The Raptors take Game 3
The Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors (123–109) and take a 2–1 lead in the series
The Raptors produced a well-rounded scoring attack to handle the injury-riddled Warriors. Coming into this game, the Golden State did not have Klay Thompson or Kevin Durant, it meant that Steve Kerr had to re-jig his rotation for the tenth time in this post-season. There was a serious possibility that this could have been a trap game for the Raptors if they dropped their guard and let the Warriors into a game that they had no chance winning. However, Toronto came to the Oracle Arena and did exactly what they are supposed to. Six players for the Raptors scored in double digits and the Raptors did incredibly well on restricting the Warriors from finding an offensive rhythm.
Golden State over the last six games has needed their offence to be in rhythm and for all of their players to be in zone so that the team can operate at the highest level. The Warriors without Durant have a smaller margin for error on the offensive end as they do not have a dedicated isolation scorer who can kill whatever defence is being played. The Warriors need Curry, Draymond and Klay to be rolling in order to take over games and win the series. In Game 3, the Warriors could not find that offensive rhythm and the Raptors came out on top.
The Toronto Raptors did brilliantly in this game in terms of taking all of the other Warriors out of the game except for Stephen Curry. Stephen Curry is one of the most talented shooters in the entire league and can carry a team for large stretches offensively however the Raptors were exceptional in terms of cutting off the court. The Raptors did well in terms of stifling the Warriors’ defensively which meant that players like DeMarcus Cousins and Draymond Green could not get into a zone offensively. While Curry got his (47 points on 14–31 FG), the rest of the team struggled from the field and for the first time in a long time did the Warriors look mortal.
The adjustments made by the Steve Kerr did not fix any of the issues that the Raptors’ starting lineup posed. Kerr chose to insert Shaun Livingston into the starting lineup due to Klay’s injury. The intended effect of this decision was that Livingston’s defence would stem the bleeding and his play-making from the guard spot would provide a safety valve on offence when Curry was being trapped and doubled to no end. There was a general feeling among fans and the media that Shaun Livingston had one last great game that he could eke out of his body before his likely retirement at the end of the season. The bleeding did not stop and the Raptors continued to exploit the Warriors’ defensive weaknesses caused by both age and fatigue. The deficiency that comes with inserting a player like Livingston into the starting lineup is that the unit becomes older and less able to cover ground defensively. The Raptors’ shredded the Warriors off the pick and roll and consistently found the open man who knocked down open shots. The Raptors’ shot incredibly well from the field (52.3%) and took apart a defence that just could not close out fast enough or rotate onto shooters with enough alacrity.
For the Warriors, the DeMarcus Cousins’ gamble has not paid during the play-offs. Cousins who has suffered two major injuries over the course of the last eighteen months and had barely recovered from a torn Achilles before returning to basketball has been a negative for the Warriors. Cousins was always going to be a high-risk option in these types of situation as he has never played play-off basketball before and had to play off rustiness. The difference between the play-offs and the regular season is huge as the game becomes more specific, match-ups become more important and it is imperative for specific match-ups to be won.
The match-up between DeMarcus Cousins and Marc Gasol has become a key battleground for the Warriors who desperately needed another scorer to fill the void left by Klay Thompson. Cousins’ variety of scoring had to overcome Gasol’s intelligent defence in order for the Warriors to have any chance of winning the game. However, Cousins did not perform as Steve Kerr would have hoped as he went 1–7 FG, had three rebounds and two assists. It is clear that Cousins does not have legs under him which has been important when Cousins has had scoring opportunities. Gasol’s physical defence has posed a serious issue for Boogie who needed an easier opponent in order to play himself in and get comfortable on the court. Boogie has struggled against the physicality and has seemed reticent to score the ball. DMC being a liability at the worse possible time for the Warriors has impacted Golden State’s chances significantly.
The Warriors have also been terrible in terms of turning over the ball. Golden State had fourteen total turnovers which becomes a serious problem when there is not enough offensive production to make up for these liabilities. In the majority of these possessions, the turnovers have occurred due to aggressive Raptors’ defence and desperation on the Warriors’ part. There were a few possessions by Curry or Draymond in which the Warriors were trying difficult passes instead of constantly shifting the ball and creating great looks. A defence like the Raptors with ballhawks like Leonard or Lowry will not let passes hang in the air and will steal the ball before creating an easy look out of it.
In this game, Steve Kerr has to come under some criticism for his management of the roster. He has such a tough issue posed to him with the various injuries and fatigue to the Warriors but Kerr made two crucial mistakes in Game 3. The first mistake was that DeMarcus Cousins was started and Andrew Bogut came off the bench. Bogut would have been a better option for the Warriors due to his system knowledge and the fact that he is relatively speaking fresher. Bogut played a light season in Australia and has only played limited minutes during the play-offs, he could feasibly step into the starting lineup and be productive. The other issue for the Warriors is that Steph Curry is being utilised too much off-ball.
The Warriors’ ability to take over games has been aided by the two-man game between Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. The Warriors run an unorthodox two-man in which Green handles the ball and Curry sprints through screens before getting a shot off the dribble. The scheming has been highly successful against Portland, Houston and the Clippers but it has been less effective against the Raptors due to Green turning over the ball way more. This offensive item has been stifled on multiple occasions and it would have been a wise idea to have Curry as the primary ball-handler on even more possessions. Curry shooting the ball thirty-one times was not enough against the Raptors, Kerr needed to have empowered Curry to shoot whenever the shot was good.
For all of the Warriors’ issues, this was a banana skin for the Raptors. It was a game that the Raptors were expected to win and those are the games where guards could be let down. Toronto were exceptional in playing a focused game in which the scoring attack was balanced. Six players ended in double-digits but the most impressive performance has to be Kyle Lowry.
Lowry has undergone a lot of criticism over the last five years for his inconsistency in the play-offs and the Raptors’ inability to get out of the Eastern Conference. In this series, Kyle Lowry has put that reputation to bed as he has turned in consistent scoring performances while putting on the full Kyle Lowry Over Everything experience. Lowry took charges, probed the defences while also shooting the ball at an efficient rate. Lowry finished with twenty three points (8–16 FG, 5–9 3P) and nine assists but it was the way he went about it. Lowry played a deliberate game in which he controlled the tempo of the game while balancing his scoring and passing in an effective manner.
Toronto did well in terms of getting out in the lead and never let the Warriors get into the game. The Raptors hit important shots and meant that the lead never got into a tense situation where the Warriors had the momentum. Fred VanVleet’s was exceptional defensively which allowed Lowry to take the reigns of the offence and find open shooters.
Reported on June 7, 2019 (Game Review was not uploaded until 11 June, 2019 due to alterations)
