Playoffs! Round 1, Game 2: Washington Wizards 119 - Toronto Raptors 130 (TOR 2-0)

[JimiCliff]

The lead was cut to 5 with Casey rolling with an all-bench lineup for the first 4 minutes of the 4th quarter. Playing with fire, if you ask me.

Against a competent coach, these decisions = losses.

[KeonClark]

A few franchise records broken or tied on this game. One that's a bit under the radar:

Ibaka was +32 on this game, the highest +/- of a Raptor in a playoff game ever.

Things can change very quickly, especially on the road, but these past two games have been among his best games this year.

[slaw]

The lead was cut to 5 with Casey rolling with an all-bench lineup for the first 4 minutes of the 4th quarter. Playing with fire, if you ask me.

Casey's desperately trying to get a couple of his bench guys going. He'd never say this but it seems like they feel comfortable tinkering and experimenting with WSH knowing that they can shift into third or fourth gear and get out of trouble. I agree that it is a bit dangerous but it would be great to get Poeltl and Siakam rolling ahead of Cavs/Indy....

[white men can't jump]

Casey's desperately trying to get a couple of his bench guys going. He'd never say this but it seems like they feel comfortable tinkering and experimenting with WSH knowing that they can shift into third or fourth gear and get out of trouble. I agree that it is a bit dangerous but it would be great to get Poeltl and Siakam rolling ahead of Cavs/Indy....

Siakam is the biggest priority. We will absolutely need him to play better as he's up there with OG and Delon as one of our most verastile defenders. If he can't find a way to fit in during the playoffs, it really limits our options. We can manage without a lot of Poeltl if JV and Ibaka keep playing at a high level.

[LJ2]

I knew Washington was going to come back. The Raptors had slowed their roll a bit in the 3rd/4th quarters. I didn't like the bench's bench getting so much run. It's the playoffs... with 2-3 days rest between games.. why the need to play everyone? I mean Bebe deserved a few minutes because of how well he played on Saturday.. but he was awful last night. Powell still gives us nothing. Brown is really bad.. sure he hit a 3, but I mean why was he on the court?

JV was awesome.. the Wizards had no answer for him. Especially when they went small. Gortat is seriously entering washed up territory. What can I say about DeMar.. 3 threes.. 6 attempts, 37 points. DD played like a super star last night. Serge was still good.. love "good" Serge. Lowry kept doing his thing (14 assists). OG was fantastic early on. Wish he played more, but I'll get that wish answered next season. Delon again was great. He's just so fun to watch defensively.

Game ball definitely goes to DeMar though.

I have no problem with them playing Brown with a huge lead while FVV is out. They keep Kyle and Delon fresh, and they somewhat mirror what they did through the regular season, so nothing out of the usual, no additional strain on their bodies which they aren't use to already and no stupid injuries when they are up big. Quite frankly Kyle is an idiot that doesn't know when to take the foot off the gas. He'll literally run himself into the ground unless you take him off the floor.

[Nilanka]

Casey's desperately trying to get a couple of his bench guys going. He'd never say this but it seems like they feel comfortable tinkering and experimenting with WSH knowing that they can shift into third or fourth gear and get out of trouble. I agree that it is a bit dangerous but it would be great to get Poeltl and Siakam rolling ahead of Cavs/Indy....

I'm ok with the principle, but maybe stagger their minutes with a few starters on the floor to make life easier, rather than watching big leads disappear with a struggling all-bench unit.

Wizards started the 4th quarter on a quick 7-0 run, too. No timeout by Casey, lol.

[slaw]

Siakam is the biggest priority. We will absolutely need him to play better as he's up there with OG and Delon as one of our most verastile defenders. If he can't find a way to fit in during the playoffs, it really limits our options. We can manage without a lot of Poeltl if JV and Ibaka keep playing at a high level.

I think Siakam has been.... okay. He looks a little lost out there with no FVV but that's true of Poeltl and even Wright. If WSH insists on going small, maybe subbing him in for JV early and giving him some run with the starters?

Man, remember when our biggest playoff problem was trying to find a way to get the 9th and 10th men going? LOL.

[JimiCliff]

Casey's desperately trying to get a couple of his bench guys going. He'd never say this but it seems like they feel comfortable tinkering and experimenting with WSH knowing that they can shift into third or fourth gear and get out of trouble. I agree that it is a bit dangerous but it would be great to get Poeltl and Siakam rolling ahead of Cavs/Indy....

To me, it seemed like the opposite of tinkering - at that point in the game, he normally has his preferred 2 PG lineup of Wright and FVV in. Rather than stray from this, and, say, put Powell or OG in the place of that second PG, he sticks with the normal positional rotation. It's a trait of Casey's that's longstanding, and that's always irked me: he keeps the positions in his rotations constant, even if this means significantly downgrading the talent that's on the floor (Brown vs. Norm/OG).

[slaw]

To me, it seemed like the opposite of tinkering - at that point in the game, he normally has his preferred 2 PG lineup of Wright and FVV in. Rather than stray from this, and, say, put Powell or OG in the place of that second PG, he sticks with the normal positional rotation. It's a trait of Casey's that's longstanding, and that's always irked me: he keeps the positions in his rotations constant, even if this means significantly downgrading the talent that's on the floor (Brown vs. Norm/OG).

Fair enough. Tinkering was the wrong word. And I do agree with your point. Having said that, I do think that he's riding his bench trying to get that second group going without DD/Lowry. He said as much post-game.

[inthepaint]

I personally like the deep rotation (10+ men). It allows everyone to be fresher while they're on the court, which in theory, translates into more defensive focus/energy. Meanwhile the opposing team is not only more physically tired, but also more mentally taxed to try to adjust to the multiple lineups thrown at them.

More often than not throughout the season the bench not only held up to the starters, but bailed them out multiple times. There will be exceptions to that of course, but all-in-all I think that's mostly related to FVV not being there than anything else. Plus I want our young guys exposed to playoffs games, they're the future of the team, and they also earned it throughout the year.

[consmap]

More praise from the enemy, lol.



https://www.bulletsforever.com/2018/...yoffs#comments

Lol Onumby

[Zainab]

If Sabonis and bog could hit some shots.....

[Joey]

I'm sure this has been posted already, but this is gold star comedy:

Demar was so quick with that, I feel like he's been waiting to use it. Lol