10 things I saw from Raptors-Celtics (24–2–2017)
Feb 25, 2017 · 3 min read
- Intensity: Adding Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker had its intended effect. The Raptors and Celtics fought like hell in a playoff-like atmosphere at the ACC. You got DeMarre Carroll shoving Isaiah Thomas on a fast break. IT comes back by raking DeMar DeRozan across the face. Raptors haven’t shown this type of physicality since Bismack Biyombo played like a man possessed in the playoffs.
- What a real All-Star looks like: DeMar DeRozan did the damn thing tonight. 43 points on this tiny Celtics team that boasts zero interior defense. DeRozan forced his shots early but settled into being an absolute buzzsaw. He drilled two jumpers in the fourth along with a clever drive on the baseline to put the Celtics away.
- Stay woke: PJ Tucker is an instant fan favorite. This dude caught the red-eye, didn’t sleep a wink in 30 hours, only to make a handful of huge plays in the fourth. He straight up stripped IT like taking candy from a baby, mixed it up for offensive rebounds, and switched onto everyone from IT to Al Horford. He doesn’t do much on offense but that’s everyone else’s job.
- The other addition: Not to be forgotten, Serge Ibaka was also pretty freaking good — so good that Jonas Valanciunas night never see the floor in the fourth ever again. Ibaka spaced the floor, moved his feet on defense and blocked some shots that were wrongly whistled as fouls in favor of Marcus Smart.
- Winning with defense: The Raptors limited Boston to 42 points in the second half, consisting mostly of banked in threes or Smart’s bogus foul shots. Credit Cory Joseph for smothering IT, while Ibaka, Tucker and Carroll were also tremendous.
- Early cobwebs: The Raptors opened the night with some of the ugliest offense we’ve seen all season. Every play boiled down to generating a slight mismatch, then attacking that in isolation. Bad shots led to easy run outs and an early lead for Boston.
- Attacking the basket: The 20–3 run to start the second half came from the Raptors running coherent sets to generate downward momentum toward the basket. DeRozan was ruthless working off high screens to get into the paint, while Cory Joseph worked well off screens to attack. That turned this game around.
- I roll with Amir: Seriously, I’m always gonna roll with Amir. I miss that guy so much. But goddamn it’s frustrating to be on the opposite side of his sneaky fouls. His subtle shoves in the paint, locking up rebounders, hidden jersey grabs drive you mad.
- Ibaka-Pat frontcourt: This looks to be the Raptors’ best frontcourt alignment on paper. Both players can move their feet on defense, space the floor, fly around the court to set ball screens, and more than anything else they’re just smart players who know how shit works. There’s rarely the glitch that happens when Jonas is involved.
- All things considered: This is the best we can hope for without Lowry in the mix. He dictates tempo, creates threes and organizes the offense better than anyone else. But I’m encouraged by the Raptors’ sudden ability to win a game on their defense.
