It was music to his ears.
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Just then, coach Dwane Casey walked by and happily enlightened Ujiri: “Those guys are talking about defence”.
SN: What has impressed you about the additions of Serge Ibaka and P.J.
Maker’s stats in the game didn’t pop out – four points, three rebounds, three blocks – but the new starter, who plays only sheltered minutes (15 in this one) produced again for the team that took a chance on him in the lottery last June.
“We’re in evaluation mode”, Demps said.
Gone was the brutish Bismack Biyombo, but the duo of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan was always going to be enough for this Raptors return to run last season back. The Raptors enter the playoffs with plenty of momentum as they won 13 of their last 16 games including their last four straight heading into the playoffs. And just like in Game 1 losses of years past, the Toronto offense looked nothing like the top-10 group it was during the regular season. I can’t say for sure whether they will beat the Cavaliers but they are in my opinion their most credible threat in the eastern conference.
They didn’t win their postseason opener as much as survive it.
Are the Toronto Raptors set to cruise to a big win at home when they host the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1 of their playoff series at 5:30PM ET?
Erik Spoelstra took an 11-30 Miami Heat team and turned them into a 40-win team with the possibility of being the 7th or 8th seed in the playoffs.
The postseason began the same way for the Raps the past three years.
Game Two will be played Tuesday night at the Air Canada Center. He showed up when it was time to play LeBron.
Tucker was finally in the post-season after so many years toiling for bad teams. Halfway through that series, after IN had drilled Toronto IN Game 4 to even it at 2-2, the Raptors were shooting 25 per cent on wide-open threes – those with a defender no closer than six feet away. “To come in here and get one feels good”.
It will be Tucker’s first National Basketball Association playoff appearance, an opportunity to see why many experts describe him with words like “sandpaper”. Leonard is arguably the best two-way player in the National Basketball Association, but the MVP is an offensive award and it’s hard to say no to Westbrook, at least for this season. This is something that other Bucks front-court players such as Greg Monroe, do not give. Antetokounmpo will obviously make their lives hard, but the Bucks don’t have much else to threaten the Raptors with.
Antetokounmpo’s nickname of “The Greek Freak” originated with his seven-foot frame, impressive wingspan and explosive athleticism.
Coincidentally, the Raptors were both of the exceptions past year. The Raptors should dare him to shoot from the outside as much as possible, and his effectiveness from both the mid-range and beyond the arc will determine the length of the series. However, the key to the season will be keeping that up in the playoffs when the Raptors need him and Kyle Lowry the most. “I think DeMarcus is going to be an impact player here for a long time”. The team has gone from swearing at Brooklyn, to seeing one of it’s most well-known performers wearing Raptors gear. “We have to understand that we can’t let that affect us getting back in transition”.
Grant Hill: I think it’ll be a good matchup.
The Raptors, who finished third in the jam-packed Eastern Conference, had won the regular-season series 3-1 against the sixth-seeded Bucks, but Milwaukee went a league-best 14-4 in March to salvage their season. Round 2 could feature a Raptors-Cavaliers showdown. Lowry shot 2-for-11 on Saturday, and DeRozan wasn’t much better, connecting on only seven of his 21 field goal attempts.
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The Indiana-Cleveland, Milwaukee-Toronto, Memphis-San Antonio and Utah-Clippers series will start Saturday. “They’re a tough opponent, they know how to play and they’re well-coached”.
