The only thing missing from game one was the Warriors
They said the Finals were supposed to be the hardest part of the playoffs.
The Toronto Raptors showed up. They played well. The fans were there in force, and as has become a constant during this playoff run, they weren’t only present in the stadium. All of Canada was a celebration for game one, with mock Jurassic Parks springing out of the woodwork, including 20 000 people watching the Raptors in ‘Jurassic Park West’ from Mississauga. The stage was set for high drama, but the only lacking ingredient was an opponent. The innumerable fans were treated to watching the Raptors maintain a double-digit lead for almost the entirety of game one, as Toronto won 118-109.
The Raptors ran into the weakest defense they’ve seen so far in the playoffs. The Golden State Warriors, defending champions with dynastic designs, seemed entirely unprepared to face the Raptors. It was Toronto, challengers to the throne, who were ready for the game.
The Raptors had their way with Golden State’s defense in the early going. It wasn’t Kawhi Leonard, however, but the rest of the Toronto Raptors who beat the Warriors. Golden State took Toronto away from their first option, and the Raptors responded by scoring a cool 118.
The Warriors predicated everything on taking Leonard out of the game, and they actually did a fairly good job. When Leonard had the ball, all five defenders had a foot in the paint. He saw hands all night long, and his usually rock-solid handle was looser than usual. That he finished with two turnovers actually understated Golden State’s ability to knock the ball out of his hands, as several of the loose balls caromed directly to Leonard’s teammates. Leonard finished with 23 points, which was something of a miracle.
“It’s not Kawhi Leonard, it’s the Raptors,” said Klay Thompson after the game. “So we’ll go back to the drawing board.”
Leonard’s teammates rose to the occasion. Pascal Siakam returned to his spicy regular season roots. He spun, faked, euro-stepped, and generally danced circles around the self-proclaimed greatest defender in the world, Draymond Green. Siakam hit a pair of 3s, thrived in transition, and was altogether Toronto’s best player. Siakam finished with 32 points on 14-of-17 shooting, and he was even fantastic passing the ball, as well. He shocked the Warriors.
“I got to take him out of the series and that’s on me,” said Draymond Green after the game.
“He does a great job of attacking those gaps, using his body, attacking the angles that the defense is giving you,” said Marc Gasol of Siakam. “He can go both ways. I just like when he plays that aggressive.”
The reason why Siakam found so many gaps is because the Warriors are simply the smallest team that the Raptors have faced during the playoffs. Siakam has faced endless length through the first three rounds of the playoffs. His most common primary defenders have been Jonathan Isaac, Joel Embiid, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Compared to those three, Draymond Green is downright puny, not to mention the lack of extra help defenders that Siakam saw at the rim. Siakam could have more breathing room in this series than he’s had all playoffs.
It wasn’t just Siakam who enjoyed the space Golden State relinquished. Marc Gasol had his best scoring game of the playoffs, finishing with 20 points on only 10 possessions used. He dusted off his post-game like it was 2011. Fred VanVleet scored well in the paint, finishing a pair of layups through challenges that would have bothered him only a few weeks ago.
The Raptors, generally, had an easier time scoring than they’ve had thus far in the playoffs. When the team was forced away from its first choice of offense, it responded by scoring well in second and third actions. Toronto’s exceptional performance didn’t stop on the offensive end.
Golden State was unprepared for Toronto’s defensive stringency. The Warriors got 20 points after offensive rebounds and another 29 from the free throw line; 45 percent of their scoring was stuff Toronto can clean up and take away going forward. The Raptors’ goal on defense was simple: make someone other than Steph Curry beat you. Sure, Curry finished with 34 points, but the Raptors have to be happy that he only attempted 18 shots. Kyle Lowry, Danny Green, and Fred VanVleet chased him around the arc with aplomb, playing behind him, and forcing him inside the arc as much as possible. Curry finished well inside the arc, but his teammates weren’t effective when Curry had to pass the ball. The Raptors were able to score with their first option taken away, but the Warriors had no plan B.
Draymond Green finished with 10 assists, but he shot 2-for-9 from the floor. Andre Iguodala shot 0-for-4 from deep. Klay Thompson shot well from deep, but he proved unable all night long to create a single good look for himself. Can anyone on this Golden State lineup create a shot against this Raptors’ defense? The Raptors cheated heavily off of Curry and Thompson to muck up the paint, and nobody was able to capitalize. This game was almost a mirror image of the Milwaukee series on that end, but a real mirror image, with the writing flipped. Toronto walled off the paint for Giannis Antetokounmpo and rotated like demons behind the traps. In game one against the Dubs, Toronto walled off the perimeter for Steph Curry and rotated like demons behind the traps. In both cases, they lived happily with the results.
“I think for us we just, we know the team we’re playing, we’re playing an amazing team,” said Siakam after the game. “They’re the champions and we just got to be ready, we got to be ready.”
Toronto was ready, but they were the only ones. The Warriors expected holes to open, and none did. Golden State had no backup plan. The same was true of the Warriors’ defensive gameplan. In a contest between a franchise playing in its first finals game in 24 years and another playing in its fifth straight finals, it was the newcomer who showed far more poise and preparation.
“Well, I think that the biggest thing coming in is we really didn’t feel like we knew this team very well,” said Steve Kerr.
Multiple times after the game, the Warriors mentioned that they weren’t familiar with this Raptors team. Kerr and Thompson used that as a reason why Siakam was allowed to run wild in transition. But the Warriors had plenty of time to scout this series. They should have known that the Raptors had one of the best transition offenses of the regular season, even if it was limited during the playoffs. They should have known that Siakam, especially, is deadly when he’s allowed to reach top speed and accelerate on the fastbreak against backpedaling defenders. Yet Siakam multiple times broke free in transition. The Raptors finished with 24 fastbreak points, nine coming from Siakam alone. Game one of the Finals was Toronto’s easiest win in weeks.
Philadelphia and Milwaukee provided blueprints for how to limit Toronto in those areas, and yet Golden State was left grasping at straw. They can claim ignorance about Toronto’s strengths, but the answers are available to him.
Unpreparedness is one thing, but the question for Golden State should not be whether they know how to stop Toronto, but whether they are able to. They don’t currently have multiple mobile 7-footers to throw at Siakam and force him into quick, difficult decisions around the rim. Draymond Green should be able to do a better job, and he surely will. But Siakam is too good, too quick to stop with one defender. There isn’t currently a second defender to frustrate him around the rim and clean up mistakes. On the other side, the Warriors need to be able to find consistent offense outside of their one superstar. The Dubs can be better in a myriad of ways, but so too can the Raptors; both can and will improve going forward.
Kevin Durant, of course, is the answer to all the Warriors’ questions. Out with a calf strain, he looms large in the background of this series. A large percentage of post-game questions from media were about Durant, and it’s for good reason. Durant has the length and quickness to bother Siakam and Leonard. Durant has the shot-making and initiation chops to punish Toronto for overloading on Steph Curry. Durant could unravel all of Toronto’s best-laid plans. The Raptors flat-out dominated the champs in game one, battering them around the ropes like a young Cassius Clay thumping Sonny Liston in ‘65. But the Warriors’ elixir could be just around the corner. Game one may have been surprisingly easy, but Toronto’s challenge will only be greater going forward.
The only thing missing from game one was the Warriors originated on Raptors Republic.