TORONTO – For a team that has been consistently good – even very good – all season long, the Toronto Raptors haven’t always played well.
Yes, we’re officially splitting hairs given they’re going to have a good chance to win 60 games, but when the goal is an NBA Finals appearance the details matter, and questions like — "is there time to integrate all these cool pieces into something cohesive in time for the post-season?" – are relevant.
But for the second consecutive game against a high-level opponent the Raptors were able to field a full line-up (well other than Fred VanVleet who is recovering from thumb surgery) on their home court, and for the second consecutive game Toronto came out looking like a team that just might be finding a groove at the right time.
It wasn’t easy as the Raptors squandered a 16-point second-half lead only to win 119-117 on a buzzer beater by Kawhi Leonard that sent 19,800 at Scotiabank Arena into a frenzy.
“We just practised that exact scenario [Thursday],” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. “… It was almost exactly Kyle [Lowry] sets a screen and we try to get the smaller guy so he can just vault up over him and shoot.”
The ball touched every inch of the rim before falling in with 1.5 seconds left, but the wait only made it more worthwhile. Besides, it was a game that deserved a signature moment.
KAWHI NOT? pic.twitter.com/3GuOEl1b3K
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) March 2, 2019
The two teams traded blows in a wonderfully played fourth quarter that was emblematic of the game as a whole. In the final moments alone a three by Portland’s Damian Lillard — who scored 13 of his 24 in the final period — against fantastic team defence was matched at the other end by a clutch Danny Green triple. First Leonard and then Kyle Lowry scored wild lay-ups in the final possessions only to see them off-set by rugged Jusuf Nurkic finding his way to the glass for Portland.
Another fully laid out lay-up by Lowry put the Raptors up one with 35.3 seconds left, and that was followed by the resilient point guard coming down with a defensive rebound, which helped get Leonard to the line for a pair to put the Raptors up three with 17.8 seconds left.
That might have done it had Lowry not been called for a phantom foul on a Lillard three-point attempt – replays showed Lowry didn’t touch him.
The Blazers guard made all three free throws to tie the game and set the stage for Leonard’s fading baseline game-winner.
But perhaps more importantly the end-of-game dramatics were just an exclamation point on a night when the newly-configured Raptors were looking as surgical and organized as they have all season, picking up where they left off from their blowout win against Boston on Tuesday.
It’s safe to say on nights where Leonard goes off for 38 points, Lowry puts up 19 points and 10 assists and Gasol tosses in 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists, the Raptors (46-17) are going to be tough to beat. Their combined effort was the best example yet of the Raptors’ three highest-profile players acting like more than the sum of their parts.
You had Gasol taking the art of the dribble hand-off to the extreme as he timed his last dribble as he set a screen for Lowry on an in-bounds play so Lowry could measure his steps and take his three-pointer in rhythm as Toronto was putting some distance on Portland in the third quarter. That was just the prettiest of several sequences between the point guard and centre.
“You’ve got a guy that can play out of the high post, just give him the ball and let him make plays, and cut and move,” said Lowry of his developing chemistry with Gasol. “I can be a secondary option, come off and score a little bit more. It helps.
“[I] just give him the ball and I just make the cut. That’s how good he is. He’s gonna make the right play. To be honest with you, it’s kind of easy.”
Leonard seamlessly blended his blunt-force attacks on the defence with sharp ball movement and cuts off the ball, but was still able to tilt the game in crunch time as he set up in the middle of the floor, just inside the three-point line where he’s one or two dribbles to the rim and where teams can’t easily double-team him.
“We’ll let him do his thing in the middle of the floor and give him the floor to be able to see everything. It’s big for us,” said Lowry. “Instead of going to anything in the post, just give it to him at the top of the key and let him go to work.”
Leonard scored 15 of his game-high 38 in the fourth.
There was Gasol playing about as well as a 34-year-old who barely jumps can play in an NBA game – orchestrating, scoring or drawing charges, all while mostly erasing Trail Blazers centre Nurkic. His assist total should have been higher, given the quality of the passes he was making.
“I think he’s probably six shy of what he probably should have had tonight,” said Nurse. “He’s really firing it to people and he’s finding great opportunities for everybody. It’s really beautiful basketball, it’s fun to watch him wheel and deal with the ball. It’s great.”
It wasn’t a finished masterpiece, just evidence that the framework could be emerging for some high-level basketball art.
Not that they didn’t spill some paint; not everything was perfect. The Raptors needed their ‘Big Three’ to come up big. The five Raptors who came in off the bench were a collective -65 which is less than ideal. Finding a balance between the bench and the revolving cast of starters has been an on-going challenge that still remains unsolved.
The bench’s best moments came in the first quarter as they provided some outstanding defensive effort – Toronto led 31-24 after the opening frame as Jeremy Lin went the length of the floor after a steal by Patrick McCaw and then OG Anunoby blocked a Jake Layman triple on the Blazers’ last possession, holding Portland to just 41 per cent shooting.
But it didn’t last. Fortunately the starters with Gasol in for Serge Ibaka were rolling, the main reason the Raptors shot 55.6 per cent from the floor with 29 assists on 45 field goals. Part of that flow was simply having Leonard on the floor for consecutive games for just the second time in the month of February or playing consecutive games with Lowry for just the third time in eight weeks. Getting minutes with Gasol has been hard to come by too.
After their evisceration of Boston on Tuesday, the two days’ rest ensured that Leonard would be available and – as it turned out – have some zip on his fastball. Gasol started ahead of Ibaka to battle with the burly Nurkic, and got him into early foul trouble.
“It gives us some continuity and hopefully a little rhythm,” said Nurse of having a consistent roster, game to game. “… [But] I think we’ve managed it pretty well [in games without Leonard].
“I don’t know what our record is with Kawhi out, but it’s pretty good, probably equivalent or so to with him in. We’re not missing too many beats there, so I think our guys are handling it good.”
But it’s easier when you have all your horses, particularly against a team like the Blazers, who came into Scotiabank Arena having won a season-high five straight games, setting themselves up for a home seed in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.
The Raptors had their key guys all fed, watered and ready on Friday and all signs show that as long as the ‘Big Three’ are primed, they could be ready for a long run.
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