It wasn’t pretty, but for the first time ever the Toronto Raptors won a playoff series without it going to the maximum games allotted.
Here’s how they managed it:
D was the key
The Raptors’ defence was engaged and energetic early, managing to hold the Bucks to 14 points in the second quarter and just 38 points at the half. Giannis started 5-5 but then went 2-8 to end the first half. After putting up 14 points in the first quarter the Giannis Antetokounmpo had just four in the second quarter. Perennially slow starters, the lockdown defence early was a welcome change.
Comeback countered
The Raptors’ lead was as large as 25 and Milwaukee stormed back to take the lead with just over three minutes left to play.
Toronto gave up a 34-7 run that helped the Bucks get back in the game. Milwaukee took the lead and were up 82-80 when the Raptors went on 9-0 run, punctuated by a Cory Joseph corner three and a vicious DeMar DeRozan two-handed dunk.
As bad as the collapse was — full of unforced turnovers and surrendered offensive rebounds — the half-court execution to close the game was a positive sign of maturity and growth.
DeMar steps up
This was DeRozan’s most clutch post-season performance. The all-star guard finished the game with 32 points on 12-of-24 shooting.
DeRozan didn’t get many calls going to the rim and was often hounded by Tony Snell and Khris Middleton but stuck with it. After not being blitzed as much by the Bucks as he was earlier in the series DeRozan was a demon in isolation situations and constantly used the pick and roll to get smaller players like Matthew Dellavedova on him.
Late in the game, when Antetokounmpo was switched on him, he moved the ball crisply. It was a master class in late-game offensive execution by DeRozan.
Norm to the rescue from deep
Norman Powell has gone 9-for-9 from three since being put in the starting lineup. In Game 4 he hit three triples, in Game 5 he he hit four and he finished it off by making both attempts from long distance in Game 6.
The Raptors only hit nine three-pointers as a team in Game 6. Powell’s ability to space the floor and connect at a ridiculously high percentage has been a breath of fresh air for an offence that, at times, was stagnant early in the series.
For the entire series, Powell averaged 14.3 points, on 56.3 per cent shooting and was the Raptors’ best player not named DeMar DeRozan.
Dwane Casey is often criticized for his roster management and this is an example of how that talk is unfair. The move to insert Powell in the lineup salvaged the offence and saved the season.
The King and the Cavs up next
The Raptors will be considered massive underdogs once again when they face the Cleveland Cavaliers, even though they took two games off the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals last year and beat them on the last day of the regular season this year.
The head coach of the Raptors, like their fan base is embracing being over looked.
Casey bluntly put it: “We just a team up North. We don’t get a lot of respect. I like that.”