The Toronto Raptors suffered an absolute late night heartbreaker last night. After trailing by a massive margin at the half, our Raps clawed back against the league’s best Golden State Warriors, ultimately coming up short by a score of 115-110. What has to really burn the Raps on this one is the atrocious, bias officiating that gave the Warriors the benefit of the doubt all game long. Unfortunately, that trend continued down the stretch of the game, and absolutely had an effect on the outcome of the game.
It’s time to move forward. The Raps take on the Utah Jazz tonight, which will certainly prove to be a tough game. Back to backs on the road are never easy, but playing against two tough teams is going to leave the Raps quite sore after this one.
Cage’s Keys to the Game
Got a lot of people tryna drain me of my energy
S/o to Drake. Yes, the Raps are going to be exhausted. Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, and DeMarre Carroll all logged nearly 40 minutes last night. The key to combat this will be to slow the pace of the game down, get a little bit deeper into the bench, and move the ball around. Don’t wear yourself out, and focus on smart, efficient basketball. Sounds like Raptors basketball to me…
Interior defense
Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert are very solid big men. Luis Scola, Jonas Valanciunas, and Bismack Biyombo will have their hands full. Making them work on the other side by giving JV looks will be important. Also, utilizing bigger wings such as Carroll and James Johnson for help defense can definitely alleviate some pressure.
Ball movement
I don’t want to have to keep saying it, but the Raptors really need to start moving the ball more. It starts with Lowry and DeRozan – if they are going to keep playing dribble heavy basketball, the team gets disengaged and the offense stagnates. It just doesn’t help, especially on the end of a back to back. That doesn’t mean the Raps dynamic back court shouldn’t look to score – because they matchup well against Utah’s back court. Simply, don’t always rely on it as a first option.
X-factor – Cory Joseph
Joseph is often the guy that gets the second unit going for the Raps. In tonight’s case, the second unit will be particularly important. Let’s hope CoJo is on his game.
