Raptors hoping for more of meek Freak
A quick, swarming defence made Antetokounmpo a non-factor in Game 4
It seems hard to believe that a player as talented and dominant as Giannis Antetokounmpo can go through an entire half of an NBA playoff game with no field goals and only two measly points. Freakish, really. But that’s all the sublimely talented Antetokounmpo supplied his Milwaukee Bucks in the second half of Game 4 of their playoff series with the Toronto Raptors on Saturday afternoon.
It’s almost too much to ask the Rap- tors to play the same kind of swarming, crowding, quick defence again that led to Antetokounmpo’s minimal production, just as it’s too much to expect him to post such pedestrian numbers when Game 5 unfolds at the Air Canada Centre on Monday. But it is to dream for Raptors fans. Still, consider this: In Game 3, DeMar DeRozan did not make a basket and finished with eight points. It killed him and motivated him and made him make sure he had a significant impact on Game 4. He ended up scoring 33 points, leading his team in scoring, assists, rebounds and steals and playing at an astonishing level of efficiency.
And if he can do it, can’t Antetokounmpo?
“He’s in the upper echelon of play- ers that carry their team and that’s the only way you can get back on track, to respond,” DeRozan said Sunday. “It’s on us to be ready for that as well, understanding it’s going to be a tougher challenge. A lot of us have been in this situation with great players before . . . we’ve got to understand how to approach it the right way.”
There are a handful of tactical reasons why the Raptors were able to limit Antetokoumpo’s impact on Saturday. They were able to get back more quickly in transition to throw a wall of bodies at him, a smaller Toronto lineup let the Raptors switch defenders of basically the same size on to him, and no one else from the Bucks was doing enough damage to loosen up the Toronto defence.
The common thread? The Raptors played better, and harder, than they did in Game 3. If they do the same on Monday, it’s possible they’ll have the same results.
“There’s situations where we let them be comfortable, get to where they want to go, set the screens where they want to set them but the speed of getting back in transition was much better,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said.
“Just our overall physicality was much better in certain situations where we need it to be. (It’s) not going out there slugging somebody and hitting somebody in the head, but making them feel you when they’re trying to cut through the lane (and) dive to the basket in the low post.”