TORONTO — So, that was pretty wild. It’s really the only way to sum up a loosely-played, see-saw battle that was forced into overtime on an absurd, against-all-odds, half-court three from Kyle Lowry—who couldn’t hit shots all night from 25 feet closer—before the Toronto Raptors completely collapsed and dropped Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal to the Miami Heat, 102-96.
A whole lot of things happened. You’ve surely heard about plenty of them, from Lowry’s shooting drought (he was 2-of-12 outside his half-court prayer) to Miami’s productive guard tandem of Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade, who combined for 48 points.
But here’s a few more trends that emerged in Game 1 of this series, that may portend what’s yet to come.
Terrence Ross’ expanded role
Raptors head coach Dwane Casey has been dropping hints for the last couple days that someone who hadn’t played a large part in the Pacers series might see some more time on the court in this one. And as the Raptors settled in against the Heat Tuesday night, it quickly became clear that player is Terrence Ross.
“We need him. We need his scoring, we need his shooting until Kyle gets his jump shot going again,” Casey said. “Somebody like that has to step up.”
And sure enough, he did, scoring 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, and getting to the free throw line five times. He played more than 27 minutes on the night (he averaged 12.2 minutes per game in the Pacers series) and was on the floor for almost the entirety of overtime.
The 25-year-old really did a little bit of everything on offence, nailing a pair of three-pointers, throwing down a strong dunk on a fast break off a turnover, hitting a rarely seen floater off a contested drive, and providing one of the grittiest plays of the night when he took a feed from Cory Joseph in the second quarter and attacked Dragic in the paint, contorting himself around stiff defence from the Heat guard to convert a very difficult lay-up.
Of course, Ross had his missteps. Like the three-pointers he attempted early in the shot clock that he probably shouldn’t have, or the back-breaking turnover to Wade in overtime. But you come to expect that from a mercurial player like Ross. If he provides as much good as he did Monday night, you can live with the miscues.
And with Lowry mired in a borderline unbelievable offensive slump, unable to get anything to fall that isn’t heaved from his own end, Ross could emerge as an incredibly important shooter for the Raptors in this series.
The battle at five
If Tuesday night’s game is any indication, one of the most interesting matchups to watch is going to be between the starting centres: Jonas Valanciunas and Hassan Whiteside. And the edge in Game 1 has to go to Valanciunas, who scored 24 points to Whiteside’s nine in similar minutes.
Whiteside was likely hampered later in the game by the knee strain he suffered in the first half. But before Whiteside went down, Valanciunas was having his way with him, outscoring Whiteside 10-2 in the first quarter and showing a willingness to take the 12-foot jumpers Whiteside was giving him by staying nailed to the paint.
“I thought Jonas had one of his best games tonight,” Casey said. “He’s giving it to us in the low post. I think that helps settle us down a little bit, going inside to him.”
The area that Whiteside outduelled Valanciunas in was on the glass, where the Heat centre pulled down 17 rebounds to Valanciunas’ 14. A key element of that battle was Whiteside’s work on the offensive board, where he grabbed two rebounds over Valanciunas. On the other end, Whiteside was able to hold Valanciunas without an offensive rebound for the first time in the playoffs.
In a series of compelling matchups, the development of this battle is something to keep an eye on.
“Whiteside, he’s a good defensive rebounder. He’s very athletic,” Valanciunas said after the game. “That’s going to be a tough matchup between us. It’s not easy to take the offensive rebounds from him. But I think it’s going to be the same thing for him when he’s trying to take rebounds from me.”
DeMarre Carroll’s role on defence
It has been far from an ideal debut season for Carroll with the Toronto Raptors, but this series should present one of the primary reasons general manager Masai Ujiri signed the 29-year-old to a four-year contract this past off-season: Carroll’s being asked to guard not one but two of the Heat’s most threatening offensive creators, in Joe Johnson and Wade.
Two years ago, when he was a member of the Brooklyn Nets, Johnson torched the Raptors in their first round playoff series to the tune of 21.9 points per game. Meanwhile, Wade’s averaged 25.7 points and 5.7 assists per game in 35 starts against the Raptors over his long, highly productive career. They’re both 34 and in the decline of their careers, but they’re both still very crafty, highly intelligent players.
So, there was Carroll, switching between the two of them throughout Tuesday night’s game, sometimes from possession-to-possession, as Casey tried to limit the duo’s scoring opportunities.
“Defensively, that’s what I do. It’s kind of hard. I’m put in a tough situation,” Carroll said, after the game that saw Johnson score 16 points on 7-of-19 shooting and Wade 24 on 10-of-21. “But I just have to continue to keep having confidence in myself. I’m getting there slowly. Hopefully in a couple more games I’ll be able to get my rhythm.”
It’s no easy task game planning and executing against two very different players, but it’s why a defensive specialist like Carroll was brought to this team. And it’s what Carroll will have to do over the course of this series if the Raptors are going to be successful.
“They’re two totally different players but they’re kind of similar in the same way,” Carroll said. “They’re both physical. Dwyane’s more shifty, Joe’s more back-down. So, as a defender, you’ve just got to know what they like to do and you’ve got to know when to turn it on and when to turn it off.”
On Tuesday, Carroll was at his best against Johnson, who he held scoreless in the first quarter when he was matched up with him to start the game. But he lapsed a bit against the Heat forward later on in the night, which may have had something to do with switching back and forth between two very stylistically different opponents.
“Johnson, he’s very physical. You can’t let him get his position. A couple of times I let him do that,” Carroll says, likely referring to the three offensive rebounds Johnson was able to pull down in the game. “But he’s not going to beat me face-up. He’s going to have to back me down. So, I just can’t let him get to that position.”