PHILADELPHIA — Sunday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center, about two hours prior to Game 4 of this Eastern Conference semifinal tipping off, Fred VanVleet emerged from the Toronto Raptors locker room for his pre-game shots. He walked slowly in grey sweatpants and a grey hoodie, taking the floor from one of its corners, curling around some opponents going through their own warm-ups, and crossing over the Philadelphia 76ers logo at half-court.
A few steps beyond that, the Raptors guard grabbed a ball from a rack near a row of courtside seats where some team personnel were chopping it up. Suddenly, VanVleet quickly spun and fired at the basket some 40 feet away. He sunk it so perfectly the mesh barely moved. The Raptors staff certainly did, breaking their conversation with a unanimous “Heyyyy!” which drew immediate cut-eye from VanVleet.
He hates that stuff. But, Fred, it’s not like that, the staff pleaded. It was just a nice shot, man. It didn’t matter. When VanVleet’s going through something like what he’s been going through — the 25-year-old had a miserable start to Toronto’s series with Philadelphia after struggling with his shot in the first round — the last thing he wants to feel is his teammates, his coaches, or anyone else in his orbit trying to pick him up and make him feel better.
“It’s no motivating speeches — I’m not that kind of guy. Like, I’ll probably cuss somebody out before it gets to that point,” VanVleet said Thursday morning, before his team went through a shootaround ahead of Game 6. “Don’t treat me like a charity case, you know? I’m going through a couple rough offensive performances. But it’ll turn back around.”
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Tuesday, Game 5 of the series, may have been that turning point. After converting only one of his 13 field-goal attempts and playing to a minus-31 over the first four games of this series, VanVleet looked much more like the crafty and dangerous second-unit fulcrum the Raptors have long relied on him to be. He was a plus-11 over 16 minutes — he played only seven in Game 4 as Raptors head coach Nick Nurse was forced to go away from him — with a couple field goals, an assist and a steal.
A great moment of relief came only 35 seconds after he checked in, as VanVleet stepped into a three from the right elbow and absolutely drilled it, drawing a massive ovation from a Scotiabank Arena crowd well aware of his struggles. Even Kawhi Leonard, whose in-game disposition can make Roombas seem a little emotional in comparison, raised an arm in celebration.
The rest of VanVleet’s night wasn’t exactly storybook. Nurse kept him on the bench until late, when the Raptors were up by 20. And VanVleet got a little cold as he sat, missing three times from distance upon his return. But he at least looked comfortable and confident on the floor throughout, which isn’t something you could say about him from Games 2 through 4 of this series.
“The energy of the game was really good. As a team, we played really well and the ball was moving and it was finding guys. And obviously, I made the two shots — that felt good,” VanVleet said. “But I still was 1-for-4 from three. So, it’s not like I had an outrageous game. I was just coming from not scoring in a few games. So, it felt pretty good to score again.
“In this game, there’s highs and lows. And I’ve been on the highest of the highs and I’ve been on the lowest of the lows. Games 2 and 3, that was pretty low in terms of shooting the ball. But that happens. It hasn’t been a great series for me and I understand that. I’m still trying to find ways to impact winning.”
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Nurse has seen that impact on film even as VanVleet has slumped offensively. Like the sequence late in the first quarter of Game 5, when VanVleet played stout defence against Jimmy Butler in the post, before stripping the ball from Joel Embiid and pushing it up the floor for a Leonard dunk. Or the dime he threw off an aggressive drive to set up a Gasol three in the third quarter.
“Just because he’s not scoring doesn’t mean he’s not impacting. I know you’re probably getting tired of hearing that, right? But, as I go through the tapes, there’s plays he’s making,” Nurse said. “Embiid’s getting going to work, and Freddy steals the ball, kicks it ahead, Kawhi dunk in the open floor. The game before — spin move, Tobias Harris, Freddy steals it, throws it ahead to Pascal. Redick is having to work against him. His confidence is fine. He may be not making a few shots. But he’s still playing confidently and is an important part of our rotation.”
Feeling like he isn’t contributing, like he isn’t that important part of the rotation, is the hardest part for VanVleet. Remember, at this time last year, he was battling a significant shoulder injury and wasn’t able to play the way he knows he can. This year, he’s healthier and more capable of performing. He’s been waiting a long time to get this opportunity again. And now he has to battle a slump.
The Sixers present a uniquely challenging matchup for the six-foot VanVleet, as well. All five of Philadelphia’s starters have at least four inches on him. Their point guard is six-foot-10. Even James Ennis III, who has played the most minutes for Philadelphia off the bench in this series, is six-foot-seven. It’s a wonder VanVleet even found the clean looks he has.
The size mismatch creates problems defensively, as well. When the Sixers go big, it’s tough for Nurse to have both VanVleet and Kyle Lowry on the floor. He went away from that dual-guard look entirely in Game 4, and used it only for a brief fourth-quarter stint in Game 5.
Plus, when you’re struggling like VanVleet’s been, things compound. He’s not the type to stay up late agonizing over his film. And he’s not one to change his pre- or post-game routines, searching for something to shake himself out of it. He knows exactly what’s going wrong and exactly why it’s happening. But for a hyper-competitive professional athlete, that self-evaluation can get extremely intense at this time of year. And the wait between games, between opportunities to turn it around, can get awfully long.
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“It’s the worst. Much worse than anybody really understands,” VanVleet said. “That’s why the outside stuff and anything else never wavers or bothers me — because I’m so hard on myself. Obviously, I’m very self-aware. I’m my biggest critic. So, when things aren’t going right, you can definitely get caught up in the moment.
“But that’s the funny part about the love and hate from the outside — you’re dead one game and you’re back the next. That’s just how it goes. So, if you don’t worry about that stuff and understand that all that s–t is fake, you stay within yourself a lot better.”
Thursday, in Game 6, VanVleet will have his latest chance to get things back on track. Coming out of a slump like his usually doesn’t happen in a night. It takes a few games. Maybe Game 5 was the first step, even though VanVleet wasn’t entirely pleased with his performance. Then again, he could probably hit 9 of 10 and still be pissed off about the one he missed.
But more than anything, VanVleet wants a win. A fresh series next week in Milwaukee would be a nice way to turn the page on what he’s been going through. Maybe he shoots well Thursday, maybe he doesn’t. But if he contributes to a series-clincher, he’ll be happy.
“I’m just trying to be in the moment with the team and understand that all that matters is winning these games and winning this series,” VanVleet said. “I just want to go out there and play well on a team that has a really good chance to play for a championship. I’m trying to figure it all out amidst all of that.
“I want to be consistently great. I want to be a great player in this league. And there’s challenges — there’s journeys to get to that point. And, right now, I’m in the middle of one of them. But, at the end of the day, when you win and the team does well, that shines brightly on everybody.”
