Doing his part
Marc Gasol won his battle with Joel Embiid but Raps lost the war
The game within the playoff game had Marc Gasol doing almost everything right.
He was bumping and crashing and had his hands and shoulders and elbows all over Joel Embiid to a point of taking one of the NBA’s most explosive players and limiting what it is he does well.
Gasol isn’t a boxscore kind of basketball player. You don’t measure him by how much he scores or how many rebounds he comes down with or how many minutes he plays.
You measure him in wins and losses and in this secondround series against the Philadelphia 76ers, you measure him in what he does against the great, erratic, explosive and perhaps flawed all-star Embiid.
And whether his play puts the Raptors in position for victory — or is that victories?
Gasol did everything he was supposed to do in Game 2 against the Sixers. He intimidated Embiid in his non-intimidating way. He pushed and he prodded and he forced the Sixers to change their game however slightly . And when the third quarter of a backand-forth, mostly one-sided game in favour of the Sixers, came to an end, Embiid had scored two baskets.
The second one, in the final minute, proved to be the difference in a 94-89 loss by the Raptors. Embiid finished the night with 12 points.
Gasol did his job the way he normally does his job — quietly, efficiently, somewhat physically, not what you’d call pretty.
Had the Raptors played just a little better than they managed, it would be Raptors two, Sixers zero, in games won, instead of being tied at one apiece. The five- game playoff winning streak could have been six, and put the Raptors halfway to the NBA Finals. But now adversity strikes as the series flips to Philadelphia after a 94-89 defeat.
And the Raptors lost while almost completely negating Embiid.
While he scores point-for-point with Kawhi Leonard in the regular season — he actually outscored Kawhi this season — through two playoff games in this Eastern Conference series, it is 76 Leonard, 28 Embiid.
Looking back, for a while, it looked as though the Raptors were going quietly into the trade deadline a month or so ago. But Philadelphia made a move and Milwaukee made a move and Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster figured they had to do something.
What they didn’t realize that day, as big as the deal for Gasol seemed, was how much it would impact their team. Before he came to Toronto, the Raptors were a below-average team shooing three-pointers. Since he’s come to the Raptors, they’re first in the NBA and Sixers coach Brett Brown has mentioned that several times through the first two games of the series.
Gasol’s passing changed the way the Raptors play offence. But more than even that, his defence and his head for the game has made a good defensive team that much better. Coach Nick Nurse had an idea what he was getting in Gasol — you know players when you see them around the league — but you don’t really know a player until you have him.
And Nurse has been blown away on so many levels by what he’s seen from Gasol.
“I knew he was a good passer,” said Nurse. “I didn’t know maybe this good, right? I knew he was really a smart player and tough. He’s pretty high level there, too. But I would probably say he’s really accepted just a winner’s role here. If that makes any sense. I mean, sometimes he doesn’t even shoot or score of whatever and it doesn’t seem to affect the job he seems to have found playing for the team and the importance and that is, it’s priceless really.”
It is also remarkably unusual. The NBA should really be called the NBE — ‘E’ as in ego. It’s part of what makes the game so great and electric. It’s often about individuals with tremendous skill and a willingness to be front and centre. It’s about personality and it’s often singular but that’s not who Gasol is.
The Raptors weren’t really good on Monday night, being outworked and out gameplanned and outpushed by the rather desperate Sixers. Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry had difficulty shooting and driving. It wasn’t their night. Serge Ibaka offered little. Fred VanVleet was off. Danny Green couldn’t hit shots. In fairness, neither could Gasol.
The Sixers dominated most of the first half, leading 51-38, but Gasol was doing what the coaches wanted him to do. Embiied had four points at the half, none with Gasol on the floor. He didn’t take a shot against Gasol in the first half.
That’s remarkable attention to detail on Gasol’s behalf on a night when the Raptors needed more of that intensity.
Marc Gasol won his battle Monday night. The rest of the Raptors lost theirs.