Warriors are reminder to Raptors that taking part in in a particular means requires particular gamers – The Athletic
Regardless of doing most of the issues they’ve got down to do, the Raptors ranked twenty first defensively coming into the sport. They’ve turned their opponents over rather a lot however are giving that every one again via over-fouling and surrendering good 3-point seems to be.
Nonetheless, towards the Warriors, who will make you pay for overcommitment each time by reducing behind the play, Nurse’s message didn’t change.
“I believe you’ll need to be aggressive as a result of they’re aggressive on offence,” Nurse mentioned. “What they actually do is go and reduce, they usually do it at a super-high charge of pace. So you possibly can’t dial the aggressiveness down to protect that.”
There’s a technique to try this, because the Raptors confirmed after they have been dialled in. Fred VanVleet defended the primary possession brilliantly, following Curry round, snuggling in behind Inexperienced’s display screen and swatting Curry’s tried nook 3. You can’t guard Curry a lot better than that — as the remainder of the sport confirmed, to not point out most of this season, VanVleet has put in almost as a lot time as anybody else mastering the craft.
Siakam additionally displayed the advantages of stress, as he refused to go over a display screen whereas guarding Andrew Wiggins, regardless of how far he stepped again from the arc. Kevon Looney acquired charged for an unlawful display screen in consequence.
Nevertheless, you want two issues to play that means with consistency — stamina and intelligence — and the Raptors lacked each. Making an attempt a full-court press towards the Warriors when Curry and Inexperienced are on the ground is actually a choice a crew might make, however the risk-reward math is poor. Inexperienced is simply too good a handler to offer that a lot open ground to. Wiggins’ was certainly one of seemingly countless open 3s the Warriors manufactured.
You must know your personnel, too. Gary Trent Jr. had to assist out two teammates as they trapped Curry, however he recovered means too onerous to Chris Chiozza, a mean shooter from deep. He made Trent pay with a layup. The Raptors went all-in on slowing Curry and held him to only a single 3 and 12 factors. The opposite Warriors gamers hit 21 3s.
“I’d say they actually transfer the ball, make sure that everybody’s concerned, get their shooters open rather a lot, actually make a variety of 3s,” Barnes mentioned of taking part in the Warriors for the primary time. “You’ll be able to simply see it on the TV, they’re making all these 3-pointers. And it’s actual.”
Raptors discover no solutions for uniquely unsolvable issues Warriors current
In the meantime the Raptors struggled to attain successfully for lengthy stretches. Their fourth-quarter flurry apart, the Warriors and their league-leading defence held the Raptors to 39 per cent capturing, although their 17 offensive rebounds helped take the sting off that.
The problem of promoting out on Curry turned evident within the first quarter. As a substitute of the NBA’s main scorer doing harm it was Wiggins and Poole.
An ideal instance: Curry runs baseline with all eyes on him, however as an alternative of flashing for the ball he stops quick and units a again display screen on Gary Trent Jr., who’s guarding Wiggins. Wiggins cuts to the basket, each Wiggins and Trent Jr. watch Curry and Wiggins will get a lay-up.
Or Curry runs laps across the half-court, all of the Raptors getting pulled into his orbit, till the ball will get swung to weak aspect and Wiggins is huge open for a 3.
Or the Raptors lengthen their defence after a made basket, partially to disclaim Curry, solely to have the ball rocket 90 ft in three passes and fewer seconds, discovering a wide-open Wiggins within the nook for one more three. The previous No.1 general decide from Vaughan, Ont., had 14 factors on 5-of-6 capturing in his first eight minutes on the ground, whereas Poole had 10 on 3-of-4 capturing and the Warriors led 36-24.
Curry? He had six on 1-of-4 capturing, however two assists and no worries. It’s not just like the Warriors haven’t seen this earlier than. They’ve seen every part.
A part of the rationale for why the Warriors don’t stress an excessive amount of when groups put every part into slowing down Curry is that, even when it really works, their secret – or not less than much less heralded – weapon is their defence.
You know how the Raptors wish to have 5 guys on the ground who can guard a number of positions and change any motion, thus holding the ball stalled on the perimeter for lengthy chunks of the shot clock?
The Warriors wish to try this too, solely they’re extra completed at it. It helps to have Inexperienced laying again, anticipating an opponent’s each play, however the Warriors aren’t only a fairly basketball crew.
They’re sensible, they usually compete.
Raptors hold Curry chilly, however Wiggins & Poole lead Dubs to 119-104 win – Golden State Of Thoughts
The Raptors have given Cury issues all through his profession, and that was nonetheless the case on Sunday. Curry was 1-for-6 from the sphere within the first half and completed 2-for-10 with simply 12 factors. But, Toronto’s consideration on Curry got here with a price. Steph was blissful to create house for his teammates all recreation, they usually took benefit.
Wiggins and Poole did the majority of the work, pulling down open photographs and beating their defenders all recreation. Poole completed the sport 10-for-13 from the sphere with 33 factors. To not be outdone, Wiggins shot 6-for-8 from deep and recorded 32 factors of his personal.
Otto Porter Jr. additionally benefitted from Toronto’s hyperfocus on Curry. Whereas the Raptors did a great job limiting Curry’s house, they struggled all recreation to account for the Dubs’ different threats from deep. Porter had a number of wide-open makes an attempt and knocked in 5 of his 8 makes an attempt from three.
The Warriors rested Gary Payton II and held Andre Iguodala out once more with proper knee soreness. Payton’s absence opened up some minutes for guard Chris Chiozza, who turned 26 on Sunday. Chiozza took benefit of the additional taking part in time on his birthday, making a pair of threes within the first half and scoring 11 factors off the bench.
Whereas the shooters carried the load offensively, the Warriors beginning bigs each had productive video games as nicely. Inexperienced scored simply 4 factors however had 14 rebounds, 8 assists, and only one turnover. Kevon Looney stuffed the stat-sheet as nicely with 7 factors, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a couple of blocks.
Toronto Raptors fall means quick, lose to Golden State Warriors 119-104 – Raptors HQ
The Raptors themselves weren’t dangerous behind the arc, tying their season-high 15 three-pointers. Nevertheless, the crew acquired caught taking part in an excessive amount of ISO ball after they discovered a lot success by getting within the paint and kicking out and the occasional PnR/DHO actions. Pascal Siakam led the Raptors with 21 factors and 6 rebounds, whereas Fred VanVleet’s offense surfaced just a little too late, dropping 17 factors and 7 assists.
The Raptors’ offense paled in distinction to the superb unselfish ball motion with the Warriors. The half-court offense lacked creativeness and stagnated rather a lot and infrequently. I’m not saying that the Raptors have a variety of egocentric gamers, however the Raptors will not be that gifted sufficient to depend on particular person performs. The Raptors’ ball motion and offensive IQ are removed from the crew that defeated this Warriors crew a couple of years in the past. Proper now, the Raptors simply have too many gamers which might be nearer to Serge Ibaka’s playmaking than Marc Gasol and Kyle Lowry’s unselfishness in getting the ball shifting.
The Raptors laboured within the half-court offense to start out the sport, and their efforts to include Curry confirmed loads of holes defensively. The Warriors’ passing and perimeter capturing acquired them off to a 16-5 begin, with Wiggins and Poole combining for the Warriors’ 16 factors. All the pieces regarded straightforward for the Warriors, as they pushed their result in 27-9 as Wiggins notches his 14th level. Dalano Banton, with the fast affect off the bench, put up a fast 4 factors and two assists to spur a 13-5 run to finish the quarter, because the Warriors lead 36-24.
The Raptors managed to chop the result in single-digit a few instances. Nonetheless, their incapability to maintain the Warriors from getting a wide-open look behind the arc prevented them from making this a aggressive recreation. Otto Porter Jr discovered Kevon Looney below the basket to place the Warriors up 49-32, however the Raps would go on a 9-4 run to cease me from creating an early “Raps misplaced” abstract earlier than halftime. Chris Chiozza’s (who?) 5 straight factors sandwiched Trent Jr’s three-pointer, and it regarded just like the Warriors have been poised to blow this recreation away, however Barnes discovered Siakam for a trifecta to maintain it considerably of a recreation with the Raptors trailing 47-61 on the half.
The third quarter regarded promising for the Raptors, as Siakam hit back-to-back three-pointers to assist the Raptors go on an 8-3 run the carry the lead all the way down to 9. Wiggins would put a cease to that run as he hits his sixth three-pointer in a row. The Warriors would get their bearings again and confirmed the Raptors the way to transfer the ball and execute their offense, as they’d push the result in 19. Barnes hit his third three-pointer of the season, however he picked up his fourth foul on Kevon Looney’s layup try.
In contrast to within the first half, the foul hassle didn’t negatively have an effect on Barnes. As a substitute, he regarded extra aggressive, scoring 5 extra factors in consecutive possessions. Sadly, the Warriors’ snipers have been unstoppable tonight, as Poole dropped three bombs from behind the arc, pushing the Warriors’ result in 89-69. VanVleet would come alive and rating 5 fast factors to assist the Raptors go on a faux 8-3 run to complete the third body, with a “manageable” deficit of 77-92.
Coach Nurse regarded like he was simply throwing issues on the wall and seeing what sticks; he inserted Malachi Flynn to start out the quarter, going with an all-bench lineup. The Warriors took benefit of the Raptors’ inexperienced lineup, pushing the lead again as much as 18. There appears to be one thing with loss of life, taxes, and Flynn needing to shake off early jitters. As soon as Flynn warmed up, he made a mark instantly when he stole the ball from Curry and located a reducing Chris Boucher for a layup in a single sequence. The subsequent play down, he discovered a reducing Valuable Achiuwa for an “And-1.”
Raptors Targeted on Growth in Loss to Warriors – Sports activities Illustrated
The system has develop into too easy: Drive to the rim or come off a display screen, get the Raptors scrambling, look forward to confusion to ensue, after which discover the open man. It’s a recreation plan that’s been executed flawlessly by Toronto’s opponents as of late. However, for now, the Raptors will reside with it.
“We’re making some progress,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse mentioned pre-game “A few of the issues we had on command aren’t fairly there however we’re getting there. … I believe everybody understands, from me to the crew that there’s a technique of getting some of these items found out. We’ve nonetheless acquired to show it and if it’s not fairly proper we acquired to show in once more and attempt to polish it up as a lot as we are able to.”
That course of is why Toronto isn’t simply giving up on its defensive technique. It’s why the Raptors continued sending two to the ball, trapping Steph Curry, and attempting to wreak havoc all whereas the Warriors racked up assists like a well-oiled machine. Certain, Curry was held to simply 18 factors on 2-for-10 capturing — credit score to Fred VanVleet — however Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins lit up the scoreboard for 33 and 32 factors, respectively, benefiting from Toronto’s miscommunication and chaotic rotations. The Warriors as a crew tallied up 22 three-pointers, capturing 49% from behind the arc.
“I believe a few instances we have been gradual getting on the market after we most likely ought to have anticipated getting on the market just a little sooner,” Nurse mentioned. “Then a few instances, I believed we ran them off unnecessarily. We have been there too quickly and we ran proper previous them after we most likely might have sat proper down and guarded them.
“I believed we did an important job on Curry I believe our rotations, we have to take a look at them, however I believe we’re making some progress on some of these items so far as a number of the issues we wish to do.”
Sunday night time confirmed simply how far the Raptors are from being title contenders. The Warriors jumped by 20 within the first quarter and by no means actually regarded again. However the Raptors are studying, or not less than that’s the hope, and when it does come collectively, if it does, Toronto ought to have the form of versatile, lockdown protection that spurred Golden State on to its dynastic run.
The sharpshooting Warriors are an excessive amount of for Nick Nurse’s college students of defence | The Star
Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole lit the Raptors up for a mixed 62 factors and 13 three-pointers because the Warriors registered a 119-104 victory on the Chase Middle to increase their NBA-best report to 15-2.
The Raptors have been possibly only a junked-up defence or two away from stealing a win on an evening when the offence struggled. They performed onerous and reduce a 20-point deficit in half in about 5 minutes of the fourth quarter however couldn’t string collectively sufficient stops all night time to make a severe run.
This group that Nurse is teaching, an amalgam of two or three time-honed previous heads and handful of regulars nonetheless studying their craft, could finally get to that time however it’s unfair to ask for a lot intricacy for the time being.
“We’re making some progress,” Nurse mentioned earlier than the sport. “A few of the issues we had on command (previously) aren’t fairly there, however we’re getting there.”
What the Raptors do commonly, like play onerous and get deflections and create turnovers, can work fairly nicely towards a variety of NBA groups. However the Warriors, with a variety of veterans and an array of shooters and distributors are removed from an everyday NBA crew.
They make extra three-pointers than any crew within the league and are within the high 5 in long-range makes an attempt and proportion. When they’re capturing in addition to they did Sunday, they’re a troublesome matchup for any crew.
“I believe everybody understands, from me to the crew, that there’s a technique of getting some of these items found out,” Nurse mentioned. “We nonetheless acquired to show it and, if it’s not fairly proper, we acquired to show it once more and attempt to polish it up as a lot as we are able to.”
Raps deal with Curry, however it’s the opposite Warriors that beat them | Toronto Solar
The Raptors did an important job, maybe the perfect job of the younger NBA season, limiting Curry however it clearly got here on the expense of the remainder of their defence they usually paid an enormous worth.
Between them, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole damage the Raptors to the tune of 55 factors because the Warriors re-asserted their dominance in a 119-104 win.
Poole and Wiggins had the kind of night time from behind the arc many most likely anticipated from Curry going into this recreation.
However credit score the Warriors and Curry for understanding that Fred VanVleet, with the occasional pitch-in from a teammate, simply weren’t going to let Curry have any respiratory room. Beause of that, the Warriors moved the ball to the open shooters and took benefit there.
Wiggins has been a 33% man from three up to now this season. Poole has been a tick below 30%.
However with VanVleet laser-focussed on Curry and the remainder of the Raptors hyper-aware with the assistance on the league’s main scorer, Wiggins and Poole acquired a ton of uncontested makes an attempt from behind the arc they usually not often missed.
Wiggins was 6-for-8 from distance for the majority of his 32 factors whereas Poole additionally benefited from some nice seems to be, although he made a couple of tightly contested ones as nicely within the 8-for-11 night time from three and recreation excessive 33 factors.
However 65 mixed factors from that pair, sizzling on the heels of a 59-point duel effort a few nights earlier in Detroit when Kerr and Firm sat each Curry and Inexperienced down for a relaxation has to have the league trying just a little more durable at these two from this level on.
The Raptors spent the vast majority of the sport down double digits and as many as 20 at one level, however reduce it to an excellent 10 with just below 8:00 to play, as VanVleet confirmed off his offensive chops with a few three pointers of his personal.
That was as shut because the Raptors would get as Warriors head coach Steve Kerr referred to as a day out and his squad responded with an 11-0 run to bump the lead all the way in which again as much as 21.
The Raptors can study from the Warriors, two years after shattering their desires | The Star
Final week, Warriors coach Steve Kerr, in a lighthearted call-out of those that’d bought his crew quick within the lead-up to the season, in contrast himself to Arya Stark, a personality from the TV sequence “Recreation of Thrones” generally known as a baby-faced seeker of ruthless vengeance.
“I’m like Arya from ‘Recreation of Thrones.’ I’ve all of the names of the media members who picked us to be outdoors the playoffs, and I’m simply checking off the field,” Kerr advised reporters. “I used to have to try this for a dwelling a very long time in the past, and it’s actually onerous to make predictions and prognostications. So I don’t pay too shut consideration to that. I believe as a coach you form of really feel a vibe in coaching camp and you’ll form of inform what sort of crew you’re going to have. The place you might be emotionally as a bunch, it actually issues. Two years in the past we have been shattered, actually and figuratively.”
If the Warriors have been shattered two years in the past, this yr they’ve skilfully put it again collectively. And as a lot because it’s Curry’s otherworldly capturing that always grabs the headlines, what’s additionally value following from a Raptors perspective is that the inspiration of Golden State’s renaissance is defensive.
The Warriors boast nothing lower than the perfect defensive ranking within the league. For all of Siakam’s inconsistencies as an offensive power, Raptors followers needed to be heartened to listen to him acknowledge probably the most disappointing side of his work this season, particularly his spotty defensive engagement.
“I’ve to maintain my consistency on defence … and I believe that’s one thing that I’ve to get higher at, and I’ve to carry that depth each single night time so everybody can observe,” Siakam mentioned.
It’s one factor to say it, after all, and one other factor to carry it. If the Raptors hope to rain vengeance on the critics who’ve allegedly underestimated their potential, not less than Siakam has recognized the tip of the ground the place the cleanup wants to start.
Morning Espresso – Mon, Nov 22 originated on Raptors Republic.
