Record streak helping Raptors maintain focus
ALL-STAR BREAK NO DISTRACTION FOR RED-HOT TEAM BATTLING INJURIES
The win streak is a nice thing to talk about and a nice thing to point to when people are asking about the reigning NBA champs, but the very best thing about it is it may single-handedly keep the Toronto Raptors engaged until the all-star break.
That heading- for- theall- star breakdown is a real thing. Don’t kid yourself.
Teams are just past the halfway point of the season and unless you’re a player heading to Chicago to take part in the all- star game or one of the various competitions around the game, chances are there is a flight booked for somewhere warm in your immediate future.
The break for someone not involved in the actual allstar game is now a full week, representing the biggest stretch in the season without games.
Basketball players are not that much different than regular working folks in the sense that with a break on the immediate horizon, focus on the job at hand tends to waver.
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse knows that as well as anyone, so it wasn’t that much of a surprise to hear him reference the winning streak on a few occasions in his pre- game chat with the media as a means of keeping the games interesting for everyone on his roster.
“I think we’re in pretty good spirits, obviously, and we’re trying to keep the streak alive,” Nurse said. “I think that’s helpful to get us to the break. I don’t know, I hadn’t really thought about it, the break yet, but it’s coming.”
Nurse believes the 14-game winning streak the Raptors carried into Monday’s matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves — the longest streak in franchise history and the longest winning streak by a professional franchise in Canadian sports history — has made what is annually a bit of an issue a non-issue.
“I don’t sense much of that, really, from these guys,” he said of players checking out a little early with vacation on their minds. “Again, the streak’s keeping it maybe more interesting than maybe it would be, maybe. But we got some hungry guys and obviously we’re down some guys, so the guys are, this is like fresh opportunity for a lot of these guys. There’s not a lot of games under some of these guys’ belt, so they’re okay.”
That might be the first time an NBA head coach has ever found a positive in a slew of man games lost to injury.
The whiplash that cost Kyle Lowry Saturday’s game against Brooklyn will not keep him out of a second contest.
Lowry was injured late in Friday’s win in Indianapolis when he fell hard into Serge Ibaka’s lower body.
Nurse, though, still had his work cut out for him.
Lowry was back, but Nurse was in a bit of a pickle when it came to available big men. Already down Marc Gasol, who remains out with a hamstring issue, the Raptors were also without Ibaka for Monday’s game. Ibaka sat out with flu-like symptoms.
The only true centres on the Raptors roster are Gasol, Dewan Hernandez and Ibaka. Hernandez has been dealing with an ankle issue for weeks and he remains out as well.
What it means is a lot of small ball for the Raptors, with 6- 10 forward/centre Chris Boucher and 6- 9 forward Pascal Siakam the only big men available.
OG Anunoby, at 6- 8, can play as big as you need him to play but even two- way player Oshae Brissett at 6- 8, who would be helpful on a night like this, was with the Raptors 905 and unavailable.
On the other side of the court, the Timberwolves were debuting D’angelo Russell, the point guard acquired from Golden State in the Andrew Wiggins deal, but who had sat out his potential first game with the T-wolves over the weekend with a bruised right quad.
There has been scant evidence of a Larry O’brien Trophy hangover with the Raptors ... until now.
And even this seems more opportunistic than anything on the part of an Oakland police officer who is filing a civil suit against Raptors president Masai Ujiri for allegedly pushing him and striking him as he tried to keep Ujiri from entering the court at Oracle Arena, where his team was celebrating their championship.
The amount of the suit has not been made public.
According to the officer, Ujiri did not have the proper credential to enter the court and became combative when he was denied access as he ran onto the floor post-game to celebrate with his team.
Prosecutors in Oakland have already passed on the opportunity to lay charges against Ujiri.
The civil suit was filed Friday in Alameda County and in addition to Ujiri names the Raptors, MLSE and the NBA as defendants.
The police officer’s attorney is claiming his client suffered a concussion, was on medical leave and was considering filing a civil suit against Ujiri in the days following the incident.
Ujiri is presently in Africa attending a weekend session of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, along with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.