“That’s why they put erasers on pencils.”
Dwane Casey uttered those words after last night’s overtime thriller, a game that saw Toronto lose a 14-point lead in the third quarter and fall down by five in the fourth, before eventually taking it by five in the extra session. His club’s defence let him down, again, for too many stretches against the Nuggets. But when it mattered most, the Raptors cleaned up their mistakes and shut the door on Denver.
“I think we had six out of eight stops down the stretch,” said Casey. “Again, we’re capable of locking in, but it seems to be one area, just something that always breaks down in our execution defensively. But the one thing I will take is effort, and I thought our guys busted their behinds and really gave it to us down the stretch and found a way to win. That’s all you can ask.”
Toronto will need that kind of effort tonight in Cleveland. The Cavaliers are not the same club that the Raptors saw in Ohio two-and-a-half weeks ago. Since getting blown out by the Raptors on their home floor on Nov. 22, the Cavs have won seven in a row—the hottest team in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland has scored 105-plus points six times in those seven games and blown out the opposition by double-digits in five of them. Simply put, the Cavaliers have become a juggernaut, team many expected them to be when management brought LeBron James and Kevin Love together with Kyrie Irving in the off-season.
Cleveland’s Turnaround
Record First 12 games: 5-7; Last 7: 7-0
PT differential First 12: -0.9; Last 7: +16.0
FG% First 12: 44.4; Last 7: 50.2
Opp FG% First 12: 47.7; Last 7: 42.6
One of those seven Cleveland wins came last Friday in Toronto when the Raptors saw James reel off 24 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds—leading his Cavs to a 105-91 victory.
Patrick Patterson knows how locked-in the Raps will have to be in the second leg of a back-to-back tonight.
“Just make [the Cavaliers] all uncomfortable out there, on the defensive, and just listen to the scouting report even more,” he said. “Be better with player personnel and have the willingness to want to get stops. Make them run and be active. I thought the game here they were too comfortable and they were too much in a groove.”
Toronto’s defensive issues over the last two weeks have been well documented. But the D remains the key for tonight’s tilt in Cleveland. The Raptors cannot afford to get into a shootout with the Cavaliers, especially without DeMar DeRozan. While others may be excited about Toronto’s depth, balance and bench scoring (all great assets), it’s Casey that stresses time and time again that defence wins championships; a message he hoped the Raptors learned in last season’s first-round playoff loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
Heading into last night’s game against the Nuggets, Toronto’s free-fall on the defensive end was scary.
Raptors’ D Nov. 24-Dec. 5
Opponents’ FG% — 48.8%
Opponents’ 3P% — 39.4%
Opponents’ Ast/G — 25.9
The Raptors were also coughing up 109.7 points per game to their opposition, the second-worst mark in the NBA.
Last night, Denver scored 107 points (in overtime) on 41.3 percent shooting (33.3 percent from distance). So Toronto’s recent slippage didn’t improve much, setting the table for a potentially scary outing against the red-hot Cavs.
“Everybody else has to step up and play a bigger role,” said Lou Williams.
Particularly on the defensive end, or Toronto won’t be able to find an eraser big enough.