TORONTO – Of all the things the Toronto Raptors have accomplished in this still unfolding special season, finding a way to keep calm in moments of extreme pressure is something that still needs some work.
It is reflected in their crunch-time offence which – while improving – still lags behind their performance in the rest of the game and in comparison to most of the elite teams in the NBA.
And increasingly it’s been reflected in their tendency to let circumstances – a missed call or a bad one; some chippy play from an opponent, whatever – to dictate their emotions, rather than finding a way to play through it.
For their sake, let’s hope it doesn’t end up costing them more than it did on Sunday, when an absolutely scintillating contest between two of the NBA’s hottest teams — the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder, winners of five straight and Toronto, gunning for their 12th in a row – spun out of control in the final moments.
It was the Raptors who were getting spun.
Toronto lost 132-125, having had Kyle Lowry foul out and DeMar DeRozan, Serge Ibaka and head coach Dwane Casey get ejected. Lowry left with 3:18 remaining in what was a tie game, while the ejections happened in the final 12 seconds of a game that was still – albeit remotely – in reach as the Raptors were down four before OKC got put on the line to shoot a parade of free throws as the technical fouls started flying.
The tension had been building through most of the second half but it was the Raptors who got triggered, DeRozan most of all as he was irate when he drove the lane with 31 seconds left and missed what would have been a game-tying layup after appearing to be fouled by the Thunder’s Corey Brewer.
Was it a foul?
DeRozan left no doubt.
“He smacked the s— out of me,” said the Raptors all-star, who will certainly be fined for his comments. “He smacked me. He tried to smack me because I had a layup. Period. I got fouled.”
No argument here. The leading scorer on the best team in the Eastern Conference was trying to tie the game at home and got fouled making an aggressive drive to the basket. The call should have been made, and sure it likely could have changed to outcome of a game that featured 20 ties and 25 lead changes and was played at a breakneck pace by two teams that combined to shoot 56 per cent from the floor and log 58 assists.
If that call is what DeRozan is upset about, fine. And absolutely, Casey is well within his rights to voice his concerns. That’s what coaches do. They fight for their teams.
“They’re a good team. We competed well. It was a close game, nip-and-tuck,” said Casey, who said the Raptors would be filing the appropriate protests to the league office. “Again, consistency is what you want. Fairness and consistency. Fairness.
“Our home record is what it is. We’re top of the conference. Fairness.”
But the Raptors seem to be convinced something bigger is going on; that somehow they have to battle against more than just their opponents.
DeRozan – who was fined earlier this season for criticizing officials after the Raptors lost to the Golden State Warriors at home – certainly seems to be of that mind.
Not only did he think the referees cost the Raptors the game – “What did you think? It’s obvious for us,” he said – but that they’ve been their opponents’ secret weapon all season, even as their 52-18 record leads the Eastern Conference and their 29-6 home record is the best in the NBA.
“No, we’re used to going against the odds every step of the way,” said DeRozan, who had 24 points and five assists on 18 shots. “It’s been like that. We fight through it, but as soon as we say something, we’re the bad guys. We get fined. We get criticized. Every single night when we play we fight against all the odds. We still prevail, but we’ve all got a breaking point and it’s frustrating. You seen it tonight.”
Did we though? The Raptors were whistled for 25 fouls compared to 24 for OKC, although the Thunder did get to the free-throw line 34 times rather than 23 for Toronto.
But a more reasonable explanation for that discrepancy was that the Raptors took 30 threes (making 15) to 21 for OKC, not to mention OKC shooting four late techs. Meanwhile, the Thunder’s Russell Westbrook hurt the Raptors with his dribble drives or working in a very effective pick-and-roll tandem with Steven Adams. In that respect, they were the aggressors and were rewarded with 17 free throws between them.
On the whole, Westbrook was MVP-level brilliant, finishing with 37 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists (he had 17 points in the fourth quarter) while Adams had 25 and survived (barely) a direct blow to his groin from the knee of the Raptors’ Serge Ibaka early in the first half.
Moreover, with the exception of the last minute non-call on the DeRozan drive, the controversial calls seemed pretty even.
When OKC star Paul George tried set a moving pick on a dribble hand-off late in the third quarter he was whistled for his fifth foul with 22 seconds left in the period and the Thunder were without one of their key players for all but five minutes of the fourth.
So can the Raptors really complain when Lowry picked up his sixth foul with three minutes left for an even more obvious moving screen? That it came on the heels of a questionable foul on Westbrook might have made it more frustrating, but it doesn’t excuse the Raptors floor leader fouling out on such an unnecessary play at that point of the game.
That’s losing basketball.
Or how about Ibaka? He’s always on the verge of getting drawn into some kind of tussle and was at it again with 69 seconds left and the Raptors trailing by two. He and Adams started slapping hands while getting ready to box out on a free throw by George. Sure enough Ibaka ended up giving his old teammate inside position and then resorted to tackling him out of bounds.
At that point the refs could have easily could have called a Flagrant 1 on Ibaka and awarded the Thunder not only the free throws but possession of the ball afterwards. Instead they called a simple foul. Adams missed the first end of the one-and-one so the play didn’t turn out to be pivotal. But it absolutely could have been and it all would been on Ibaka who got triggered by Adams, then beaten for inside position then took a silly foul in retaliation, given George made the free throw in question.
Add it up and it’s losing basketball.
Sure, the Raptors are upset DeRozan was given a technical foul for demonstrating his frustration about not getting a call on the Brewer foul. But don’t lose sight of the fact that when Delon Wright snuck past Carmelo Anthony for a layup down four with 2:18 to play, Anthony was called for a not-so-obvious foul and then hit with a technical foul after he waved his arms in protest.
Wright made his free throws, but DeRozan missed his freebie. Instead of being in a one-possession game when DeRozan got ejected with 12 seconds left, Toronto was down four.
And picking up a technical and getting ejected down four with 12 seconds to play? That seems like losing basketball to me, too.
All of which isn’t to say that basketball can be played by robots or that it should be; or that in a long season there are going to be moments when emotions spill over. It’s inevitable.
It’s more that the Raptors better figure out how to deal with their growing perception that Toronto is somehow getting a raw deal from NBA referees, because chances are they’re going to have more to complain about.
As an example, over the past three regular seasons DeRozan has got to the free-throw line an average of 12.8 times per 100 possessions. In the playoffs, it has dropped to 9.1.
Now, is that because DeRozan get calls in the regular season and not during the playoffs?
Does the league have a plan in place?
Or do smart teams simply not foul DeRozan as much and do referees put higher standard on what is actually a foul?
I’d bet on the latter.
But whatever the explanation, the reality is it’s very likely the Raptors’ perception of the officiating they’re getting isn’t likely to improve as the games get more meaningful.
What will be vital to their success is that they deal with it better than they did on Sunday.
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