Turnovers are an oddity for Leonard, Green says
treatment for lower back stiffness as Toronto surrendered its lead to the Pistons and eventually conceded a last-second, game-winning shot to Reggie Bullock. He didn’t like what he saw on television from the training table.
“We didn’t lose that game at the end of the game,” Green said. “It was well before that. You could just tell. I was watching it as I was getting treatment. You could tell body language and just the atmosphere or how the guys looked; it didn’t look good. It kind of looked how we were the other night against New Orleans only we had more energy, better kick to start the game.
“But once things don’t start going our way, we still have to find ways or still conduct ourselves in the same way and not getting down and letting last plays affect our next plays.”
Green joked that there must have been a full moon on Wednesday night, a night of strange results league-wide with losses for the Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks and Portland Trailblazers, among other hot teams. Leonard, for example, booted the ball out of bounds on the Raptors final possession, in a quarter where he had five turnovers. Green said his longtime teammates “doesn’t get the ball taken from him like that.”
Whatever was at play, though, Green said the team still has a ways to go when it comes to communication and the maturity needed to close out games, even though it’s early in the season.
“They talk at certain times,” he said. “Important times we need to talk more. I think that is what stood out the most (on Wednesday) because our communication hasn’t been the greatest when you have a situation like that, especially at the end of the game. Guy gets an open look underneath the basket, that’s usually a communication factor.”