By: Adamo Marinelli
Monday, May 27th
After a lopsided game two in favour of the Milwaukee Bucks, everybody gave the Raptors no chance heading into game three being down 0-2 in the series. Oh my, did the Raptors ever prove every single hater wrong. They would go onto win four consecutive games to win the series 4-2, knock off the best team in the league and earn the right to have home-court advantage in their first ever NBA Finals appearance against the dynasty which is the Golden State Warriors. In this article, I will analyze the Eastern Conference finals and predict the winner of the NBA finals.
Home court advantage proved to be huge in this series as the home team won five of the six games. Game one was close, but several missed shots and key turnovers in the fourth quarter by the Raptors proved to be the difference in a 108-100 Bucks’ win.
Game two was a blowout. The Bucks took the lead early and never looked back. In a 125-103 win to take a 2-0 series lead, the Bucks outbattled the Raptors physically, they outshot them from the field and beyond the arc, outrebounded them, had better ball movement, won more battles for the loose ball and had more energy. They simply wanted the win more and it showed. They led by as much as 20 points twice and the Raptors could only cut it down to 13.
After game two, many people gave up on the Raptors, including famous sports analysts like Steven A. Smith, Adam Schefter, Max Kellerman and Skip Bayless. They claimed the series was over. That the Bucks would sweep the series. Little did everyone know, the game two win was ultimately the Bucks’ last win of their stellar season.
The Raptors would eventually end up winning four consecutive games to beat the Milwaukee Bucks, who had a league-best 60 regular season wins, four games to two in the Eastern Conference Finals and advance to their first NBA Finals series in franchise history.
There are a few things to note about this Raptors’ playoff run. It has been in the making for years. Masai Ujiri, the general manager of the Toronto Raptors has done an incredible job putting the current roster together. The Raptors have had some trouble signing big name free agents, meaning they’ve had to build their roster with trades and through the draft. The Raptors have done a spectacular job at that because most of the big names they have were acquired from lottery picks, and Ujiri was able to use his amazing GM skills to trade irrelevant players to desperate teams for positions, players and picks he is in dire need of.
Anyways, in essentially a do-or-die, must-win game three, the Raptors came out with plenty of energy.
They played very well on offence, moving the ball and creating scoring chances, hitting open shots and capitalizing on turnovers by the defence with their strong transition game, that does not allow the Bucks’ defence to get set up. They also did a good job on second-chance points, despite getting slightly outrebounded by the Bucks by a tally of 74-68. However, it was their defence that really stepped up and was the difference maker in this game and the entire series. After game two, Nick Nurse regrouped and used Kawhi Leonard as the main defender against Giannis Antetokounmpo. Once that switch occurred, the Raptors were able to limit Giannis’ production in the paint; his area of expertise and were able to slow him down. This helped as Giannis’ strength is on fast break points. They also shut down the Bucks’ three-point shooting for the most part and limited their field goals and points from the paint. The Raptors controlled the momentum for the whole game and of the 58 minutes they played, including both overtimes, they led for 54.5 minutes. Pascal Siakam missed a game-winning free throw at the end of regulation which sent the game to overtime and Raptors fans worried about going down 0-3 in the series. But Kawhi took advantage of Giannis fouling out in double OT, took control and led the Raptors to a win. They now only trailed the series 2-1. It was a great team effort on offence and on defence, but Kawhi’s 36 points helped a lot in a 118-112 win for Toronto.
In game four, it was more or less the same. The Raptors didn’t want to go back to Milwaukee down 3-1 in the series, so it was another must-win game. The Raptors came to play again. So did Drake - who cheered on his team from the sideline, taunted the opposition, massaged Nick Nurse and hyped up the fans all series long. The Raptors defence was again the difference maker in the game, shutting down the Bucks’ offence, not allowing them to have open shots or drive down the floor for easy transition points, which is what the Bucks excel at, causing turnovers and creating transition points for their offence. The Raptors defence, along with Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry and Fred Van Vleet, were the MVPs of this series. They limited the Bucks - the highest scoring team in the NBA - to under 100 points in two games and under 105 in three. And they limited the two best scorers on the Bucks, Giannis and Middleton to only a combined 55 points. That’s awesome! Also, after Kawhi played 53 minutes in game three, everyone chipped in on offence and the Raptors had a whole team effort result in a dominating 120-102 win to tie the series two games apiece. Leonard still had 19 points, but Lowry had 25, Gasol had 17, Powell had 18, Ibaka had 17 and Van Vleet chipped in with 13 points. Even Siakam had a huge game, especially in the rebound and assist department. After Lowry, Gasol and Powell all fouled out in game three, they all bounced back in massive fashion in a game four blowout win. This was their best team effort and possibly their biggest win of the playoffs beside game seven against Philadelphia and games five and six against Milwaukee.
Game five and six were in different cities but very similar games. Game five was a crucial game in the series that is tied 2-2 and whoever won this game would be one win away from the NBA Finals. The home team is a perfect 4-0. The Raptors trailed by 14 points midway through the fourth quarter and didn’t take the lead until there was 8:30 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Again, it was the Raptors’ defence that led the way in this game, not allowing the Bucks to get inside the paint and get open dunks, Giannis’ speciality, but their defence controlled the game and got crucial turnovers and blocks that led to transition points for Toronto all game long. Their defence was the catalyst of their offence thanks to their great transition attack and ball movement to open up the floor and spread defenders out. Siakam had three blocks and a steal. It was a huge defensive effort from him and the whole team. Not to mention Kawhi was spectacular with 35 points, for his 11th game of 30+ points and Fred Van Vleet was on another level, shooting 7-9 from three-point range. He is 80% from beyond the arc so far in the series. The Raptors fought back from two huge deficits, 14 points in the first quarter and ten points twice in the fourth quarter and worked around a few bad calls from the officials to take a stranglehold in the series against Milwaukee and hand the Bucks their third straight loss for the first time since March of 2018.
Game six was probably the biggest game in Raptors history because there was a trip to the NBA finals on the line. And the Raptors have never been there before. It was raining all day before game six and Jurassic Park was closed for a while but fans lined up and still managed to fill the streets of downtown Toronto hours before the game including Jurassic Park. The Scotia Bank arena and the Jurassic park were loud, positive and energetic all series long. Game six was another game where the Raptors, led by Kawhi Leonard, the MVP of this series and their defence, came back from several huge deficits. They trailed by as much as 15 points early in the second quarter, 13 points midway through the third quarter and they were down 76-61 with 2:18 left in the third quarter. But a 26-3 run from the Raptors in the next ten minutes, which started with a 10-0 run led by eight points from Kawhi and a Serge Ibaka dunk assisted by Leonard. Kawhi had another huge night with 27 points, including a three-pointer that bounced around the rim before going in - reminiscent of the shot in game seven against Philadelphia - 17 rebounds (on a night where the rest of team was having trouble rebounding) and seven huge assists. Again, it was the Raptors’ defence that led the way in this game, not allowing the Bucks to get inside the paint and get open dunks, Giannis’ speciality, and their defence controlled the game, controlled the momentum, got turnovers and blocks that led to clutch transition points for Toronto. The Raptors also outrebounded the Bucks' defensively and offensively which led to transition points and second-chance points respectively; both are very helpful when a team is trailing big. Their defence also did an excellent job closing the game out in the final minutes by playing physically knowing the Bucks’ were in the bonus, meaning every foul would result in free throws. They also overcame several iffy calls from the referees again like in game four and five. Overall, their defence won the Raptors the series and everyone played fantastic defence. On the offensive side of the ball players like Kawhi, Lowry, Van Vleet, Gasol and Siakam, and the majority of the players on the team had an amazing series and will be awarded an Eastern Conference Finals Championship and a trip to the NBA Finals. Truly, resilience is the word to describe this team. No matter how much they trail by, how bad the refs are, they always united as a team, play their heart out and win.
Moreover, the referees were pretty evenly matched on both sides; by making and missing calls on both teams, however, there were a several fouls on Toronto that definitely shouldn’t have been called, which gave the Bucks points from the free throw line, keeping them alive in some close games during the series and there were some calls against the Bucks, that should have been called but weren’t. There were also some defensive fouls against Milwaukee that were called as offensive fouls against Toronto and some offensive fouls against the Bucks which were called as defensive fouls against the Raptors. This happened all series long but was most clear in game three when several Raptors fouled out, like Lowry, Gasol and Powell. Also, there were definitely some possessions when a Bucks’ player stepped out of bounds before taking a shot - in most cases to keep the game close - that should have been stopped and times when it should have been Toronto ball, but they ruled it to be Milwaukee’s ball. This happened to occur the most when Milwaukee was trailing and needed some momentum to catch up to the Raptors who have taken the lead. So the officials might have been a little biased in favour of the Bucks, at least that’s what several analysts, including Jack Armstrong, have mentioned.
With all that being said, it will be the Raptors vs the Warriors in the NBA Finals. The Raptors are trying to win their first NBA championship; the Warriors are trying to win their third consecutive championship and their fourth title in five years. The Raptors are an amazing team, that has talent all over the roster, with a superstar in Kawhi Leonard, an amazing defence, possibly the best one in the NBA, and a great supporting cast filled with many other talented players on both sides of the ball like Lowry, Gasol, Powell, Van Vleet, Siakam, Green and Ibaka. But so are the Warriors. The Warriors are almost unbeatable when they score slightly over 100 points. However, if they are kept to under 100 points, they begin to struggle; they live and die with their offence. The Raptors have the defence to stop the Warriors, they just need to find the right matchups. For sure, I believe Gasol will guard KD when he comes back. Until then, he will probably guard Draymond and Lowry and Leonard will guard Steph and Klay in my opinion. Pascal will take over covering Draymond when KD returns and so on. If the Raptors’ defence can keep the Warriors to under 100 points, they have a great chance, if not, the odds of winning decrease. The Raptors' defence will surely be the X-Factor in this series. Regardless of how many points they score, the Warriors are perhaps the best NBA team in the 21st century and are definitely a dynasty akin to the New England Patriots. Can their offence even be stopped? The Clippers tried to prioritize defence against the Warriors and were manhandled by them. The Raptors are good, but the Warriors are better, at least on paper, as much as it pains me to say it. Despite this, if anyone can pose a challenge to the Warriors, it will be the Raptors who took down the league’s best Milwaukee Bucks in dominating fashion in six games in the ECF. Home court advantage will definitely help the Raptors because they are the loudest fans in the NBA and the fact that Kevin Durant will not play in game one of the finals will help the Raptors because it is one less weapon on offence to defend and one less weapon to prevent the Raptors from scoring. KD is one of the best defenders in the NBA. Apparently, however, the Warriors play better without KD, it allows them to shoot more with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Let’s remember, shooting from the field and beyond the arc - where the Bucks struggled - is where the Warriors excel. It is their bread and butter. Another factor to consider is simply experience. The Raptors have lots of playoff experience but no one on their team has been to the finals before except Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. The Warriors have been in the finals five straight years. That’s plenty of experience. This series is going to be excellent and both teams will have their moments, but realistically thinking, I predict the Warriors will win in six games. I want the Raptors to win and hope they do, but I’m just being a realist with my prediction.
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