Basketball is an interesting game at the NBA level. There’s a certain amount of effort that a fanbase will accept from a team, knowing that it’s a long season. Some teams have such a high level of pedigree that they know exactly how much of a game they can take off and still win. Championship teams are known to do it, and since the Raptors are the defending champs it makes sense that they did just that last night.
The Hawks had an encouraging amount of assists (32), and it came on a number of turnovers that’s less than their season average (15). The Raptors defense watched Trae Young float passes to his teammates for assists, in what might’ve been steals in other games. Early on the Raptors looked like a 1-man defense, with Marc Gasol pulling off all sorts of wizardry in the paint; causing deflections, boxing out, getting blocks, sending the outlet pass. It was a remarkable showing from him, and one that the Raptors were happy to get in the midst of what many would describe as a state of malaise.
A man who is incapable of malaise, Norman Powell, also had a strong start to the game. His performances, whether good or bad, are almost always described as hyper active, or erratic, which are closer than you think. The tiniest shift in decision making sends Powell over the 15-point mark with well-timed drives to the cup and terrific spot-up shooting, or 1-6 from the floor with 3+ turnovers.
“I mean, listen, I wish we could pencil him in for about 16 each night, rather than 26 one and zero the next, 21 and four, or whatever. But he’s certainly capable, obviously.” – Nick Nurse
Powell’s decisiveness to get to the rim was a necessary and assertive action in the Raptors offensive scheme, as the side-top-side action that generally produces wide-open looks from downtown only succeeded in taking time off the clock early on. The Raptors were taking most of their 3-point attempts in transition, or as the result of stagnation and a late shot-clock. Powell was able to beat the help-side defense to the rim in most cases, and did a wonderful job of mixing in drives with his spot up attempts.
A spark off the bench in the way of Chris Boucher minutes was nice to see at the end of the first/start of the second. Gasol was good in this game – and I thought his playmaking from the elbow was good – but Boucher’s will to dive off of the screen and roll flashed a different look, and one that found success.
You could say it’s just the Hawks, if Boucher hadn’t done this against the Lakers and the Clippers. Or if he wasn’t averaging 13 & 7 in the 4 games he’s gotten an extended run (18+minutes). I was a Boucher doubter at the start of the year, but I have no problem saying I was wrong. It seems that Boucher has already arrived as a consistent role player on one of the league’s very best teams. Congrats to him, and I’m excited to see how the rest of the season plays out.
Unfortunately Boucher happened to be on the floor when the Raptors strung together 4 straight turnovers, turning a 2-point lead into an 8-point deficit. Nurse yanked all four of the bench players after that sequence. VanVleet and Siakam kept pushing against the Hawks, and received more resistance than expected. Although, that seemed to be partially due to a lack of creativity from the Raptors on the offensive end.
Even though Pascal Siakam had a brilliant game, the Raptors were horrible at getting him involved in the first half. His points came largely on pull-up three pointers to start out (it’s great that he makes them now, but that’s not his game) and he didn’t operate in any actions that guided him downhill and toward the basket. Often times the Raptors had him iso above the break against the Hawks set defense. And while Siakam is more capable than most power forwards when doing so, that isn’t a part of his game that the Raptors should routinely use as the fulcrum of their offense.
So, the Raptors were mired in a bit of a slump, be it their offensive ethos or their defensive tenacity. And despite VanVleet’s will to push every ball up the floor, Siakam’s savvy shot-making and Boucher and Powell’s not relied upon, but welcome showing, the Raptors were down nine points at half-time. Largely, because the Raptors were far worse at creating looks with ball movement, and weren’t getting into the paint as often as the Hawks.
The third quarter was an expression of Siakam’s dominance, and yet another example – one that we’ve seen in many playoff series – of Powell’s ability to punch-out opponents as a fourth or fifth option. Siakam & Powell played nearly the whole quarter, and paced the Raptors throughout as they mounted their comeback. Combining for 21 points on 80-percent shooting, as Siakam found a mismatch in Jabari Parker (and started to work on him closer to the hoop instead of above the break) and Powell finished possessions as a release valve on offensive rebounds.
Siakam & Powell in the third quarter.
This set the stage for the duo of Boucher and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to help steal this game away from the Hawks. The boundless energy of the aforementioned duo proved to be too much for the Hawks on the second night of a back to back. As Hollis-Jefferson scrambled after loose balls, and offensive boards. Sometimes even working in tandem with Boucher, batting the rebounds back up into the air where Boucher’s go-go-gadget arms could spring into action. They combined for 10 rebounds in the frame (5 offensive), out-rebounding the Hawks by themselves.
While the steadiness of ‘Steady Freddy’ was a factor in securing the Raptors win, and the continued excellence of Siakam was much needed, the 7-minute burst from Boucher and Hollis-Jefferson is what allowed the Raptors to close the game out without any heroics from VanVleet or Siakam.
The Hawks played pressure defense for the last 4-minutes of the game, forcing some errors from the Raptors. And quite honestly, it was strange to see it work so effectively, as the Raptors blew wide-open layups and tripped into turnovers. The Hawks made a heap of three pointers at the end of the fourth (good shooting De’Andre Hunter, sheesh) but the Raptors managed to close it out, as Trae Young watched his heave attempt from just inside half-court sail by the net.
While games like this don’t allow us to rave about OG Anunoby, or proclaim ourselves the best team in the league – they do allow us to look at an injured Raptors team that already knows exactly what it takes to close. Just like they’ve done all year, as they’re 9-0 in games that they’ve been favoured in. The championship DNA wasn’t just in that thrilling Lakers victory, it’s in a game like this as well.
Have a blessed day.
