TORONTO — After dropping the first three games of their first playoff round with Philadelphia last spring, the Raptors were starting to make things interesting.
With a pair of convincing wins under their belt, they looked set to do something very few teams in their position have ever done: force a win-win Game 7.
Then game 6 happened. The Raptors were embarrassed on their home turf, blowing themselves up by 35 points as Joel Embiid celebrated and sent them off season with a sour taste in their mouths.
Despite coming to camp with virtually the same roster, head coach Nick Nurse didn’t revisit that game or even spend much time talking about the series as a whole. It’s been in the back of his mind, though; informing some of the things he insisted on for the new season.
“I don’t think we executed that last game of the series very well,” Nurse said ahead of Wednesday’s game, the first of two straight against the rival 76ers. “As a coach when you lose one like that you have to think about it all summer. Our whole thing is we have to play hard on D and we have to execute our plans. If we don’t do one either, we probably won’t be good at D. If we do both, we’ll be very, very good.
After that six-game crash course defending one of the league’s most dynamic offensive duos, Embiid and James Harden, they were better prepared to execute their game plan on Wednesday night.
The numbers don’t necessarily reflect that. Philadelphia shot 51%, including 16 for 36 from three-pointers. Embiid scored 31 of 12 of 17, though – at times – it seemed like a selfless 31. He, Harden and third-year star Tyrese Maxey combined for 80 points. But the Raptors sought to make them uncomfortable, and for most of the night they succeeded.
“I was super happy with the defence,” Nurse said after his club’s impressive 119-109 win, improving to 3-2.
Without a big man who could match Embiid’s size or strength, Toronto sent multiple defenders every time he caught the ball. If nothing else, it put him under pressure to make faster reads, and unlike most of the playoffs last year, the Raptors did a good job of stealing and recovering from shooters.
Coming out of a timeout early in the fourth quarter, Christian Koloko – who was dropping at least 50 pounds in the game – faced Embiid in the post and deflected an inbound pass, leading to a quick dunk for the Raptors rookie . Minutes later, OG Anunoby picked up a Sixers pass, also intended for Embiid, and turned the transition opportunity into a few free throws. With Embiid out of the field, they showed Harden the same defensive pressure, doubling him at the top of the arc and giving in tough looks from the corner.
The Raptors forced just 13 turnovers, few by their standards, but they turned them into 21 points. Some of that can be attributed to Philadelphia’s shaky transition defense, but that’s how Nurse wants to play.
“We have work to do, for sure, but the effort is there,” said Fred VanVleet, who scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter. “We’re probably never going to play a perfect game, but I think we executed the game plan, for the most part.”
Of course, it helps when the shots fall like they did to open the campaign. On Wednesday, Toronto made 16 of 37 three-point attempts. With PJ Tucker going under the screens and playing the ebullient Pascal Siakam to lead, the Raptors forward made it pay, knocking down his first four threes. As the defense adjusted in the second half, Siakam became a playmaker, assisting on some four Gary Trent Jr. triples in the third quarter.
A year ago, the Raptors shot 35 percent from beyond the arc, good for 20th in the league. In preseason, they shot 24%. In five games this season, they are 41%, third-best in the NBA. Although the sample size is small and due to some regression, if guys like Siakam and Scottie Barnes continue to show improvements in their jumpers, that sets the stage for offense.
Say what you will about the Sixers, who have lost four of their first five games and don’t look quite in good shape to start the year, but it was the Raptors’ most comprehensive outing of the young season. They never opened things up, but they were also in control throughout.
“We feel like one of the best teams and [have the] best players anywhere we go,” said Trent, who had a team-best 27 points and was one of six Raptors to score in double figures. “We put our five against anyone’s five, we should be good.”
“We are going to get the win but at the same time we are not satisfied,” Siakam said after his night of 20 points and 13 assists. “We know that a team like this will come back in the next game and make adjustments. We have to be ready for that.
MAKE HISTORY
Midway through the first quarter, Koloko checked in for the Raptors, joining compatriots Siakam and Embiid on the field. It was a special moment, marking the first time in league history that three Cameroonian-born players appeared in the same NBA game.
“It’s a pretty huge deal, I’d like to think,” Siakam said earlier on Wednesday. “It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come. And to say that we are still far [away], but I think we are taking good steps forward. It’s good.”
Both Siakam and Koloko grew up in Douala, Cameroon’s most populous city, located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Embiid is from Yaoundé, about 230 kilometers to the east. All three are Basketball Without Borders alumni and Embiid was a coach at the 2017 camp in South Africa, which Koloko attended as a camper.
It’s not the size of their hometowns that makes their unlikely journey to the pros so remarkable – Douala has a population of around three million, about the same as Toronto. Instead, it’s infrastructure. Douala has produced two NBA players although there is only one concrete floor indoor basketball court, located inside the school Koloko attended.
The talent is there and with the success these guys are enjoying at the top level of the sport, the level of interest is rising across the country. However, the playing conditions did not improve much. With help from his foundation, Siakam aims to change that and grow the game at home.
“We’re working on a lot of things and hopefully we can continue to get the game out there,” the All-NBA forward said. “This generation, we hope more people will get there, but I think the younger generation will probably benefit more.”
The hope is that their successes, and seeing all three of them on the pitch together, can help inspire this next generation.
“I hope this means something [to them]”, Siakam said. “Just having this representation that, for us, we don’t really have most of the time. I haven’t watched much basketball [growing up] but when i did, i didn’t really see many people where i was from. So just to see that in a match, three people in the same place, it’s huge. And I hope that inspires young kids to dream of being in the NBA because it’s like something you can touch and something you can feel, because we do.
Wednesday night’s game between Toronto and Philadelphia kicked off at 12:30 a.m. Thursday morning in Cameroon. Koloko recalls spending sleepless nights watching live games as a teenager. West Coast games would not end until after 5 a.m. local time, just before he was due to leave for school.
“You watch the game and you sleep for about 30 minutes,” Koloko said. “Sometimes you don’t even sleep because you know if you sleep you won’t wake up, so you go to school and your eyes are red. It’s just for the love of the game, man. I feel like a lot of people are definitely going to do that tonight.
FINE
Moments before the whistleblower, the NBA announced that Raptors President and Vice President Masai Ujiri had been fined $35,000 for approaching the scorer’s table and making inappropriate remarks at an official during Toronto’s loss to the Heat in Miami on Saturday.
Of course, it was already a hectic night. Koloko was ejected and later fined $15,000 for his role in an on-court altercation with Heat forward Caleb Martin. Upon review, it was clear that the rookie’s “role” in the trade was to stand up after Martin stood up and taunted him, then put his arm across Martin’s back to brace himself as he was stuck in the stands.
The incident sparked a comeback for the Raptors, cutting a 24-point deficit to three in the final minute, before coming up short.
So, yeah, you can see why Ujiri might have had a few things to get rid of on his chest.
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