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Kawhi Leonard has been the best player in the Eastern Conference playoffs so far. (Especially after what happened to Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee on Sunday.) He annihilated Orlando Magic in five games, averaging 27.8 points per game in the 56/54/89 shooting division – and comprises the game where he went 5-in-19 while he was sick of the flu. He opened the second round in style, scoring a total of 45 career playoff points and leaving the Philadelphia 76ers looking helpless to stop him. And even after the Sixers proved that it was not entirely true, by changing their defensive appearance to limit Leonard to only three attempts in the first quarter of Game 2, forward All-Star replied for produce another monstrous performance. Nearly two years after the closure of Zaza Pachulia, which has changed everything, Leonard is back in the form of opposition, MVP caliber, his last days in San Antonio, or at least nearby.
Despite the fact that Leonard finished with an effective average of 35 points and six assists, his Toronto Raptors lost the second game on Monday night as the Sixers lost to a win – it was not pretty-but- we take it 94-89. . Even against the biggest players, the best players need help, and with Philly now holding home ground advantage as the stage moves south for Game 3 on Thursday, a big question is looming . You can count on Kawhi in the playoffs. But can he count on the rest of the Raptors?
Brett Brown has indeed upset the defensive assignments of his team after the first game. The Sixers coach dropped Ben Simmons (6-foot-10) off the back Kyle Lowry and Leonard, instead of the smaller Jimmy Butler. He also moved to the Joel Embiid Center, which needed Intravenous fluids before the game to fight, uh, intestinal problems– Marc Gasol and his Cameroonian compatriot, striker Pascal Siakam, with Tobias Harris picking up the big man of the Raptors. The switch paid off early.
Simmons (and his defending teammates) defended the screens very well and prevented Leonard from taking easy shots, disrupting Toronto's flow and forcing the Raptors to look elsewhere for an early offensive. At the same time, Embiid, sinking in his defense, effectively dared Siakam to fire from a distance or to enter a giant obstacle in the painting. The combination led the Siakam movement to hit a retarder. The most-improved player's favorite went from spinning to rim trying to find the reach on uncomfortable floats, leading to a 3-for-11 start on the court for a player who scored 12 in 15 1.
Siakam arguing, Kawhi calming down and Lowry trying to regain the sense of the game, the Raptors' offense broke under the flood of attempts to force-reset, low-percentage attempts late in the clock and shots taken by secondary and tertiary threats. The result: the Raptors missed two-thirds of their shots in two quarters, putting Philly at 13 points at half-time which could have been twice as big if the Sixers had not spat the ball 13 times , leading to 18 Toronto points.
The Raptors then made points to return in the game, including a 22-10 in the third quarter and a hit of 19-7 in the fourth quarter, which reduced the deficit to one. But on Monday, they mattered less than how they ended up behind the eighth ball. With Siakam, who came so fast, stumbling like Leonard's scoring threat. With Lowry, still Toronto's most expensive talent and his rearguard, he seems more complementary than commander. And with Leonard, all this against double and triple teams almost constant Philadelphia, often left to themselves.
These Raptors differ from their predecessors because they have Leonard, exactly the kind of defensive destroyer on the perimeter, creator of high-value shots and effective late-game offensive source, which was lacking in Toronto during the DeMar DeRozan period – Dwane Casey . And yet, a favorite Raptors team took the opportunity to take control of a series on Monday, raising doubts where they did not.
It may not be exactly right. After all, they lost Game 1 against the Magic before blowing Orlando's doors for the next four games. We are two days away from the Raptors formula that slams for a decisive victory against these same Sixers. And although the last Lowry series are still at the center of the debate, he finished the second game with 20 points on 7 shots for 17 points, five rebounds, five assists, one flight and only two turnovers in 42 minutes. Work, and drilled two huge 3 points late to keep Toronto on hand at the last minute.
But then: the last minute. This is where the second potential of Lowry coconut game 2 went awry, sending him on the bridge in pursuit of the ball and the Raptors struggling for a look that would make the game equal rather than generate one with a sharp execution:
Either Lowry was trying to dribble the ball between Tobias Harris' legs at 16 seconds of the playoffs, or he flagrantly lost control of the ball at the most inopportune moment of the match. No option is ideal. Even so, the Raptors had a chance, but Danny Green – a 45.5% long-distance shooter during the regular season – stayed empty. (Partly, perhaps, because of the immense humanity carrying his donkey with gastroenteritis in the direction of Green.)
You can make peace with Green's wandering attempt; it's a league that does or miss, and all that. But things are different so far, and you will forgive a fan base that has been here before for having felt this familiar anxiety once again as we watched the sad score of 17 points in the first quarter and Lowry's late mistake – especially given all that the Raptors have to gain from the result of this playoff series .
Leonard holds a player option for the 2019-2020 season. He has every chance to retire and enter the free agency without restriction, where several teams with maximum salary cap space, including the Los Angeles Clippers, should put pressure on all the ground to his services. His choice to play afterwards is one of the league's most convincing questions in 2019; at this point, all that raptors do or do not do must be considered through the lens of the impact that this could have on this choice.
A team that already owns Siakam – a rugged sander with an emerging offensive game that can also stand side by side with Kawhi against the toughest defensive confrontations – as well as stable veteran hands and future financial flexibility to build a team of caliber of champion around them could present a nice attractive pitch. A trip to the finals of the NBA would probably not hurt him either … but for a franchise vying for the title and pursuing an all-season audition on behalf of Leonard as an independent agency, uneven performance and in-game decisions that make progress more difficult or less likely.
After a pair of Gasol free throws, the Sixers led 61-60 at 2:50 of the third, it looked like the Raptors had figured out what had happened – as if they had weathered the storm Philly adjustments, restored the order, and get back on the way to a 2-0 lead. They did not have any, though. You do not have much margin of error after coughing for the first half. Thanks to curious calls from coach Nick Nurse's rotation late in the third and early fourth – Jodie Meeks apparently out of nowhere? To stick with Serge Ibaka against Embiid rather than to match Gasol's minutes to his, despite Ibaka fights violently in this match? -A game of stellar game at the end of the game by Butler and Embiid, the Sixers managed to prevent the Raptors from crossing the course, and to equalize in the series.
Thus you lose a match in which your best player scores 35-7-6 on 54% of shots while the other team returns 20 times. You are missing 27 3 points. Greg Monroe and James Ennis III, of Philly, outperformed performances similar to those of Ibaka, Fred VanVleet and Norman Powell. And your crazy head coach of genius, the one who spent the entire season praising fluidity and experimenting with the combinations of formations, marvel at the search for discord and let the queuing lines falter for too long. . You lose on the margins. Little things matter. They always do.
These clashes on the sidelines could tilt Toronto to Thursday. The nurse could re-evaluate her rotations, consider changing her substitution patterns, and suggest more creative ways to attack the Embiid-Siakam match or get the ball to Kawhi in advantageous positions earlier and more often. The 3 open could fall, and the battle of the bench could favor the Raptors. (Especially if Sprain of Monroe's left ankle and makes him wear city clothes, and if Mike Scott is unable to return to training or if his return does not allow it.) Even if they do, you wonder if moments like those who decided Monday night will stay there Leonard's spirit. You no longer have to wonder what you get from Kawhi; Load management is over, the real hunt is going on, and it's about as safe as things are entering the NBA right now. After him, however, almost anything could be won, both in this series and beyond.
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