Toronto draws first blood. Warriors looked awfully rusty, but Toronto’s role players showed out big and Siakam had a career night.
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If Pascal Siakam plays like that every night, the Raptors will sweep. 14-17 from the floor (2-3 from 3).
The other thing is basically a carryover from their defensive scheme against the Bucks. That is, to pick out a guy to leave open at the 3 point line to play help defense with and make him beat you. Andre Iguodala was Eric Bledsoe in this one.
Raptors team defense is very good....and long with Gasol, Ibaka, Siakam, etc....We'll see if they can keep it up. Golden State can turn the tables in a flash.
Gasol was so poor in game 1 and 2 against the Bucks, since then he's playing really well-on both ends of the floor. Guy has great hands on defense.
Can’t help but think- Toronto just did to Golden State what the Bucks did to them in game 1-2. The Toronto role players turned the game. Can they sustain it?
Packdog posted:Raptors team defense is very good....and long with Gasol, Ibaka, Siakam, etc....We'll see if they can keep it up. Golden State can turn the tables in a flash.
Gasol was so poor in game 1 and 2 against the Bucks, since then he's playing really well-on both ends of the floor. Guy has great hands on defense.
Absolutely. Best defense in the league. I am beginning to think the Raptors may be every bit as good as the Warriors or at least in the same ball park. Leonard, Ibaka, and Gasol all have been all defense. Of course, Siakem is excellent as well.
Their success makes the Bucks look better. They are just an extremely fine basketball team.
The Raptors beating the Bucks 4 straight made me a believer. What’s interesting is Kahwi and Lowry didn’t go off but Danny Green came alive. Gasol was also very good.
It’s not like Golden State played poorly either. Toronto was just better.
Siakam played out of his mind, but the consistent difference in Games 4-6 vs. the Bucks and also last night was Fred Van Vleet.
In the last 4 games, Van Vleet is 22 for 33 from the floor and the Raptors are +76 points in his 119 minutes on the floor. The Raptors are 4-0.
In the previous 8 games (which includes the double OT Bucks loss in Game 3 where he was terrible), Van Vleet was 7 for 39 from the floor and played 129 minutes. In those minutes the Raptors were -43. The Raptors record was 3-5.
So in roughly the same number of Van Vleet minutes in a poor 8 game stretch vs. a dominant 4 game stretch (roughly 3 full games (40) worth of minutes), the Raptors have improved by 119 points in their +/-.
I read somewhere (I think it was a Ringer article) that if Van Vleet would have "only" shot 50% from the three point line the last 3 games of the Bucks series, the Bucks would have won the series easily. Instead he was 14 FOR 17 from the 3 point line. In those 3 games, the Raptors were +65 points in the 96 minutes he played and MINUS 35 in the 50 minutes he didn't.
Fred Van Vleet. For all the talk about the Giannis wall, Bledsoe's bricks from 3, and Kawhi Leonard's superstardom, it really came down to Fred Van Vleet playing out of his mind.
i could not believe how fast the warriors transition game was. curry is also a beast, hopeful that durant sprains a nail to keep him out - this warrior team is never out - until they are out.
Van Vleet has been unconscious on the offensive side, but I was pretty impressed with his defense on Curry last night. Actually seemed to hold him in check.
Not to sound like a crabby old man, but watching Curry launch backwards, sideways, etc...into the defender in order to get a call is kinda bush league. Of course when Sam Cassell did it......
Packdog posted:Van Vleet has been unconscious on the offensive side, but I was pretty impressed with his defense on Curry last night. Actually seemed to hold him in check.
Not to sound like a crabby old man, but watching Curry launch backwards, sideways, etc...into the defender in order to get a call is kinda bush league. Of course when Sam Cassell did it......
I think Curry probably gets held more than any perimeter player currently. Compared to Harden and some others, his launching is nothing.
The Warriors commit as many moving screens as any team in the NBA.
Toronto is taking to them again in Game 2. Something wrong with Curry...
Having to play Jerebko in a meaningful game is also killing them. DJ Wilson would light him up.
The Warriors without Durant and a healthy Curry are the equivalent of playing a 30 win team. They have Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and almost nothing else. Cousins was OK, but he picked up 3 fouls and is sitting out. McKinnie, Bell, and Cook are unplayable.
Curry looks fine now. The Warriors on a 20-1 run in just under 8 minutes of game time. Amazing how pedestrian the Raptors offense looks when Fred Van Vleet and Marc Gasol aren't hitting every shot.
Man, lots of fouls in this game. Bogut getting some run, now.
Warriors held Toronto scoreless until 6:18 and end up with a 34-21 third quarter. Warriors really attacked the paint in that quarter, got a lot of layups/dunks.
Now Klay Thompson hurt and Thompson is as mad as I've ever seen him.
Both teams come out banging threes... Cook on Fire for Golden State...
Packdog posted:...but watching Curry launch backwards, sideways, etc...into the defender in order to get a call is kinda bush league.
Thank you Mark Jackson, it is bush and was an offensive foul. And Curry gets multiple free throws a game using this ploy. Don't care what Michigan packer 2 says....its bush
MichiganPacker2 posted:Now Klay Thompson hurt and Thompson is as mad as I've ever seen him.
Hammy... not good.
Lowry has 5 fouls...
Lowry fouls out on a very stupid attempt to steam an outlet pass...
Bizarre sequence- why would Curry do that? Just gave points to the opponent and neither team has scored in like 3 minutes. Every point counts now...
Game flow has been ugly compared to Game 1. Too much stoppage.
Packdog posted:Game flow has been ugly compared to Game 1. Too much stoppage.
Scott Foster.
The Raptors just lost a game to the Warriors without Durant and Klay Thompson.
Before tonight, Demarcus Cousins had 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists in his entire career in the playoffs.
He had 11, 10, and 6 tonight.
Toronto missed an awful lot of open shots- during that 3rd quarter drought and down the stretch. After the two teams were trading haymakers to start the 4th, it was clang city for both teams to the final minutes.