Leonard steals show with ‘awesome’ swipe
TORONTO — As the Toronto Raptors prepared 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. Timberwolves 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 backward to smother the ensuing pass.
“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,” head coach Nick Nurse said Thursday 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 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 with 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.”.
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 is 3-for-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 said after Wednesday’s win.
Siakam said 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).”
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.
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 (hamstring) is expected to make his season debut, though.