RAPTORS TAKING CUES FROM LEONARD
As the Toronto Raptors prepared Thursday for a Friday home date with the Dallas Mavericks, it was hard not to look back to an eye-catching play from Wednesday’s 112-105 win over Minnesota.
The sequence came with about eight minutes remaining in the second quarter, with Toronto up by six points. T-Wolves’ centre Gorgui Dieng had the ball up top and was looking to create, even though the Wolves had two point guards on the floor at the time. Dieng tried to find Jimmy Butler, who had taken off from beyond the three-point line toward the key. Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard didn’t appear to be looking at either Dieng or Butler, yet somehow dove backwards to smother the ensuing pass, prompting Raptors analyst Jack Armstrong to say, “oh my goodness, what a play.”
The superlatives kept coming a day later.
“Awesome. Awesome. We’ve only shown it at least twice to our team. I think we showed it at halftime last night and we showed it in our defensive edit today,” said head coach Nick Nurse after practice.
“The point is, if one of your best players is getting dirty and getting on the floor, then we all should be getting dirty and getting on the floor, making plays.”
Well, that was one point. The other one was that Leonard, a two-time NBA defensive player of the year, has an uncanny feel for the game at that end of the floor.
“That’s instinct and reacting quickly and knowing you can possibly make plays with your length and things like that by staying with it and finishing plays,” Nurse said.
Danny Green spent a lot of time with Leonard in San Antonio, so he didn’t get carried away by the steal.
“I’ve seen it before. I don’t think half the time he steals the ball he sees it,” Green said.
“I think his hand just gravitates towards the ball and he just palms it, just keeps going the other way.
“(In the past) if he knew he couldn’t get there, he’d dive or if he saw it bounce, he’d stretch out trying to make a winning play,” Green said.
Kyle Lowry leads the league in charges drawn so far and has always made a point of stepping in to take them. Now Leonard is grinding it out, too.
“Fifty-fifty balls, guys dive on the floor. You see your all-star(s) dive on the floor, there’s no reason why nobody else can’t dive on the floor,” Green said.
SIAKAM FINDING THE RANGE
Pascal Siakam is doing a little bit of everything for the Raptors so far, but the thing that has stood out the most in these early days is his vastly improved outside shooting.
After connecting on only 22 per cent of his three-pointers last year, Siakam has hit 3-of-6 so far from beyond the arc.
“I put a lot of work in (and now he’s) just letting the work I put in pay off,” Siakam explained to Postmedia after Wednesday’s win.
Siakam says he feels more confident and has more of a plan when he lets it fly than he did in the past.
“I think the most important thing is just take it when it’s there,” he said.
“I’m taking whatever the defence is giving me. I just make sure that I actually shoot the ones that I’m ready to shoot, not rushing them. I think last year I got into just shooting because (people said he should).”
And just like with DeMar DeRozan last season, having Leonard on the floor definitely helps, Siakam said.
“He’s a great player, so that’s something that’s going to make things a little easier for us. He’s so good at choosing his spots and we’ve just got to try to play off him,” Siakam said.
UNC CONNECTION
Danny Green had already been gone from Chapel Hill for a couple of years by the time the North Carolina Tar Heels landed Harrison Barnes, the No. 1 recruit in the nation, but the two are close regardless.
Barnes, who led the Mavericks in points and rebounds last year, is expected to make his season debut against the Raptors on Friday.
“He’s a great player. There’s a reason why they brought him in to be that guy. He is that guy. Great scorer and obviously a good defender,” Green said of Barnes.
“He’s an all-around threat that we have to focus on and try to limit his touches and try not to let him get going. If he gets in a rhythm it’s going to be tough for us.
“He is my guy, he does a lot of great things on and off the court, I’m looking forward to seeing him and playing against him.”
INJURY UPDATES
Point guard Fred VanVleet was a go at practice Thursday after sitting Wednesday’s win due to turf toe. VanVleet was sporting a championship belt won by placing second in a shooting competition. He is listed as probable for Friday’s game.
The news on fellow point guard Delon Wright was not as positive. Wright played five minutes in his season debut before leaving due to tightness and is unlikely to face the Mavericks after not taking part in practice.
SCOUTING REPORT
Dirk Nowitzki’s great career is heading to a close, but Canadian fans won’t get a chance for one last look because Nowitzki is out due to an ankle issue. Forward Harrison Barnes is expected to make his season debut though, after recovering from a hamstring issue.
Talented rookie Luka Doncic is one of the more interesting young players to come to the NBA in a long time. After starring as a teenager in the world’s second-best league, Doncic has come in and averaged 19 points over his first four games, along with 6.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
Veteran Wesley Matthews has been cooking to start the year, hitting 3.8 three-pointers and averaging 19.3 points a game.
DID YOU KNOW?
Toronto native Dwight Powell is averaging 13.8 points and 4.8 rebounds so far … Only four teams have been worse defensively than Dallas so far (115.2 points allowed per 100 possessions), but only four teams are hitting more three-pointers per game … Toronto gets Saturday and Sunday off before a tough back-to-back in Milwaukee and vs. Philadelphia to start next week … Dallas selected Kostas Antetokounmpo, brother of Giannis, with the final pick of the 2018 draft. The Raptors had hoped he would go undrafted, allowing them to offer him a deal.