NBA Playoffs! Round 1, Game 5: Toronto Raptors 108 - Washington Wizards 98 (TOR 3-2)

[planetmars]

Got a little nervous at the start of the fourth. Raptors and Wizards were trading punches all game long. Felt like the Wiz run was going to seal it. Glad the Raptors matched their run and then took it home.

Delon hit a huge 3 that started that run. He was incredible on defense as well. JV was really great.. saved our bacon. Came up with some huge boards.. that we would never have gotten if Poeltl or Serge were in. Very underrated skill that JV has is boxing out. He knows how to get the space he needs to grab a critical board.

Bit surprised that CJ got crunch time minutes over Serge or even Pascal. He's not a good defender and to have him out with JV and DD was a bold strategic move. It worked this time. Don't know if it would work every time. Would have still preferred OG in there. But I guess that's wishful thinking.

Hope the momentum carries us into game 6. Hopefully Fred's back for that one.

[Demographic Shift]

no!

Leaf fan forever .. but yeah.. the better team won this series....

Leafs big weakness got exposed in a grinding 7 game series.. their blueline....
In their own end they aren't big enough or physical enough to shut down the cycle game and they concede entry to their own end pretty easily......On offense... the defense corps got exactly 1 goal in 7 games ..not anywhere near good enough

Couple of changes coming more than likely on the backend as its not feasible to play another year with Anderson having to stand on his head almost every night to win games when your defensem can't clear the puck or clear traffic in front of the net.......Gardiner with a stellar -5 tonight and Zaitsev gave them next to nothing all series long......

Lots of skill and speed up front that will be a year old and stronger next year....

[suspenders]

Leaf fan forever .. but yeah.. the better team won this series....

Leafs big weakness got exposed in a grinding 7 game series.. their blueline....
In their own end they aren't big enough or physical enough to shut down the cycle game and they concede entry to their own end pretty easily......On offense... the defense corps got exactly 1 goal in 7 games ..not anywhere near good enough

Couple of changes coming more than likely on the backend as its not feasible to play another year with Anderson having to stand on his head almost every night to win games when your defensem can't clear the puck or clear traffic in front of the net.......Gardiner with a stellar -5 tonight and Zaitsev gave them next to nothing all series long......

Lots of skill and speed up front that will be a year old and stronger next year....

Super frustrating to see.
So many goals because of piss poor defence.

[KHD]

Leaf fan forever .. but yeah.. the better team won this series....

Leafs big weakness got exposed in a grinding 7 game series.. their blueline....
In their own end they aren't big enough or physical enough to shut down the cycle game and they concede entry to their own end pretty easily......On offense... the defense corps got exactly 1 goal in 7 games ..not anywhere near good enough

Couple of changes coming more than likely on the backend as its not feasible to play another year with Anderson having to stand on his head almost every night to win games when your defensem can't clear the puck or clear traffic in front of the net.......Gardiner with a stellar -5 tonight and Zaitsev gave them next to nothing all series long......

Lots of skill and speed up front that will be a year old and stronger next year....

someone convince me that gardiner isn't just a forward playing defence. yikes.

[Just Is]

13 more...

[Axel]

Well that was one hell of an exciting game. Frustrating at times for sure, but overall a good competitive game.

My favourite play was when JV (or as my wife called him, 'the one with the crazy beard') stripped the ball from Wall ('the one who complains a lot") that led to a Demar jam. As much as I love JV, I probably equally hate John Wall (and Beal - fuck those guys), so it was a perfect situation.

Let's clean it up and finish this in 6 though, I don't want to see a game 7.

[golden]

Delon Wright. Just wow. He's not the first guy I would have pegged to be the one 'those guys' who elevates his game when the stakes are the highest. But.... wow. And JV has proven again and again, in his limited opportunities, that he is indeed a clutch performer. The narratives about this team are true - mental toughness is a major issue.

And now I fully understand why FVV is so important to the team - it goes beyond stabilizing the second unit. It's to get the ball out of the hands of Kyle and Demar down the stretch.... because they panic, make dumb decisions, take bad shots and stop playing perimeter defense. Delon played the role of FVV last night as that calming presence on offense, and giving great effort on defense.

[DanH]

Heck of a game. For all the bad decisions Casey made in game 4, finally righted the ship in this one. Actually, was almost the opposite of game 4 - last game Casey was rock solid throughout and crapped the bed in the 4th, this time he was a little spotty throughout the game but got the big decision (JV down the stretch) right. If he can ever combine those two we are in good shape.

Casey suggesting it was a matchup for JV when a) the matchup was the same in game 4 and he didn't play and b) the Wizards eventually bailed on Gortat and went Morris at C and JV stayed in and still did great, is silly. JV should be closing every game. He's a clutch player, and more importantly is part of the Raptors' best lineups.

Now, that closing lineup was interesting. Seemed like a conscious choice, given that they knew the Wizards would be targeting DD and JV on defence every time down the floor, to just say screw it to defence and throw as many offensive options out there as possible, putting Miles at the 4. I think I'd have leaned to OG (he really should be closing games), but I can't argue with the results. And a similar lineup (OG in Wright's place) had success in-season in a small sample.

Great game by DD, scoring throughout and then being a playmaker in the 4th as the defence keyed on him. A little shaky with the ball sometimes but overall a solid effort. Lowry was very good, as usual. Wright was awesome, obviously. He's really been great this entire series. And besides forcing a few postup jumpers, JV had a fantastic game. Serge was nowhere to be found, another reason why I'm OK with the wacky closing lineup (it should usually be the starters but Serge just didn't have it). OG was solid. The bench crew was decent, which is a nice continuing pattern - even Powell wasn't a disaster which should have been obvious because it was game 5.

Now let's close this out in 6.

[Nilanka]

We finally have the city to ourselves!!!



So many turds in one pic.

[Puffer]

Tip of the hat to Zainab who has been solid in the playoffs for the Raptors. Looking for continued strong play in Washington. Take us home big Z.

[G__Deane]

Casey predictably gave JV a mention for "good minutes" in the fourth because there were "match ups" that worked for him. Looks like nothing will change

JV has been biting his tongue all year. Coach hates him and NEVER gives him proper credit. How about "great game from Jonas and without him and Wright, the outcome could have been far worse"

-Said Casey NEVER. How demoralizing for a player to never get a verbal pat on the back from your coach.

[Machine]

Seriously what the hell is the deal with Serge? The guy is just so wildly inconsistent I cant figure it out.

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[Jclaw]

On a beautiful, sunny morning in Toronto...that was one traumatic game thread to read through

[rocwell]

Seriously what the hell is the deal with Serge? The guy is just so wildly inconsistent I cant figure it out.

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Ibaka:

[KeonClark]

JV has been biting his tongue all year. Coach hates him and NEVER gives him proper credit. How about "great game from Jonas and without him and Wright, the outcome could have been far worse"

-Said Casey NEVER. How demoralizing for a player to never get a verbal pat on the back from your coach.

We don't know what makes JV tick. We also don't know what Casey says behind closed doors. Maybe Casey thinks it's better to keep jv on his toes and hungry rather than fat and sassy.

Just playing devils advocate as I think the whole glossed over "matchups" answer he gave last night was pride and ego of an NBA coach