Raptors pull out gritty win over Heat, but room for growth still exists

What’s your favourite Dwyane Wade vs. the Toronto Raptors moment?

Take a quick online survey, and the consensus is a moment that brings back pleasant memories for Raptors fans. Game 7 in Toronto, where Kyle Lowry had arguably his best playoff game with 35 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to lead his team to the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals.

It was a watershed moment for the franchise, and it speaks volumes of the organization’s growth that making it that far once again is seen as a bare minimum expectation for this season’s squad.

The big picture is quite clear, but it’s the colouring along the edges that this team is looking to do over this final stretch before games of consequence begin in a week. It’s been clear as day just how good Toronto’s starting unit can be, but the concern all season has been the bench.

Nick Nurse has suggested that playoff games, barring foul trouble, will feature two of Lowry, Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam or Marc Gasol, and we got a good look at some Lowry+Leonard+bench minutes on this Sunday afternoon.

They weren’t great.

The all-star duo opened the second quarter alongside Serge Ibaka, OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet, but allowed seven straight field goals right out of the gate and forced Nurse to take a timeout. That did little to stop the bleeding, though, as even the introduction of Danny Green for VanVleet saw the Heat’s lead swell to 13 at 49-36. Miscommunication and an inability to figure out Miami’s zone defence were at the top of their issues.

Over and over, the Heat abused Toronto’s pick-and-roll defence, whether it be ball-handlers rejecting screens and going the other way, Hassan Whiteside having his way inside and providing the sporadic pop threat, and even a couple of Dion Waiters island moments were mixed in. We can get to Leonard’s final possession at the end of regulation in a minute, but that second quarter 23-11 Miami run is where, I think, a majority of Monday’s film session courtesy of Adrian Griffin will come from.

You really see the impact James Johnson of the Heat can have as a secondary ball-handler working off Goran Dragic and Wade, but you can also see the consistent lack of communication between the Raptors. There’s Siakam not calling out a screen for VanVleet, the weakside defence not reacting in time or even just switching when the other defender isn’t expecting it. Some of this may be the byproduct of an early start time, but as we all know, Toronto is not immune to early afternoons in the playoffs.

The issues offensively during the run primarily stemmed from the Raptors looking to attack the zone from the nail (middle of the foul line) and challenging mostly Ibaka and to a lesser extent Anunoby to make decisions out of it. With Ibaka, he presents a shooting threat from that area of the floor, but his ability to recognize the next play in timely fashion or the pass that can lead to the assist still leaves you wistful for better.

Anunoby is neither a shooting threat nor has he developed the playmaking chops to be a fulcrum to attack the zone. Gasol is more than adept at operating as a zone buster, so some of this may just be to give those two players a look at a responsibility they may need to take on if Nurse is ever in a situation where he needs to break glass. Good on Erik Spoelstra for seeing what the Raptors can come up with in the zone in the absence of Gasol and Siakam, though.

Things could have been much worse for the Raptors heading into the second half if not for playoff Norm making an early appearance. Powell was stellar in giving the Raptors offence a jolt with 23 points in 21 minutes off the bench on a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, including four attempts from three-point range.

In games where VanVleet struggles to find his range as he did in this one with 1-for-8 shooting, Powell providing some kind of release valve for the offence is critical. Instead of a double-digit deficit heading into the half, the Raptors trailed by just seven — and that could have been less if not for a mini-push by the Heat late — at the break.

Ok, so about that last shot in regulation where Leonard had the ball in his hands with a chance to win the game. It was certainly surprising to see him pull up for three when he had the entire floor spread out for him, something Johnson will happily concede in most scenarios when considering all the other possible evils. John Schuhmann of NBA.com pointed out even more reason why that probably wasn’t the ideal shot for him in a late-game scenario.

Or, he’s just way overdue now.

The Raptors have had a few good examples of ideal isolation execution at the end of games this season when they’ve looked to create a bit of a runway and separation for Leonard through screen-setting either ahead of an inbounds in short clock scenarios or as time is winding down and he’s ready to get to his spot after dribbling out some clock. Especially when receiving a screen from Lowry, these are scenarios where Leonard — on more occasions than not — will have the opportunity to switch onto a smaller defender (unless certain teams anticipate this and put their backup Leonard defender on Lowry as well) and give him some daylight on a shot attempt.

In this scenario, flat-footed and matched up against James Johnson, it seemed like a bit of hero ball as well as settling. He was 3-for-7 from three to that point and just hit one to tie the game at 99 a couple minutes ago, but with all the tools in his bag and certainly not in a situation where you need a three, you’d think there’d be a bit more elaborate of a plan to finish the game in regulation.

Overtime was all good for the Raptors, and they should certainly take heart from executing the way they did in the final five minutes against a Heat team that was effectively looking to keep any hopes of a playoff berth alive. It was probably a good omen when Leonard showed off his incredibly high IQ to tip a lead pass from Gasol to Green in the corner after slipping Johnson for a sliver of daylight, before Green also took the backdoor route for an easy two and an early five-point lead.

Outside of a Wade step back three-pointer and a Waiters attempt that found the bottom with the game already in hand, the Raptors were essentially perfect on the defensive end in overtime. Even with those two shots, they can be quite content with their execution.

This was certainly another game where the Raptors have plenty of positives to take from, but the little work that has been put on their plate can provide food for thought in terms of fragments that they could look to improve before it’s all about — as Kyle Lowry likes to say — the gold ball.

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