TORONTO — Up one with less than a minute to play in Game 4, Donovan Mitchell brought the ball up the floor after an RJ Barrett five-footer. Scottie Barnes, as he had done for much of the game, faced him up, hand-checking him and using his big frame to clog up the open floor in the Cavaliers’ half.
James Harden, in an effort to give his backcourt mate more space, set a high screen on Barnes, allowing Mitchell to move to his right.
But just as Mitchell was set to cross the timeline, dribbling with his right, Jamal Shead jumped off a Sam Merrill back screen and dove at the ball like a special-teams player might block a punt, spearing the ball loose, forcing an eight-second violation and winning his team possession.
The Raptors took lead on the ensuing offensive play courtesy of two clutch Barnes free throws, both of which would be seen on the all-star’s end-of-game stat sheet, but the most crucial play of the game wouldn’t.
Shead wasn’t credited with that steal, or any of the other game-altering defensive plays the undersized, dogged guard made over the course of the full 48. Frankly, if you just looked at the box score, Shead’s two points, four assists and four rebounds over 26 minutes might be disregarded — a middling offensive showing in an afternoon littered with them.
He had no steals, no blocks, no three-pointers, nothing that pointed to some ground-breaking performance from the sophomore guard, playing in his first post-season. But none of that tells the whole story.
Instead, Shead got his credit from teammates and opponents alike, players who recognized that the value he brings can’t be quantified.
“You gotta give credit to Shead,” Mitchell, a seven-time all-star, said. “I tried to get by Scottie and then he just came in; there was nowhere for me to throw the ball, but you gotta give credit. I just gotta get the ball up fast, change the game, but you give credit where credit’s due. I made a mistake in a crucial moment.”
Yes, Mitchell made an error, but none of it was unforced.
“I kinda looked up, saw there was like 17-16 (left on the shot clock) and I just kinda shot up there trying to get the eight-second count,” Shead said of the play, crediting Barnes for slowing down Mitchell and even giving him the chance at that poke. “It just happened, so shoutout to Scottie. Scottie was working, man. And we just try to come behind him and make that eight-second happen.”
Added Barnes: “Jamal’s a smart player. Just being able to make that read, having the clock awareness in that split second to make that read, it shows how smart he is.”
Every great team has had a player like Shead — one whose various contributions can’t be seen on a box score, one whose fight-for-your-life mentality becomes contagious in the locker room. Last year’s Thunder had Montreal native Luguentz Dort, the dynastic Warriors had Draymond Green, the 2000s Spurs had Bruce Bowen, and the 2019 Raptors had Kyle Lowry. Tone-setters.
It’s not the prettiest basketball, but none of what either team did in Sunday’s Game 4 showing was a treat for the eyes. But it is winning basketball — something Shead’s been a part of since his collegiate days, playing for Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars team.
While at Houston, he was asked to play the role he does for the Raptors today as a defensive menace, a great-in-your-grill ball stopper and pest. He disrupted ball-handlers in the NCAA Tournament, and in his first taste of post-season basketball, he's done the same through four games, making up for the size discrepancy against Mitchell and Harden with his unrelenting motor and effort.
In Game 3, when starter Ja’Kobe Walter had to sit early with foul trouble against Harden, Shead came in and attacked off the rip. He took the Harden assignment when Barnes went to the bench, made him pick up his dribble, and even forced a jump ball, which he won despite a five-inch height difference.
“Proving everybody wrong… That’s the state of our team,” Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said after Game 4. “All of our guys, they have a chip on their shoulder, they’re coming every single day to put extreme work in and really to play for this city.”
He finished Game 3 with five steals and has been a huge reason why Harden had 15 turnovers over those two games at Scotiabank Arena.
On the offensive end, past a 17-point outburst in Game 1, Shead has seven points in Games 2, 3 and 4 combined. But what stands out more on that end is his ability to set up the offence and his composure, according to Barnes.
"Him taking out the ball in those two tough (inbound) situations — one being in the short corner, one being on the sideline with a seven-footer right in front of him — him being able to make those passes, make those reads, shows his IQ,” Barnes said. “Him staying calm in those moments when it’s his first time being there, that just goes to show how good of a player he is and how he helps our team.”
Another aspect of Shead’s game that won’t show up on the box score is his heart. The 23-year-old is one of the loudest voices in the locker room and led the pre-game huddle ahead of Game 3, pumping his team up in the tunnel despite losing his starting spot to Walter.
Much of that comes from his underdog mentality, which has resonated with the team as a whole this season, routinely counted out over the 82-game regular season and particularly in this series against Cleveland.
“People didn’t even pick us to get to the playoffs this year, so I think we’re just trying to play and stay together. Do things for each other and fight for each other,” Shead said. “So we’re not really worried about what a lot of people say. We know who’s in this locker room, we know who we’re fighting for. We know who we’re fighting for.”
Though the Raptors have two wins on the board as the series shifts back to Cleveland, those games at Scotiabank Arena have been anything but easy. Past a 20-point disparity in the fourth quarter of Game 3, it’s been a game of inches, with the Raptors having to win in the margins. Thankfully, in Shead, the Raptors have a player who specializes in doing just that.
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