Now that I’ve touched on the Lowry slander let’s talk about the real issue the Raptors need to address in game two and beyond. Their offensive rhythm and rebounding.
The Raptors had stretches of game one where the offence became lethargic. Going on long droughts and settling for threes or deep twos instead of driving to the paint. The Raptors ended up shooting 12/36 (33.3%) from three in game one. Not good enough especially when the Magic shoot 14/29 (48.3%) from behind the arc.
Watching these stretches in the game was frustrating because the offence starting rolling once we began to drive to the paint, cue Fred VanVleet’s signature reverse layup as he falls to the floor.
But more importantly the Raptors must, and I mean must, limit the amount of offensive rebounds they concede to the Magic. 10 is too many, obviously missing OG Anunoby’s length hurts but the personnel wasn’t the problem. On too many occasions Raptors players missed easy box out opportunities and then instantly apologized to their teammates.
I’m tired of hearing about the Raptors game one curse, but yet it lives on. But remember, it is still only one game. Nothing against D.J. Augustin but he won’t repeat what he did in game one. If the Raptors stop settling for bad shots and box out more consistently they can regain control of this series and go on to beat the seven seeded Magic.
The Raptors weren’t going to go 16-0 on the way to an NBA title, no matter how good “playoff Kawhi” is. So no need to panic.
So you can stop tweeting that the playoff Raptors have returned alongside that stupid Barney photoshop. This isn’t 2015.