The Toronto Raptors‘ first-game monkey is a real thing. In the franchise’s 11 previous playoff series they’ve only won the first game of a series once.
This current iteration of the Raptors has hosted the first game of a series four times and heading into Saturday evening’s opener against the Milwaukee Bucks they were 0-4.
Make that 0-5.
This time a year ago the seventh-seeded Indiana Pacers came to Air Canada Centre, took note of the noise in the building, crowds lining up to get into Jurassic Park, the a cappella version of O Canada and spanked the Raptors with ease.
A long, torturous series followed. It remains to be seen how the Raptors react this time around to having their lunch (well, early supper given the 5:30 p.m. tip) fed to them by the youthful Bucks 97-83.
Hey, at least they’re used to it. They just have no explanation for it.
“I have no clue,” said DeMar DeRozan. “If I had the answer then maybe we would have pulled it out tonight. But it’s something now we’re not unfamiliar with, being at this point. It’s never ideal but we’ve got to bounce back and understand we make it hard on ourselves to come back and fight back even harder. But it’s on us. We don’t have no excuse.”
They really don’t. Game 2 goes Tuesday and the Raptors are already in a must-win situation. Old habits die hard.
The silver linings were limited. DeRozan? He looked lost in the second half when his team needed him most, his recently displayed willingness to move the ball to facilitate for others not evident. He scored 27 but managed just one assist. His first and only goal was making it to the rim. It looked familiar, although he did get to the line 14 times, making 13.
But in the second half he was just 1-for-8 as the Raptors were outscored 51-32 while converting just seven field goals on 35 chances.
“The second half was abysmal,” said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. “Once the ball gets in the half-court we have to get better movement, exchanges, don’t stand there and help their defence.”
Kyle Lowry? No one has struggled more in series openers than him and he was true to that disappointing form. He has to get better and fast. The Raptors can’t win with him being – what? – the fourth-best point guard in the game?
The supporting cast? Well other than Serge Ibaka, the best Raptor on the floor with 19 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks, they were non-existent. DeMarre Carroll, Patrick Patterson, P.J. Tucker – those expected to make shots if and when the big guns move it, finished a combined 2-for-8 from three. Cory Joseph, Lowry’s backup, added just three points, meaning Bucks rookie point guard Malcolm Brogdon’s 16 points more than doubled Toronto’s point guard duo.
The monkey got fed early.
Regardless of how on form the Raptors came into the playoffs – on an 11-3 roll – or how healthy they were, or that they had 208 playoff starts in their starting lineup to 28 for the sixth-seeded Bucks, going down 10 in the early moments of the second quarter was not ideal.
But there they were, with Bucks superstar, all-limbs octopus, Giannis Antetokounmpo covering the court with about four strides, finishing a layup a blink-of-an-eye after Tucker’s three-ball bounced off the rim.
Raps down 10, building nervous. You could almost see the monkey growing minute by minute.
But surely these Raptors have experience on their side, good and bad. And free from the weight of history – a march to the Eastern Conference finals will do that for a team – Toronto briefly was able to claw back.
DeRozan, who says he spent all summer – including his stint with the U.S. Olympic team – plotting on how to translate his regular-season success into comparable post-season efficiency, briefly found his rhythm, slicing to the rim like it was a Tuesday night in March. Ibaka proved a capable alternate.
A 29-16 second quarter followed and the Raptors went into the half leading by five, buoyed by their 10-point reversal.
The ACC crowd seemed to be enjoying itself.
But Toronto couldn’t make it stand up. Prosperity? The Raptors treat prosperity like they don’t pay for their data plans – they just don’t value it. All apps open at all times.
Coming into the game the Raptors’ primary goal against Antetokounmpo was to limit his transition baskets. Dwane Casey said the seven-foot point guard wasn’t a “bad dream” in transition, he was a nightmare.
Well just after the half he got free for two quick buckets on the run off Raptors misses. Then Tony Snell hit a three and in a heartbeat, the Raptors’ seven-point lead was gone.
Milwaukee’s big gun delivered, as Antetokounmpo finished with 28 points on 18 shots, grabbing eight rebounds. The most telling moment came in the final moments of the game: DeRozan swooped in for a layup, Antetokounmpo swatted the ball in the fifth row and got a technical foul for letting everyone know it.
It’s not bragging if you can do it.
Ten of his first 11 field goals were layup or dunks, several of them when he ran off Raptors misses, turning a difficult task – stopping him in transition — into a solving Rubik’s Cube blindfolded level challenge.
“It’s tough because on missed shots, they get out and find him and he takes off,” said Tucker, who likely won’t look back fondly on his first career playoff game. “A lot of times, if he’s guarding you and you shoot it you can’t get back because he took off. Guys all know he can take off, but it’s about communication I think more than anything, it’s about seeing the situation before it happens.
“If you see Giannis close out, you know he’s going to take off. If you’re the weak side offensive rebound, you’ve got to get back.”
It’s just one of several areas the Raptors will have to correct as they shot 36 per cent from the floor, and 21.7 from three compared with 44.7 and 39.1 by Milwaukee. They lost the turnover battle and managed just 15 assists.
The Bucks never exactly pulled away – they were up five after three quarters and 10 midway through the fourth, but the primary issue was that the Raptors couldn’t score.
Was it because they’ve had a grand total of four games together with their full roster since Lowry returned from surgery?
Was the jump from relatively meaningless end-of-season regular season games to a full-revving playoff game too much for Lowry after his long layoff?
Logically it was, but the Raptors don’t have time compensate for that.
“We’re gonna go the way Kyle goes. He’s our guy, he’s our all star, he makes a lot of decisions for us,” said Casey. “… A lot of our stuff revolves around him being aggressive. He’s gotta continue to do that, or begin to do that.”
Lowry’s long layoff can be the explanation this time, but his track record is concerning. He’s now shooting 13-of-52 (25 per cent) from the floor in his four playoff openers as a Raptor, all at home. He’s just 4-of-24 from three (16.7 per cent). He fouls more, he turns it over more. The biggest problem for the Raptors may be that Game 1 was just another in a pattern for their most important player.
“Super frustrating,” Lowry said. “It’s déjà vu all over again.”
“They did some things, but I’ve just got to play better. No ifs, ands or buts about it, I got to play better. It’s my first game back, I don’t give a damn, I’m going to play better.”
What other choice does he or his teammates have?
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