RAPTORS WIN RAPTORS WIN RAPTORS WIN
It’s 90 minutes to tip-off of Game 5, so I’ll keep this one short.
This game was a nailbiter and yellmaker. Until the final minute (when the Raps went ahead 7 on late game free throws), the largest lead either team ever achieved was 6 points. It was back and forth the entire time, but the Raps eked out a big victory, 101-96.
Boban Marjanovic had a great game, playing a solid 0.4 seconds to defend an inbounds play at the end of the second quarter.
Duncan suggests I ditch the play-by-play and focus on the drama, while Jeff Van Gundy implores me to focus on the game and avoid hunting for storylines. It’s an internal struggle, but I’ll focus on the basketball details in this post and see if Game 5 offers me any juicy soap opera content for the next post.
It’s beginning to seem pointless predicting anything in this series aside from the fact that Kawhi will get his, and at least one player will have a horribly disappointing game.
… which will NOT stop me from trying to make a few of them anyways!
Predictions:
New Look Sixers
The Sixers might shake things up line-up wise. Bolden was benched this game. I feel like TJ McConnell or Jonathon Simmons could make an appearance in the next game. It wasn’t so long ago that Simmons was playing a big role on a competitive Spurs playoff team (20 MPG, 10-2-2), getting big minutes in the “athletic 3-and-D wing” role against the Rockets and the Warriors in the 2017 Playoffs. Sure, that was 2017, but it’s not like he’s old and unathletic. I mean, he’s only 29 years old. 29 is still young… It’s super young…
Rushing right along.
At any rate, Simmons gives Philly another potential look on defence. With respect to Ben Simmons, who has done a decent job on Kawhi, if he or Butler gets into foul trouble, why not trot him out there and see if he can contain Kawhi any better than the rest of the team?
Tobias Harris bounce-back?
Trick-or-treat Tobi (of Bobi and Tobi fame) will be wanting a better performance than Game 4. He’s been inconsistent throughout the series. He threw up a dud, getting 16 points, but shooting 7-23 FGA and 2-13 3PA to get there. He had a couple nice baskets here he used his length to avoid Ibaka on layups, but I expect him to come out shooting early and probably can a few more 3’s than he did last game.
Thawing Pat McCaw
I can’t say I’m completely surprised, but it’s definitely gratifying to see my blog has reached the NBA intelligentsia so quickly. First Jimmy Butler reads my Game 1 excoriation of him to get the motivation he needs. Now Nick Nurse is taking bench management advice directly from CuriousWinnipeg? Thanks guys. I’m flattered, but a shout-out would go a long way towards bumping my viewership traffic okay??
McCaw got out of the cryogenic chamber for a quick run close to the end of the first quarter until Kawhi replaced him at 8:49 of the second. He didn’t do a ton, but he had a steal, a nice assist on a Gasol 3-pointer and an incredibly athletic offensive rebound on his own miss (leading to the assist). McCaw’s reluctance to shoot (29.9% 3P) gives the Raptors some spacing trouble, but with two passably shooting big men, it’d be nice to get him some minutes. He adds athleticism and much needed SIZE to the Raptor’s backcourt.
(FREE MCCAW!)
Maintain Gasol’s usage from Game 4
Two things I liked about Gasol’s usage in Game 4 (both of which are Kevin O’Connor covered first for TheRinger). First, his minutes were matched more closely to Embiid’s. When Embiid hits the bench early in the first quarter (as I’ve tracked all series; he came out at 6:56 1Q this game), Gasol was playing those minutes against Embiid’s back-up. When Embiid came back into the game, that was typically when Gasol was pulled and Ibaka inserted. Instead, in Game 4, Nurse pulled Gasol at 5:27. When Embiid came in at 3:14, Gasol re-entered shortly after at 0:05. It’s still a gap of a few minutes, but it wasn’t the same disparity as it was in previous games. Gasol is a more effective defender on Embiid than Ibaka and matching their minutes is a good call. I’m sure one of those fancy websites like BasketballReference or CleaningTheGlass would be able to track how closely their minutes tracked, but I still need to buy beer and chips before tip off so cut me some slack.
The second thing I liked about Gasol’s minutes were keeping him on in “2-big” looks, the type that has gone out of fashion in recent years. When Gasol came in at the end of the first quarter, he subbed out the injured Siakam, rather than Ibaka. Gasol and Ibaka combined for two nice “high-low” baskets, where Gasol lasered in a pass from out by the three point line into the post, where Ibaka had Tobias Harris buried with solid post-up positioning. Both resulted in a short hook for Ibaka, a relatively high percentage shot. I could see Nick Nurse keeping that line-up on the floor if it continues to be effective, especially if Siakam is still hurt.
One possible counter for Philly: five-out with Ben Simmons at the centre. This line-up will never get too much run, as the Raps would likely sub one of their big men out if the Sixers aren’t playing any of Monroe, Embiid or Marjanovic. However, if the Sixers could sneak it in for a few possessions, it could be effective with Harris on Gasol and Simmons on Ibaka, giving the Sixers more shooting and speed, running the Raps’ big men off the floor.
The OG returns?
Ogugua Anunoby is listed in ESPN’s box score as playing 0 minutes and getting a -1 (i.e. brief garbage time). I watched the game and feel like my brain would have short circuited if he’d made a surprise appearance. He’s also not listed in ESPN’s play-by-play, so I think this may be an error. HOWEVER, this has my mental gears turning that maybe he’ll be back for this game. He was originally predicted as being available for the conference finals. It’d be an asset for the Raptors if he was available for a few minutes earlier than that.
There’s some precedence for this trickery from #TheNorth: Siakam wasn’t supposed to play in Game 4, was upgraded to questionable, before starting and playing 29 minutes.
Is this even a basketball blog?
If you’ve been smitten with my irrepressible writing talent and uniquely abrasive written voice, you may have read back into previous posts and realized this blog has had nothing to do with basketball for a very long time.
I may splinter off and load all the basketball posts onto a new page, depending on how long my motivation to watch and write keeps up. Some possible names pitched to me on Sunday: “Fabethoughts” (uh….), “Fabianalysis” (getting there…) and “Secure The Handle” (YES!). Leaning toward the latter (it references basketball AND social media! I explain jokes!), but weigh in if you’re a rare live human reader not a spam AI robot or toss me a new suggestion if you have one.
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