, and his symbiotic ‘DHO’ game with Adebayo has only grown more potent. Kendrick Nunn isn’t much to write home about, but Goran Dragic could lead a significant charge for the Heat off the bench, which was a weak point for the Raptors against LA. And while Kelly Olynyk likely won’t pop off for 20 points against the Raptors, he’s a reliable shooter, and the Raptors defensive scheme loves to force the ball into the hands of players who share a similar role to Olynyk – thinking of you, Ersan Ilyasova.
The good news, the Heat have a much worse defense than the Lakers and the Raptors looked really impressive in their first game back. Even though Adebayo is currently playing the role of “Big Bad” in Pascal Siakam’s life’s movie – 0-5 w/2 TO’s last time they matched up – Siakam has grown leaps and bounds since their early December matchup, and Lowry has a firm grasp on the wheel of the Raptors offense for the time being. If something goes awry, Lowry can steer the ship – maybe with OG Anunoby rowing with the strength of 15 men.
We saw the vaunted Siakam/Lowry pick n’ roll towards the end of last game, and I’m hoping we see a little bit more of that in todays contest. Siakam will likely draw Adebayo and Andre Iguodala as primary defenders at different points throughout the game, and this would be a great opportunity for him to get in some of his read and react reps.
In their first game the Heat slid Meyers Leonard out of the starting lineup in favour of Jae Crowder, so I’m really interested to see if they opt for the same thing against the Raptors. If so, Marc Gasol should see a lot of minutes where he has a significant mismatch in the post. He had a couple duck ins for baby hooks (that he scored on) against the Lakers, so maybe we’ll see more of that vs. the Heat. Maybe the Heat are really going to lean on their zone defense in this one (Matt Thomas the zone buster minutes!). Maybe they’ll have Leonard back in the starting lineup.
The Raptors are the superior squad in this one, and despite the Heat coming off of an impressive win vs. the Nuggets, they still don’t have the talent that the other top teams in the East have. Butler and Adebayo are real hoopers, and they fill a lot of roles for the Heat, but I’m expecting the well regimented team from Miami to come up short against these Raptors.
Game Info
Tipoff: 130pm EST | TV: Sportsnet ONE | Radio: Sportsnet590 TheFAN
Raptors Lineups
Patrick McCaw (left knee soreness) is out, Oshae Brissett (right knee soreness) is questionable.
PG: Kyle Lowry, Terence Davis II
SG: Fred VanVleet, Norman Powell, Matt Thomas, Paul Watson
SF: OG Anunoby, Malcolm Miller, Stanley Johnson
PF: Pascal Siakam, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Chris Boucher
C: Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Dewan Hernandez
Heat Lineups
Dragic (back spasms) is probable, Bam Adebayo (bruised right quad) is probable. Jae Crowder claimed Jimmy Butler was in quarantine, but there’s been no elaboration on that, and he hasn’t been listed on an injury report as of yet (I wrote this the night of the 2nd).
PG: Kendrick Nunn, Goran Dragic
SG: Duncan Robinson, Derrick Jones Jr., Tyler Herro
SF: Jimmy Butler, Andre Iguodala, Solomon Hill
PF: Jae Crowder, Chris Silva
C: Bam Adebayo, Kelly Olynyk, Meyers Leonard, Udonis Haslem
Enjoy the early game! I’m gonna catch a round of golf afterwards!
Have a blessed day.
