His leadership and determination against a Raptors team that may still be relieved from finally getting a playoff win could provide the difference.
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“I thought our crowd carried us through the times we were exhausted, that’s why we earned homecourt advantage”, Casey said. “This young man reminds me of trying to prepare for a young Kobe Bryant back in the Lakers days”.
Raptors coach Dwane Casey conjured Kobe when he was asked about Paul George, who averaged 27.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.0 steals in the series, shot 41.9 percent on 3-pointers and defensively dismantled the NBA’s ninth-leading scorer, DeMar DeRozan, for the better part of seven games.
The Toronto Raptors announced Monday they will open the second round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs versus the Miami Heat on Tuesday at 8 p.m.at Air Canada Centre.
After winning Game 7 of the series against the Indiana Pacers, Dwayne Casey said in his news conference, “I hope everyone continues to doubt us”.
“We were just going to leave it all out there, whatever we had, from the beginning to the end”, DeRozan said.
“Honestly, before you come into a game like this you probably get hundreds of text messages of people telling you what happened in the past years”, said Bismack Biyombo. Following the next offensive possession, the Raptors’ lead had ballooned to 16 – a game high.
“It’s the experience of competition, he understands”, said Miami’s head coach.
“I think one thing I can really take away is the game just really slowed down and I had a better understanding of my game and how I can attack different defenders and how I can free myself, regardless of how they were going to guard me”.
” They will play freer, play basketball not worry about history and everything everyone is writing and who is going to be here who is not going to be here”. It’s also can be easier for defenses to switch liberally or hide guys when you go small, and it just didn’t work for Toronto. It started with turnovers, a problem all season long.
“It’s been a good season for us”, George explained after Game 7. Jonas Valanciunas added 15 rebounds, and Carroll hounded George as best he could defensively all series.
Rookie Norman Powell had 13 points for Toronto, while Patrick Patterson and Lowry had 11 apiece. When asked about his game 1 expectations in a postgame interview, Raptor’s star Demar Derozan predicted a “grind out series” in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.
George Hill added 19 points for the Pacers, and Monta Ellis had 15. DeRozan’s first-quarter total was more than he had in either Games 4 or 6, when he scored eight points.
The Pacers responded by scoring 12 of the next 14 points, cutting it to 85-79 with 3:23 remaining.
After Indiana cut the lead to nine on a 3-pointer by George Hill, DeRozan reeled off six straight points and Toronto led by 15.
The 34-year-old Wade has played in 159 post-season games, more than three times that of the Toronto franchise (18-31 in the post-season).
The Miami Heat dominated the Charlotte Hornets in Game 7 of their first round playoff series.
Powell hit three of his four three-point attempts Sunday.
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George made a pair of free throws with 52 seconds left to pull IN within three again at 87-84.
