A little late to this, sure, but there was a notable interaction between Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich and the Raptors’ Dwane Casey as the two shook hands following Toronto’s hard-fought loss in San Antonio this past weekend.
According to the lip readers at The Spurs Zone (and via the always wonderful NBA reddit), Pop took the opportunity to share some words of encouragement with Casey, apparently telling him, “I think you guys are going to the Finals. I swear to God. No bullsh–t.”
Have a look for yourselves:
While we can’t know for sure, it certainly does look like that’s what Pop said. It’s obviously a huge vote of confidence coming from one of the most successful figures in the sports history and a shrewd evaluator of talent like Popovich. And it’s not too hard to see where he’s coming from, either. The Raptors had just battled the Spurs, who narrowly escaped with a win and, in the midst of another jaw-droppingly successful campaign, have not lost at home this season. But did lose to the Raptors earlier in this campaign in Toronto. What’s more, Pop is likely acutely aware that the Raps have played the other true contender in the West, the also-historically-great Golden State Warriors, to two hard-fought losses.
But perhaps the best argument for the Raptors making it as far as Pop may think they’ll go has more to do with the landscape in the Eastern conference, where the Chicago Bulls have free-fallen their way out of the playoff picture. The Bulls were a matchup nightmare for the Raptors and have had their number all season. The only other team that, on paper, present a legitimate threat over a seven-game series are the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are wildly talented and boast the game’s biggest force in LeBron James. However, it’s been a weird season in Cleveland and concerns over backstage politics and the usage of supporting stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love have left a strange cloud hovering over the franchise despite holding top spot in the East.
Of course, this time last year you would’ve said the Wizards were a deeply beatable opponent, so, it’s obviously all talk right now. Talk that may or may not have actually happened.
Hey, is it time for the playoffs yet?
