Sabtu, 06 Februari 2021

Raptors top the Nets in a strange, disheveled game of basketball - Raptors Republic

One night at my pool hall in Halifax, where I grew up, two regulars started hurling pool balls at each other from relatively close distances. That night was approximately half as chaotic as the Toronto Raptors’ 123-117 win over the Brooklyn Nets.

This is one of those where to start situations. Perhaps with Kevin Durant. His night was allegorical, perhaps, in terms of the NBA’s malleable reaction to the pandemic in general. First Durant was held out of the game due to being placed in the health and safety protocols, though he was never officially ruled out. Then Durant checked into the game in the first quarter (and promptly set to torching the Raptors — he finished a team-high +10 in the loss) as the league insisted he was cleared to play. Finally, after being whistled for a fifth foul, which was overturned in a challenge, Durant was forced to leave the building by being placed back into the health and safety protocols.

Durant made his thoughts public via twitter, saying that he should have been allowed to play.

Apparently, Durant had been in contact with someone whose tests were inconclusive, so he was allowed to play.(Why not start, though, nobody knows.) Then during the game, one of that unnamed person’s tests came back positive, so Durant was withdrawn immediately. Durant has continued to test negative leading up to the game. And several Nets, most notably James Harden, questioned the protocols after the game, wondering why the game was even played, as Durant’s teammates were clearly in contact with him before and during the game. The Nets were furious after the game about the situation.

So, more COVID scares for the Raptors. This has become a regular occurrence in the NBA, and world at large, and the Raptors have been on the fortunate side this season in terms of avoiding the virus. It is currently unclear if they will play the Atlanta Hawks tomorrow, although Nick Nurse said post-game that he hasn’t heard anything about a postponement, and the team did travel to Atlanta last night.

By the way, the last time Durant played against the Raptors? He didn’t start the game, but when he checked in, he immediately shifted the texture of the game. Then after dominating for a few minutes, Durant was forced out again. That was game five of the 2018-19 NBA finals. Pascal Siakam noted after the game the similarities in his perspective.

Beyond the Durant situation, the Raptors spent another night voicing their disagreement with the referees. Fred VanVleet and Nurse picked up a pair of technical fouls in the second quarter, which Nurse described afterwards as “a really unpleasant portion of the game.” The Nets ended up attempting more than double the number of free throws that the Raptors attempted, 29 to 14. Toronto was shaken by the officiating, and they responded poorly in that second quarter. They had some cause, though; Kyle Lowry and Norm Powell both received bloody faces from fouls that went uncalled. 

Despite it all — and this may be burying the lede somewhat — the Raptors pulled off what is probably their win of the season to this point.

Siakam had a historically dominant game in the post, albeit against Brooklyn’s malnourished defense. He finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, and zero turnovers. Those numbers perhaps understate his contributions. He was fantastic with his back to the basket. When the Nets allowed him to work against a single defender, he scored with absolute ease, no matter his defender. He hit fadeaways, drop-step layups, spinning hooks, and floaters. He use his time and was patient, staying on-balance. When the Nets sent a second defender, Siakam was fantastic at making the correct pass and hurting the Nets in other ways. His offensive output was immaculate.

Lowry was no slouch himself. He scored 30 points with 7 assists, and he took over in the fourth quarter. When the game was tight, and the Nets even took a lead with a few minutes remaining, Lowry was the best player on the court. He hit triples in transition and out of the pick-and-roll. He connected on mid-range pull-ups. He drove and dished to Siakam for multiple layups. Lowry focused on a spinning and distracting game, and he closed the door on the Nets.

That’s what it’s going to take to win basketball games this season. Focus, when so many disparate elements are screaming at players to pay attention to factors beyond basketball. Toronto didn’t cave. Their defensive game-plan was well-crafted and well-executed, as they blitzed Kyrie Irving and James Harden and forced turnovers from their teammates. Their offense was patient, putting pressure on the rim when Brooklyn had not a soul to defend it. The Nets are not a flawless team by any means, but they are a dangerous one, with three Hall of Famers, even if one was only available for half of the game. Toronto was the team whose foundations held strongest under the wave of weirdness. They earned a win on a bizarre night.

That bizarreness could, of course, impact the Raptors going forward. They will, as usual, have multiple COVID tests today before playing the Hawks, and if everything goes as planned, then great, the safety protocols are working effectively. But the Durant yo-yo was more than a distraction; his playing constituted a possible breach in the membrane of the bubble that the league attempts to create to separate its players from any exposure to the virus.

“It is what it is,” was the response of a few different Raptors after the game, most literally Lowry. But they seem to accept their realities.

That’s what this season is going to be, beyond just this night. And the Raptors won, despite it all. They now sit at 10-12, at sixth place in the East, and 8-4 over their last 12 games. They currently have a better offense, both in terms of absolute rating and relative positioning to the rest of the league, than they did last season. All basketball signs are pointing up.

Very little happened to the two regulars who tussled in the pool hall that night. I remember them both continuing to play there, if a little less often, in the following weeks and months. Remarkably, no one was seriously hurt. It was just a strange night. That has to be the hope for the Raptors. Take the basketball win and continue to build on it. Ignore the uncontrollables. That’s what a winning team has to do in this day and age.

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2021-02-06 14:00:00Z
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