I had to watch the end of the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs game before I could bring myself to write this thing. I wanted to take a break from Raptor-reality, which is this: the Toronto Raptors blew it big time and got beaten up by the Brooklyn Nets 97-83 in game 6. Game 7 is set up for Sunday, and to be honest, it’s the picture-perfect way to finish this picture-perfect series.
Aside from the Wizards-Bulls and Heat-Bobcats series (and maybe Blazers-Rockets), there hasn’t been a first round series that isn’t going to 7 games. Safe to say, Adam Silver has to be happy with the first round thus far. 5 (or potentially 6) game 7s coming up. Wow.
What happened tonight? Simply put, the Raps shat the bed and didn’t take advantage of the close-out opportunity. They seem to love putting unnecessary pressure on themselves, and now face the reality that they are one game away from being eliminated. Let’s get to the report card:
Offence – D+
That offence was just not good. DeMar DeRozan’s heroics kept the Raps in this one, as he poured in 28 points. With that being said, the next best was Kyle Lowry with 11, but he shot a piss-poor 4-16. Greivis ‘Swagsquez’ Vasquez certainly didn’t have that swag going tonight – 9 points on 4-10 shooting wasn’t enough considering the circumstances. Patrick Patterson missed some key shots down the stretch. Terrence Ross and Amir Johnson both continued to stink it up. Jonas Valanciunas was an efficient 4-5, but only ended with 9 points. GET THIS MAN THE BALL.
Casey tried out nearly everything tonight. John Salmons couldn’t bring anything, Steve Novak remained ice cold, and Chuck Hayes was still Chuck Hayes. The offence just wasn’t clicking at all. The ball was stuck for the first three quarters, as the Raps were playing as if they had already won the series while Brooklyn was playing their asses off.
Bottom line – the Raps need that 4th quarter intensity for all 48 on Sunday. Lowry has to be better, and the ball has to move a lot more. This was an anomaly offensively for sure. If it happens again, the season could be over.
Defence – B-
The Raps buckled down in the second half defensively, and quite frankly, if they played with that intensity the whole game they would have gotten the W. The Nets exploded for 34 points in the first quarter – unacceptable.
Deron Williams was looking like his old self (despite that HORRID ankle injury – yeah that was sarcasm) as he torched the Raps for 25. Ross does a decent job on him for the most part, but Vasquez continues to get torched, and whenever the Raps double JJ or have to rotate he seems to be the one always open. Have to be better.
Joe Johnson added 17. He’s going to get that no matter what. Kevin Garnett finally had a solid game, adding 13 points for the Nets.
Bottom line – make sure your rotations are tight, continue to play with defensive intensity, and Casey has to ensure the match-ups are appropriate throughout the game to ensure nobody gets going for the Nets.
Rebounding – F
Straight up, the Raps got outrebounded 45-42. THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR ADVANTAGE. YOU CAN’T LET THEM OUTREBOUND YOU. ASHGDKILAJVBASKJLD
Game Ball – DeMar DeRozan
As I said before, I’m never giving the game ball to a Net, because I hate them all. So congrats DeMar, hopefully you stay hot. To end off, no matter what happens on Sunday, F*** BROOKLYN.
