TORONTO — P.J. Tucker’s been trying to stop LeBron James since he was nine years old. Since they were two of the top young basketball players in the United States, playing AAU ball against one another as members of the 2003 high school draft class. Since they were playing for fun, mostly, and a whole lot of pride, rather than the millions of dollars and championship rings they play for today. Since they were just a couple kids who liked to compete.
They’re both 32 now. They’ve got flashy cars, drawers of sparkling jewellry, and adult problems they never could have imagined two decades ago. But as he matched up against James Sunday afternoon in the Toronto Raptors’ season-ending 109-102 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Tucker proved some things have stayed the same. The pride, namely. And the competitiveness, too.
“Any time you go against someone who wants to compete, you respect that. And P.J.’s been like that since we were kids,” James said. “He’s always been a guy that, at the end of the day, he’s never going to say, ‘did I leave it all out there?’ As a competitor, I can always respect that going against him over all these years.”
That’s the impression Tucker left after one of the more dogged days of defence you’re ever going to see. It started Sunday morning, when Tucker arrived at Air Canada Centre and was called into the coach’s office in the Raptors’ locker room. He was told he’d be starting that afternoon’s game against the Cavaliers, the first playoff start of his seven-season NBA career, and that he’d be his team’s primary guard on James.
A little unaccustomed to starting the game, something he did only four times for the Raptors after being acquired at the trade deadline, Tucker skipped the pre-game introduction tunnel and took a minute to find his feet on the floor, bricking two open shots within the game’s first two minutes.
But then he settled in, hitting his next two shots, pestering James all over the court, and finishing the first half with a game-high 10 rebounds. And as the game wore on, so, too, did Tucker’s minutes. He didn’t have any expectations coming into the game as to how much he’d play. But as he continued to make James’ life difficult, he gave his coaches little option but to leave him on the floor.
“I thought he was probably as aggressive on LeBron as he’s been in the entire series,” said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. “I thought he got into him. James had six turnovers. I thought a lot of that was Tuck being into him.”
Two of those six turnovers were direct steals by Tucker, and all six of them came with the Raptors guard draped all over the Cavaliers superstar. Tucker clearly made it his mission to give James as little room to breathe as possible, persistently jabbing at the ball in his hands and constantly switching his feet to take away different driving angles.
“That’s what you’ve got to do. LeBron’s one of the best to ever play the game. But you’ve got to get into him, you’ve got to make him turn his back, make him feel uncomfortable,” Casey said. “Because if you don’t, he’s going to pick you apart. And it thought Tuck did a great job with him today.”
Tucker sat for only two minutes in the first half, and played the entirety of the second, finishing with a season-high 46 minutes, the heaviest workload he’s carried since a game in February, 2016, when he played for the Phoenix Suns. His 14 points and 12 rebounds were playoff career highs, and, simply put, the Raptors margin of defeat in this game would’ve been much higher without him on the floor.
“He did a great job,” DeMar DeRozan said. “PJ is definitely one of the best defenders in our league.”
“That physicality was huge for us from the time that he came to the team,” added Cory Joseph. “He’s been very, very helpful for us.”
Of course, this is what the Raptors brought Tucker to Toronto to do when they sent Jared Sullinger, two second-round picks, and cash to the Phoenix Suns for him at the trade deadline. Renowned for his unrelenting defence, physical play, and willingness to do things other players won’t, Tucker was added to be a defensive stopper on the Raptors’ bench, and to help contain players just like James.
The Raptors probably didn’t envision 46-minute efforts when they picked him up. But to Tucker’s credit, he says Sunday felt like any other day in the league.
“There’s no fatigue. There’s no getting tired. It’s the playoffs,” Tucker says. “There’s so many good players in this league. You play against good players every night. So, it’s no different. You just put on your hard hat and go to work.”
A free agent this summer, Tucker says he has a desire to return to Toronto and hopes the Raptors share a desire to bring him back. Of course, desires don’t always line up. But when you play the way that Tucker did against James on Sunday—not unlike he did decades ago when they were just a couple nine-year-old kids—it’s hard to imagine the Raptors not wanting that kind of guy around.
“There’s really good guys in this locker room. Guys that have fought together, been together,” Tucker said. “I think there’s a core here of what it takes to be at this level. … Hopefully they want me back. We’ll see.”
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