Valanciunas coming up big against the bigs
Raptors centre has shown a complete game in one of the best runs of his career
MINNEAPOLIS— Oh, Jonas Valanciunas thought about it, you could tell right away.
He got the ball deep in a corner of the Air Canada Centre without a defender close to him, and the thought of a three-point field-goal attempt came to him immediately.
He took a step back to set himself up, but didn’t go back far enough, and when he looked down his foot was still on the line.
Now, the Raptors may be OK with Valanciunas shooting the odd, wideopen three-pointer but they’re not looking for the seven-footer to hoist long, difficult twos and he wisely thought better of the shot and moved the ball back outside.
It was the right move, the smart move, the team move and just one tiny way Valanciunas helped the Raptors to a tough-minded win over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night He ended the evening with 15 points and 11 rebounds, played 30 minutes, made seven of 10 shots, and battled the Spurs’ LaMarcus Aldridge about as well as anyone can.
“He did a great job on that,” teammate DeMar DeRozan said of the defence on Aldridge.
It was particularly difficult given the workload Valanciunas had to worry about. The undermanned Spurs relied so heavily on Aldridge that the big man touched the ball on almost every possession and banged constantly with Valanciunas when he was guarding him. Aldridge had eight of his 17 points late in the third quarter of the game when Valanciunas was resting. The San Antonio big man was 2-for-17 from the floor for the rest of the night.
The performance by Valanciunas shouldn’t have come as that big a surprise given the month he’s putting together. The 25-year-old is averaging 12.2 points and 9.3 rebounds, shooting 59.3 per cent from the floor and defending with effort every time out.
He has gone against Aldridge, Detroit’s Andre Drummond, Brook Lopez of Brooklyn, Miami’s Hassan Whiteside, and the myriad different centres the Golden State Warriors threw at the Raptors, and Valanciunas has more than held his own.
There was the 15-point, 18-rebound night against Cleveland, a 17-16 gem against Detroit, and his two most impressive stat nights came in consecutive games: a 20-point, 13-board night in Milwaukee and 21points and 13 rebounds the next outing in Brooklyn.
Valanciunas has had stretches over his 51⁄ years in the league where he’s
2 been good; he hasn’t had a 10-game run where he’s been as effective in all facets of the game.
“I thought he did an excellent job on Aldridge who’s been on a tear, he really did, and the most important thing he did it without fouling,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “He kept his feet, he moved his feet, he used his arms in the right way, and then he got deep post position himself, and made him pay, left hand, right hand.
“But he’s playing with a lot of confidence right now, which he should. He’s been in the league long enough now to be able to handle all the situations.”
The Raptors need Valanciunas primarily for his rebounding and defence because there is enough offensive firepower elsewhere on the roster. But if he can get his points off offensive rebounds, or rolls to the basket and the odd jump shot, it’s a huge bonus.
“I think (Friday) he was so engaged on the defensive end that it made his offence come easier,” Kyle Lowry said. “I think when he plays like that defensively, offence comes so much easier for him, and he just gets that extra boost.”
After he thinks about it and knows what’s the wise course of action.