Blowing off some steam after that humbling Game 1 beat-down

The last time I felt this frustrated after a Raptors L was on Christmas Day (lost by 16), our lone bubble game defeat (lost by 22; trailed by 40 at one point), and this Game 1 humbling (lost by 18, 112–94). The common denominator in these frustrations, if you couldn’t tell already, was those darn Boston Celtics.

I hate to say it, and I know it’s early, but there’s a small part of me that thinks Boston just has our number. Like I said, it’s early — but you have to admit that there’s a part of you thinking this as well.

Look, I don’t want to over-react to one game, but whatever happened to losing close playoff games. Why do our non-Kawhi playoff losses all feel like a punch-to-the-groin blow-out that leaves you questioning why you even follow sports in the first place or leaves you pretending it’s just one game, it doesn’t really matter. Why can’t we just lose a playoff game by like 5 points or something. Why does it have to be these existential crises type of losses.

Anyways, let’s get right into it with 4 things we disliked and 1 thing we liked from this Game 1 smackdown (be warned, I get spicy here).

DISLIKE #1 —A Fred Performance

Idislike that I even have to write these next few words: but this is the first time all season where I felt like we missed a player like Kawhi. During the season, we convinced ourselves it was Siakam (and it very well could be). During the bubble games and the first round, we convinced ourselves it was Fred VanVleet (and it very well could be). But, in Game 1, we got nothing from our two best players. And, yes, FVV and Siakam are our two best players.

I know there is a Cult of Lowry in Toronto, but if we’re being really honest here, Lowry can’t be your team’s best player. He’s a dude that helps elevate your best players; he’s a dude who excels when he doesn’t have to carry the burden of being the best player on the court. Lowry doesn’t have the I’m gonna take over now gene — and that’s okay. What Lowry does best happens in the margins. What Lowry does best doesn’t show up in the box-score. But you know what? The super-duper stars? Their shit does show up in the box-score (as well as in the margins and in the small stuff). But Lowry doesn’t have that in him and that’s okay. We love him anyways.

But back to FVV & Siakam (more on Pascal in a bit).

What FVV did in the bubble was just incredible. The dude turned into a living, breathing fire emoji. He was the best Raptor during the seeding games (19.4 points on 47.5% & 42.4% shooting splits). He was the best player versus KD & Kyrie’s Nets where he upped his game even more with 21.3 points on an electric 52.7% overall shooting and an un-godly 55.9% marksmanship from long-range.

To me, it’s clear that FVV has become the conductor of the offense more-so that Lowry. To me, it’s crystal clear that a passing of the torch moment is happening.

But sadly we didn’t get the other-worldly version of Fred VanVleet (you might know him as Frederico!) Instead, what we got was 3-for-16 shooting (2-for-11 from downtown), 11 points, and a team worse -28. We didn’t get a Frederico performance, we got a Fred outing.

DISLIKE #2 — Deflated

Let’s be honest here: Siakam’s performance in Game 1 was incredibly deflating and frustrating. Much has been made about Siakam’s bubble struggles (17.8 points & 41.9% shooting in the seeding games that mattered and 20.8 points on 41.7% & 28.6% shooting splits versus Brooklyn).

To be fair, the criticisms that have come for Siakam, as much as I hate to admit, are kind of spot-on. We might see the Siakam we know and love for maybe half the game or just in one quarter — but we haven’t seen the full Siakam experience yet. We haven’t seen the game where he puts us on his back, drops spin-move after spin-move on helpless defenders, and provides the fireworks that announced his intrusion into the NBA hierarchy.

I’ve defended Siakam throughout the seeding games and the postseason. I kept saying his time is coming. I kept saying he’s due for a 40+ point outing at some point. But I got nothing left. Siakam needs to deliver (and soon!)

Against Boston, I don’t need to tell you but Siakam’s struggles continued: 5-for-16 (0-for-3 from three), 13 points, and finished a -20.

DISLIKE #3 — The Cult of Lowry

Hey guys and gals, it’s okay to criticize Kyle Lowry. The world isn’t going to end. It’s okay to want your highest paid player to show-up in big (non-Kawhi) games.

You could scour all of Raptors Twitter, but don’t you find it odd that no one has pointed out that Lowry has been ice cold since the season resumed? I’m willing to bet that you, faithful reader, didn’t even know Lowry was struggling.

During the seeding games, he put up just 16.7 points on 40.3% & 32.4% shooting splits. Against Brooklyn, it got even worse with 12.3 points on 36.8% & 34.8% shooting. Not ideal right?

But I know what you’re going to say already. I can read your mind. You’re going to say But, Peter, Lowry had 17 points in Game 1. But this is where I’ll say, he had just 5 points in the first half when we needed him most. He scored the vast majority of his points in the final frame when the white flag had already been raised.

During the first three quarters, when the outcome was not yet decided, Lowry took just 6 shots in 24 minutes of action. He was playing like he was scared to lose as opposed to playing like he wanted to win. When your highest paid player is only taking 1 shot every 4 minutes, then that’s not going to cut it.

We need Lowry to break out of his bubble-slump as much as we need Siakam to regain his All-NBA form.

Also, let’s be clear here: I may criticize Lowry but I do so with love, eternal happiness, and because I know how good he can be so I have great expectations for him.

DISLIKE #4 — Random Grievances

For this section, I’m just going to list all my random grievances while blowing off some steam, if that’s okay. Here are my pet-peeves from Game 1 (or, Pete Peeves, if you will).

• We all wrote off our bubble loss to the Celtics because we said Nurse wasn’t showing us all his cards. I’m ready to see those cards now.
• Nurse got too cute right off the bat as he stuck with the same defensive match-ups that got us blown-out by the Celtics. Instead of putting OG on Tatum like we all thought, he put Lowry on him instead. Didn’t Nurse learn his lesson from our earlier Boston humiliations? If OG was the trick up his sleeve, I wanted to see that F’N trick! Nurse should’ve started OG on Tatum. Simply put.
• Gasol knows it’s okay to be aggressive on offense right? He knows he can score 20+ and it’ll be okay, right?
• We kept cutting the deficit to a decent number at various points throughout the game but we just kept missing our wide-open threes. We also hesitated on a handful of them. We finished the game 10-for-40 (25%) from distance while our starters were a combined 4-for-25 (16%). Ugh, I need a drink.
• I don’t really mean this…but Siakam for the #2 pick and Minnesota’s 2021 pick sure sounds good right about now (I told you I don’t really mean this, but you have to admit that you’re thinking about it now).

LIKE — Made Me Smile

In a game where there wasn’t much to smile about, I want to give a shout-out to Thomas in Calgary for repping that sweet LIR merch!

Much respect Thomas! Let’s hope the t-shirt brings better luck in Game 2.

Until next time…

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