What We Learned from the Raptors’ First-Ever Playoff Sweep | Complex
Championship-winning defence
Defence wins championships is the old cliché that’s never gone away, not even in this high-scoring world of the NBA. Yes, there are a lot more points being scored, but that makes Toronto’s ability to get stops even more valuable.
They were able to turn off the tap for the Nets seemingly at will over the course of the series and have made a habit all season of shutting down the team’s best player. Since the all-star break, Caris LeVert was averaging 24.4 points and emerging as one of the more dynamic scorers in the league. There was plenty of chatter about him going up against the Raptors lauded defence, and the latter didn’t disappoint.
In the first three games, LeVert averaged just 15.3 points while shooting 32 percent from the field overall and 25 percent from three. He did average 10.7 assists as the Raptors constantly forced the ball out of his hands and others hit shots, but taking LeVert out of his comfort zone took the Nets out of their natural rhythm and left them with no chance.
“Like any other great scorers in the league, it’s not really stopping him, just make it tough on him,” VanVleet said. “I thought we did a good job of limiting his looks, crowding the floor and he did a good job of making that pass when it was there. You know, pick your poison.”
The Raptors picked a rather fatal poison for the Nets, outscoring them by 82 for the series.
Raptor Recalibration, Game 4: Lessons from the Nets sweep with Celtics on deck – The Athletic
Matchups
As far as getting ready for the Celtics goes, it may help Siakam that he spent most of the series guarded by Luwawu-Cabarrot. Jaylen Brown will get the Siakam assignment early and often for Boston and is of similar measurements (6-foot-6, 223 pounds) to Luwawu-Cabarrot (6-foot-7, 220 pounds). Brown is stronger and a better defender, but reps against a similar defensive build should still be helpful. That the Nets also threw a lot of doubles at him should be good preparation. Siakam even got some reps in against Jarrett Allen, similar to the coverage he saw against bigs last year, though Boston wouldn’t seem to have that type of option available to them.
Siakam, by the way, finished the series averaging 20.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists. The efficiency (50.3 percent true-shooting) was lacking, but limiting turnovers, making good reads, and being maybe the Raptors best individual defender were all positives. The question on defence now becomes whether the Raptors task him with a head-to-head with Brown, as they did in the last reseeding game, or if they try to put him on Marcus Smart so he can continue in the chaotic help-and-recover role he thrives so much in. That’s probably not possible if Lowry is out, but Anunoby almost surely getting the Jayson Tatum assignment opens up some options.
It’s similarly encouraging that VanVleet got his shot off in the pick-and-roll no matter who was guarding him or what coverage Brooklyn threw at him. He and Lowry will need to be versatile in their attack against Boston’s heavy switching. Expect the guards to do a lot more screening than they did in this series to try to get Siakam matched up against Kemba Walker. That was just not necessary here, as Siakam scored only once all series as a pick-and-roll ball-handler (with Gasol screening). The bulk of his work came in isolation or in the post, a tougher task next round.
NBA Playoffs 2020: Ranking the key players in the Raptors vs. Celtics series – Raptors HQ
The Difference Makers
2. Pascal Siakam
As much as we all love Siakam, and as much as he has improved over the past couple of seasons, and as much as we’ve been looking forward to these playoffs as his big breakout, the equation here is unfortunately simple. Most would agree that Siakam’s defensive ability and utility for the Raptors is greater than Tatum’s role on that end for the Celtics. But also…1. Jayson Tatum
Tatum is ultimately the more polished offensive player right now. What’s more, he has shown the ability to unlock whatever skills he needs to attack what the defense gives him. Boston will need that particular ability against the best defense in the Bubble. So yes, while it may be sacrilege to rank Tatum ahead of Siakam — on this very site no less! — it also feels like he’ll be a smidge harder to contain than the Raptors’ own do-it-all centrepiece.(Or maybe I’m trying for some complicated reverse jinx. Who’s to say?)
NBA Playoffs: Power ranking the best players in Celtics-Raptors series | NBC Sports Boston
5. Fred VanVleet
VanVleet was absurd in Round 1 while averaging 21.3 points and shooting a sizzling 55.9 percent beyond the 3-point arc on a staggering 8.5 attempts per game. In Game 3 against the Nets, he threw in a heave from 10 feet behind the midcourt stripe.
The Celtics were fortunate that Philadelphia clanged its way through the first round but VanVleet will make them pay if they give him any space. It will be interesting to see how the Celtics match up with VanVleet, and whether Marcus Smart draws that assignment now that he’s elevated to the starting group in place of the injured Gordon Hayward.
The Raptors May Have the Best Bench in the NBA Bubble | Complex
Ibaka is frequently sensational, and he was a deciding factor in the series sweep: his 20 points last Wednesday night were a stunning coup, and it’s no surprise Nurse has been putting him on the court for upwards of 30 minutes a game. The surprise star, however, has been San Diego-born Norman Powell, the small forward and Osmow’s shawarma ambassador who has suddenly seemed to come alive playing against the Nets. In game two, he landed basket after basket after basket, walking away with an astonishing 24 points in 30 minutes and helping secure the hard-fought 104-99 win. Guys like Thomas, Miller, and Johnson have been critical in key moments, coming in for a few minutes a time and landing the occasional (and often crucial) two-pointer. Ibaka and Powell are another story. They’ve been so dominant, and so skilled, that they’ve done as much or more than most starters.
It all came to a resounding crescendo on Sunday night, as the Raptors achieved the first series sweep in franchise history, defeating Brooklyn 150-122. Most spectacularly, 100 of those points came from the bench. One hundred points: a whopping 29 from Norman Powell. 27 from Serge Ibaka. 14 and 12 from Terence Davis and Matt Thomas, respectively. Boucher, Watson, Johnson, and Hollis-Jefferson each pitched in a few of their own. It wasn’t simply incredible. It was historic: the most points the Raptors have ever scored in a playoff game, and the most points scored off the bench in NBA history—beating the 86 playoff points scored by the Mavericks bench in 2011 and the 94 scored by the Warriors bench in regular season play in 1971. This was not a meaningless game, and the Nets were trying very hard to beat them. It was a truly great achievement.
And that is certainly heartening as the Raptors prepare to meet the Celtics. Most teams rely on the bench to alleviate pressure from the starting lineup: their job, at the most basic, is to hold things together as best as they’re able while the better players recuperate their energy and catch their breath here and there. But the Raptors don’t have the kind of team that falls apart the moment one or two starters have to head off the court for a breather. As they’ve made abundantly clear, they’ve got guys who can score and guys who can defend all the way down the bench—and with Lowry now confirmed to be out with a sprained ankle, that ability to draw deep is going to be more important than ever. An injury like that could destroy a team’s championship chances. With these Raptors, there’s no reason to fear.
Lewenberg: Lots of questions, very few answers on Lowry’s ankle – Video – TSN
TSN Raptors reporter Josh Lewenberg joins the guys on Overdrive to discuss Kyle Lowry’s ankle injury, the lack of answers about what it means for the Celtics series and what kind of Lowry we could see if he is good to go for game 1. The guys also discuss Nick Nurse winning NBA Coach of the year and look big picture at the Raptors franchise as a whole.
NBA Playoffs 2020 Injury Report: Raptors’ Kyle Lowry diagnosed with left ankle sprain – Raptors HQ
This makes Lowry’s injury all the more of frustrating. Heading into their opening round series with Brooklyn, it was obvious all the Raptors had to do was play their game, stay healthy, and they’d win. They managed to do most of that no problem — not even a random hot streak from a random Net could derail them — but not all. And now the Celtics are waiting for them. And they present a much more difficult test for the Raptors in their quest to repeat as champions.
Now, Boston is also dealing with injury problems of their own. In the first game of their series against the Philadelphia 76ers (which also ended in an abject sweep), forward Gordon Hayward sprained his ankle — always cause for concern given his injury history. The twist was bad enough that Hayward had to leave the Bubble to recuperate. He was given a four-week timetable to return, which means he is likely to miss the entire series against Toronto. It’s an unfortunate turn of events, made worse by the compressed schedule of the Bubble playoffs.
Still, and no disrespect to Hayward, he’s not what Lowry is to Toronto. The Raptors can for sure count on Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, and the rest of their championship-ready core, but they need Lowry to get everyone moving at the right speed. He’s the engine for the whole team, the player who sets the tone, and the man who maximizes whatever this Raptors team can do together as a unit. Toronto saw some sterling play in Lowry’s absence on Sunday night — particularly from Norman Powell, who took his spot in the lineup — but that came against the comically depleted Nets. They’ll need Lowry to help win four games against Boston.
So, as seems to somehow always be the case with the Raptors in the playoffs, we now have to hunker down with our anxiety and wait for news. On Sunday night we also saw Luka Doncic go off to beat the Clippers in their Game 4, doing so on a sprained ankle. It’s possible the outcome here for Lowry could be the same or similiar. Or he could miss games this series. As coach Nick Nurse implied, Lowry is as tough as they come and it will take a whale of an injury to keep him off the court. Kyle hasn’t left the Bubble, so it seems possible he could be ready to go soon. Game 1 is indeed on Thursday, so there’s still time to get right.
But we just don’t know.
Sprained ankle for Raptors’ Lowry at least sounds hopeful | Toronto Sun
Saying Kyle Lowry is important to the Raptors is akin to declaring oxygen is key for mankind. Even the most removed sports fan knows the heartbeat of the Raptors begins in Lowry’s chest. He is the elder statesman on the team with the longest tenure in Toronto dating back to the 2012 trade Bryan Colangelo orchestrated with Houston that still doesn’t get its proper due.
Lowry was initially a reluctant Raptor, having told the story himself of expecting to be moved the following year. But somewhere along the way Lowry changed his tune and started to embrace his role on the Raptors. Before long he and good friend DeMar DeRozan were the de facto faces of the franchise. Even when Kawhi Leonard arrived and DeRozan left, Lowry maintained his leadership. A championship, a Leonard departure and a year later Lowry is once again both locker room and court leader and the easy choice as the Raptor the team can least afford to lose.
At this point we really don’t know how much time, if any, Lowry will miss with the injury. The Celtics loom in the next round and Boston, for whatever reason, is a team which Lowry has always saved his best. His career scoring average against the Celtics (17.0 ppg) is better than against any other team in the league and that’s saying something when you consider how much Lowry enjoys playing against his hometown Philadelphia 76ers.
Celtics-Raptors Series Will Be a Tale of Two Different Bench Mobs – The Big Lead
Much of the series will come down to who can outperform who when the bench guys are in with some starters, which is why Toronto’s absurd production stood out on Sunday. They had four bench players score double-digit points, including 27 from Serge Ibaka and 29 from Norman Powell. Unlike the regular season, neither Nick Nurse nor Brad Stevens will turn to a reserves-only lineup unless the circumstances are extremely dire, but bench production is going to be a big factor, especially if Lowry is hindered from the ankle sprain he suffered on Sunday.
To say the Raptors outclass the Celtics in this department would be an understatement. Powell averaged 16 points off the bench this season and has bumped his play a tick in the playoffs, averaging 17.5 points per game in the first round of the bubble postseason. Ibaka averaged 15 points and eight rebounds this year, coming off the bench in half of his games this season, and has kept up that level of production in the playoffs. That’s 30-40 points a night from Toronto’s two best reserves, and that’s before you get into Terence Davis (14 points in Game 4 against the Nets), Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, or Stanley Johnson. Those three guys aren’t needle-movers on their own, but a luxury for a team with a great starting five like Toronto.
The Celtics, um, do not have any of those qualities when it comes to their bench. The first two players usually subbed in, Enes Kanter and Brad Wanamaker, combined to average exactly 10 points per game off the bench in the first-round series against Philadelphia. In their decisive Game 4 victory, the six Boston reserves combined for 11 points. The best numbers Boston’s bench put up was in Game 2, where the backups scored 41 points in a game so far out of hand Tacko Fall was given playing time.
Toronto’s backups are a group filled with versatile defenders who can be exchanged interchangeably with various members of the starting lineup without losing much on either end of the floor. The Celtics, on the other hand, have a handful of guys who can do one or two things well but aren’t well-rounded enough to boost one end of the floor while giving it all back on the other.
Kanter is an excellent offensive rebounder and can get his on the low block, but make him defend a pick-and-roll and disaster looms. Grant Williams has proven to be a great defender for a rookie who unlocks all sorts of interesting switchable lineups for Boston, but his shooting from deep was putrid during the regular season and he can’t be relied upon to space the floor. Wanamaker is the closest thing they have to a steady hand on both ends, and even he is prone to hijacking possessions to run isolation on offense that probably makes Stevens want to tear his hair out.
Celtics Are Going To Have To Be Close To Perfect Against Raptors – CBS Boston
Toronto’s size will be the biggest issue for Boston. Siakam and Gasol can dominate the paint, and the Celtics really don’t have anyone to measure up with them. It’ll get even more difficult when Serge Ibaka and Norman Powell make an appearance off the bench. The Celtics had their hands full with one giant against Philadelphia, and it’s only going to get tougher against Toronto.
The backcourt is just as tough, with Kyle Lowry Toronto’s de facto leader. He’s a cold-blooded scorer and franchise icon, and has a derriere that lets him clear his own space when attacking the rim or boxing out for a rebound. We’ll see how his ankle is after he turned it on Sunday, because losing the Raptors losing Lowry would change quite a bit about the series. But his running mate in the backcourt, Fred VanVleet, brings his own knack for knocking down big shots, and will pose lots of problem for Boston’s wings.
Add in a bench that is among the best in the NBA — fresh off a 100-point performance in Game 4 — and the Celtics can’t afford many, if any, missteps if they want to reach the Conference Finals.
Boston knows a first-round sweep usually doesn’t mean much when the next round tips off, something they learned last year when they were embarrassed by the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semis after sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the first round. They’re going to spend the next few days figuring out what went wrong during those moments of leakage against Philly, and make sure they don’t happen again against Toronto. The Celtics were their own worst enemy during those brief slumps, and if they have to play against themselves in addition to the Raptors, this next matchup won’t be a very competitive series at all.
You can say a lot of great things about the Raptors. But here’s one thing that doesn’t reflect particularly well on them: They haven’t been particularly impressive this season when matched against some of the East’s best teams. Consider Toronto’s 3-7 record this season against the three other teams expected to be in the East’s final four (Milwaukee, who is up 3-1 on Orlando, and Boston and Miami, who swept their first-round series).
Now, anybody who’s been paying attention knows that regular-season records aren’t always indications of playoff destiny. Last spring, don’t forget, the Raptors came into their second-round series against the Sixers having beat Philadelphia in three of their four most recent meetings, and yet it was Philly that proved to be Toronto’s toughest playoff opponent. And Toronto, conversely, arrived in the Eastern final having lost three of four regular-season matchups to the Milwaukee Bucks, only to eliminate the Bucks in six.
Still, the Raptors are a dismal 1-3 against the Celtics, who are 6-4 against the East’s best three other teams. Boston is the only team to beat the Raptors three times this season. They’re the only team that’s beaten Toronto in the bubble, a 122-100 drubbing a couple of weeks back. And again, use caution when projecting past results on future returns.
As Celtics coach Brad Stevens said on the occasion of that Boston win over the Raptors in Orlando: “I thought they missed a lot of open looks and it just wasn’t their night. Our guys played well, but it won’t mean anything in a couple weeks.”
Probably not. But a compelling argument can be made that the Celtics, not the No. 1-overall-seeded Bucks, are the toughest Eastern matchup for the Raptors. For one, they’re an unknown playoff quantity to Toronto, which has never before had a post-season date with the franchise that’s won an NBA-best 17 championships. For another, the Raptors wrote the NBA book on walling off the paint to limit Giannis Antetokounmpo en route to winning the East. And even if Kawhi Leonard was the linchpin of that defensive masterstroke, it’s not hard to imagine the Raptors, who define themselves by their defence, having success repeating the trick. The Celtics might not be as easy to figure out.
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