Dallas had a decent core besides Dirk. Tyson Chandler was DPOY that year. Jason Kidd was older, but still dependable as a decision-maker. They also had a group of solid role players like Shawn Marion, Caron Butler, and Peja Stojakavic. The Raptors have a sold squad with Ibaka, Gasol, Lowry, etc, but outside of Kahwi, I don't think any of them are really trustworthy with the ball in their hands in the clutch. Stojakavic hit clutch shots for the Sactown Queens, Kidd was/is a HOFer. And of course, they had Dirk too.
Danny Green needs to wake the f*** up because Raptors can't put FVV or Lowry on Klay down the stretch .
VanVleet has had that playoff Derek Fisher vibe going on since the ECF, his shot has been deadly and he has played so calm.
For some reason I didn’t realize Toronto had home court advantage They look sharper so far. GS was off 9 days I think
The reason why the Raptors pretty much controlled this game was because Nick Nurse has the tools and the defensive scheme to stop GSW's 3-point barrage. I've said this the last few years, the next great coach in the NBA will be the one who devises a defense that can stop the 3-point nonsense. If the Raptors do what they did in Game 1 the rest of the series, I don't see the Warriors winning more than 2 games.
He slowed them down all game long, that is for sure. I would have kept him out the rest of the year, he did nothing but hold them back tonight.
If KD returns at 100% there's no stopping the Warriors. If his game is off though, they might be better off without him.
I don’t think KD would be back at 100%. Not being out this long. He’ll definitely be a spark, but as we saw with Boogie, he’s not in game shape and doesn’t run the normal GS ball movement. Iggy looks to have strained his left calf again, that’s not good for their defense. Go Raps.
For Clippers games Staples would be half empty , if there's no Groupon Or travelzoo discounted tickets, so he's not going to Clippers
I had a feeling that GSW would not win today. I think Shaq said it best recently that long layoffs actually hurt momentum. GSW out rebounded the Raptors and had more offensive rebounds. The turnovers were killer, slow defensive recovery, and piss poor transition defense. I expect GSW to adjust now that they have a game under their belt. I wouldn’t be surprised if game 2 is a blow out by GSW.
