BUILDING BELIEF, ONE BIG WIN AT A TIME
It’s only the regular season, but win over Warriors will do wonders for team’s psyche
And now, back to your Raptors regular season.
But before you go back, admit it: You really enjoyed seeing the Golden State Warriors come to town and even in their depleted state give the Toronto Raptors everything they could handle before the home side pulled this one out in overtime, 131-128.
The Kawhi Leonard/Kevin Durant tete-a-tete was worth the 21/2 hours of your time by itself.
The question becomes: Does the result substantially change anything?
The easy and correct answer is no, it doesn’t. Not for the Raptors and not for the visiting Warriors. And that would apply even if Durant had single-handedly taken down the Raptors, something only a game and resilient Raptors finishing group could stave off. As it was, Durant had 51 points. When he hit that “no-way-hemakes-that” three-pointer with Leonard almost inside his Warriors uniform, it felt like one of those nights where it didn’t matter what the Raptors did, this one would not end in their favour.
That it did end in their favour is probably the biggest take-away from a Raptors perspective.
Belief is an underrated attribute in professional sports: the belief that no matter what is going on, no matter how dominant an opponent, team or individual is performing, that you have it within your own roster the means to turn the tide back in your favour.
It’s a truism that the NBA is a game of runs. Any player who has spent any number of years in the league will tell you that. But the teams with a belief, with the confidence that they can withstand whatever is thrown at them and find a way to get the “W” are the teams that have success.
Toronto did not play a particularly solid game against the Warriors on Thursday despite the result. They were tireless in their effort, but the execution left a lot to be desired.
As head coach Nick Nurse said after the game, there is a lot to clean up.
Getting plenty of attention in that regard is the Raptors’ bench, a mostly returning unit from last year but one that has lost its way.
The lack of rhythm is understandable given Pascal Siakam has moved to the starting five and Jakob Poeltl now resides in San Antonio, two players that keyed the unit’s success a year ago.
Through 23 games, it’s pretty clear this year’s second unit is not last year’s, nor should it attempt to replicate that showing.
The unit has yet to establish itself as a consistent contributor to the winning part of this team.
Point guard Fred VanVleet knows that all too well, but is confident they will figure it out. He has belief in his teammates on that second unit.
Initially, Nurse tried subbing Siakam out early so he could come back in early and spend time with the second unit. More recently he has turned to Leonard subbing out a little early so he can come back with the second unit, as Kyle Lowry did a year ago.
That strategy is in its infancy, but has shown some promise.
“I’ve done this a couple of games in a row now and I’m leaning toward this starting in the second and fourth quarters,” Nurse said of Leonard along with VanVleet, Delon Wright, OG Anunoby and whichever of the centres is not starting that night, either Serge Ibaka or Jonas Valanciunas.
“Again, it’s not easy because it’s not like we practice ever, so this is their practice. They got to get used to it. I’m telling Freddy and Delon, just because Kawhi is out there we got to keep running through our open stuff and triggers and let it happen a little bit. Don’t start throwing him the ball and then going and standing. I thought Delon made a couple of big shots (Thursday night). Freddy didn’t find much tonight. But it’s a work in progress. Long way to go with that stuff.”
Also exposed was a confounding inability to end possessions with a rebound once they get stops.
It was most evident in the fourth quarter when the Raptors would work their tails off defending the Warriors and eventually force them into a bad or even accepted shot only to give them a new shot clock by giving up an offensive rebound. The answer to that one sounds simple, but the fact that it’s still an issue suggests it is anything but.
“Yeah, we’ve gotta rebound the ball,” Lowry said after the game. “You can play great defence, but if you don’t rebound the ball it doesn’t matter.
“Boxing out. Boxing out, get the ball,” Lowry said of the remedy.
But this early in the season, the Raptors will take the lessons from the game and the confidence they gained from holding off a future hall of famer and a two-time defending champion, all things considered.
The Raptors own a 19-4 record, but they remain a work in progress.
This may very well be the personnel the Raptors wind up throwing out there in five and a half months or so when the playoffs begin.
But in terms of being in rhythm and efficiency from an operating standpoint, well, the Raptors have another 59 games to smooth that part out.
The level of belief, though, both in what they are capable of and where they stand in the hierarchy of the NBA, took a very positive step forward Thursday night.