Champs go up 2–0 on the Nets
After setting a franchise playoff record in points (134) and threes made (22) in Game 1, and especially after watching (and enjoying!) the Bucks and Lakers drop their respective opening tilts, I think it’s safe to say that Raptors Nation was raring to go for Game 2.
Look, I know it wasn’t the blow-out we were maybe expecting, but sometimes in the playoffs you need to lean on that championship experience and squeak out a victory (maybe the basketball gods must’ve been displeased with how much Bucks and Lakers slander we enjoyed…).
Anyways, let’s get right into it with our customary 4 things we liked and 1 thing we disliked from our 104–99 W over KD and Kyrie’s Nets (hey, it’s not my fault they both decided not to show up) in Game 2.
LIKE #1 — Steady As He Goes
I think it’s time to finally say that there might be no stopping Fred VanVleet at this point. This dude was the best Raptor during the seeding games and he’s been the best player on the court in both of our playoff games.
FVV has so many tricks in that bag of his. He’s an excellent passer (21 assists in our two postseason games). He’s fearless when driving to the basket. His acrobatic at-rim finishing might just be the best in the business. He’s a confident shooter. He’s also apparently a looooong-range shooter now. He wants all the shots.
Sure, he started slow with zero points in the opening frame but he dropped 8 in the second quarter and put us on his back in the third quarter to the tune of 14 points (he personally went on an 8–0 run to cut the Nets lead to 2). FVV finished with 24 points, 10 dimes, 5 boards, 3 triples, and was perfect from the free-throw line (5-for-5).
LIKE #2 — Groin-Kick Norm
Maybe that Game 1 groin-kick awoke Playoff Norm (could this be the 2020 version of Band-Aid Ibaka?)
Before the shutdown, Norm was playing the best basketball of his career. In his 10 games before the pandemic disrupted all our lives, he was putting up 23.3 points on 52.1% and 38.5% shooting splits. In his last 5 games before the shutdown, he was averaging 28.0 points while drilling 39.5% of his triples.
In the seeding games though, not so much (he averaged 13.6 points).
But in Game 2 , we got to see Playoff Norm in all it’s Playoff-Norm-glory. He aggressively attacked the basket and was actually finishing at the rim (shout-out to the Norman Powell Drinking Game). It was the proverbial slowing down of the game. You love to see it.
In Game 1, he totaled 6 points. In Game 2, he had 7 points…just 1 minute into the second quarter. Norm was electric throughout finishing with 24 points on a fun 11-for-17 shooting performance. He also had the game sealing put-back.
LIKE #3 — Tale of Two Siakams
I know there’s been lots of chatter about Siakam’s struggles. During the seeding games that mattered (the first five and not the final three), he put up 17.8 points on 41.9% shooting. Not bad. If this were last season, we would’ve been happy with those numbers. But this isn’t last season. Siakam is now an All-Star, will make an All-NBA team this season, and should be the best player on our team.
Although he scored 18 in Game 1, he did so on 4-for-13 shooting (1-for-4 from downtown). But in the first half of Game 2, we got the Siakam we’ve been waiting for. He finished the half with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting (2-for-3 from distance). He also had 3 dimes thanks to his patience out of the double-team.
In the second half, we got the struggling version of Siakam though. He failed to hit a shot and finished with just 3 points.
We’re still waiting for that 30+ or 40+ scoring outburst.
LIKE #4 — Who’s Really Struggling Though?
While Siakam has gotten all the struggling attention, I have to admit that I was much more concerned about Lowry’s cold shooting. During the seeding games, he had 40.3% and 32.4% shooting splits while in Game 1 he was 3-for-14 (21.4%) overall and 3-for-10 (30%) from downtown.
Look, I know we have a deal where Lowry is supposed to receive zero criticism, but I gotta call it like I see it. We need more from Lowry in the form of much better shooting.
Which is why we couldn’t have been happier that Lowry broke out of his shooting slump in Game 2. He was 7-for-14 from the field and 3-for-6 from beyond the arc to finish with 21 points, 9 boards, 3 dimes, 2 steals, and 1 block. That’s the Lowry we need!
Oh yeah, remember that clip of Norm finishing the Nets off? Let’s take a closer look.
Yup, that’s Lowry doing the dirty work to break-up the Nets final possession. The play was designed to get Joe Harris an open look from three but Lowry wasn’t having any of it. Lowry always brings it on defense even when the shot isn’t falling — but when it is, he looks like one of the best players in the Association.
DISLIKE — Make Your Free Throws
As our friend Adam Corsair of South of the 6ix fame is fond of saying…
After watching the Raptors hit 32 of their 33 free-throws in Game 1, it was incredibly frustrating seeing them miss free-throw after free-throw in a game they trailed for the vast majority of the time. At one point they were 8-for-17 from the charity stripe but managed to start hitting them when it mattered; they finished 19-for-28 (68.8%).
They hit 79.9% of their free-throws for the season ranking sixth overall. Their 68.8% mark in Game 2 would’ve ranked last in the league.
But the good news is that FVV is impervious to free-throw struggles as he was a perfect 5-for-5.
Until next time…
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