MIAMI — There was a lot of talk about loss at American Airlines Arena on Sunday.
It was a strange vibe. On the main floor were the Toronto Raptors, up 2-1 in their second-round series against the Miami Heat thanks to Kyle Lowry turning in one of his vintage regular-season performances – the kind he hadn’t been able to replicate in the playoffs. It should have been a celebration of sorts.
But instead out came Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri to put a face on a minor playoff tragedy: the announcement that burgeoning big man Jonas Valanciunas won’t play in the rest of the series thanks to a sprained ankle he suffered early in the second half of Game 3.
“It’s a big one for us obviously,” Ujiri said of Valanciunas, who was averaging 18 points and 12 rebounds a game against Miami and had been the Raptors’ most consistent post-season performer. “He was having a great series and great playoffs; he’s our starting centre so it’s a big, big blow for us. But you know what big blow for JV, you feel for the kid, just met with him and it’s tough on him, tough on his teammates but this is the life in the NBA and we carry on.”
Just down the hall on their practice court the Miami Heat were lamenting the loss of their own big man, Hassan Whiteside, the massive shot-blocker who went down in the first half with a twisted knee. He’s listed day-to-day with a strained MCL, but it seems optimistic to expect the pending free agent to return anytime soon with a wonky knee.
“Injury wise, for both teams to have a big guy hobbled by any stretch of the imagination, whether he’s out, whether he can come back and play, it’s not ideal,” said Heat star Dwyane Wade. “But it goes on around the league and we have to deal with it.”
Those seeking some good news need to look no further than the second half of Game 3.
With both of the big men sidelined the game turned into a small-ball track meet. There will likely be more of the same in Game 4 Monday night and beyond. Not coincidentally the Raptors were treated to Lowry’s tour de force – 29 second-half points including a trademark pull-up jumper, fading left, over Wade that iced the game with 30 seconds left.
And all of basketball was able to enjoy a throwback outing by Wade, the 34-year-old Heat star who took over the NBA Finals a decade ago and still is plenty capable, when the moment strikes. He had 29 of his 38 in the second half, a reminder that he can still bring it, in case you forgot.
“It feels great. God has gifted me with this ability to play this game. But it’s like everything else man, once you’ve seen somebody for a while, once you’ve been around somebody for a while it’s not as special as when you first meet them,” said Wade. “You first go on that date with that girl and then she becomes your wife, it’s a little different when y’all go out for dinner 10 years later.
“I’ve been around 13 years, new guys come in and it’s always about what’s newer and shinier, so it’s great to have moments like Game 3. If we would have won the game it would have been really great, but it’s great to have those moments as an older veteran in this league.”
There’s the chance there could be more of them coming. If Whiteside is out for an extended period it should play right into the Raptors’ hands. Without the threat of his shot blocking at the rim, Lowry will see more looks like he did at the end of Game 3, when Wade admits he adjusted his defensive approach because Whiteside wasn’t there to back him up.
“On that last play when I was guarding Lowry, with Hassan back there I can be closer on the jump shot, knowing that he’s going to a seven-footer, shooting a layup won’t be easy,” said Wade. “I had to try and cut him off because I knew he had a step and he just pulled up and raised. So it does change things. So we have to do a better job now of our overall defence of helping each other on the perimeter before they get to the rim.”
The prospect of Whiteside being out should excite Raptors fans. Toronto can probably withstand the absence of Valanciunas a little better than the Heat can their big man, given the team’s relative depth. Toronto was 16-6 when Valanciunas was out of the lineup this season, his starring duties ably handled by Bismack Biyombo, who is not the offensive player Valanciunas is but a better defender.
An added bonus should be a more vintage version of Wade, the rare NBA superstar old enough to have even veterans in awe but with enough game to make them pay if they don’t lock in on him, and even if they do. He doesn’t do it the same way, of course. He’s not trying to get to rim at every chance. He’s got a wide range of pull-ups and floaters he’d rather use than taking the risk of being sent to deck time and time again as was his old habit, only to rise up and kill teams at the free-throw line. In the playoffs he’s unveiled a three-point shot he kept under wraps most of the regular season, a counter for teams who try to play “under” on pick and rolls.
He’s had to adapt.
“If you think you’re still that young guy it’s hard. But you have to understand and know that things change. Your body changes, the way you’re viewed and opponents view you changes,” he said in an extended conversation after the Heat’s practice. “I would love to be 22, 23 years old again, but I love being 34 because I’m so much wiser and smarter and I have a better life at 34 than I did when I was 23, so when it comes to basketball you have to adapt. I’m not flying over the rim all the time like I used to so I had to adapt my game. I work on my skill more than I work on coming here and doing windmills and trying to beat guys off the dribble.
“Now it’s about getting to my spots, reading my defender and getting smarter than him … you have to understand how long you want to play, you have to adapt to age. You have to adapt to how your body feels, to coaches, to your team, and I take pride in being able to adapt.”
Now both teams will need figure some things out. The Raptors hope that they can continue on the path Valanciunas had them on before he got hurt; it will be interesting to see if they can given the growing impact he was having.
“We can’t change schematically or philosophically what we do so that’s not going to change,” said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. “It doesn’t matter who starts, that person is going to have to come in and fill a role of screening, rebounding, defending his position and adding to the team.”
The Heat can turn to Wade, who has most of the NBA beat when it comes to figuring out how to do things differently, yet just as well.
Those who love basketball have come out the winner on that already, with the best to come.
