Raptors film room: the future version of this team

It was a close game until it wasn’t. Collin Murray-Boyles was the catalyst for the Raptors in the 1st half, and Toronto pulled off an all-important win with every single player on the team playing well.

Here’s my recap:

And here’s Louis, with Bob Dylan and CMB interwined:

Toronto absorbed Miami’s punch to start the second half, spat some blood, cracked its neck, and went back to work. Toronto’s lead grew and grew, every point of distance requiring a brief wrastle in the mud.

Murray-Boyles and Barnes played a game of give-and-go in the late third, Murray-Boyles gently and violently hurling the ball off the glass into the rim. He used his right hand. Later he saved a ball from going out of bounds. His chest heaved, exhausted.

“I have utmost respect and trust in that guy,” said Rajakovic after the game of Murray-Boyles. “The way he competes. The way he just thinks about how to help the team. He is playing basketball with no agenda. He’s just playing basketball to win, and whatever needs to be done, he’s going to be guarding wings, guarding 5s, rebounding. He’s going to be running in transition every single time. He does so much for us and helps us so much every time he’s on the floor.”

The Raptors pushed their lead to more than 20 points in the fourth quarter. Jakob Poeltl was the one stomping on Miami’s throat, pushing them deeper into the mud with layup after layup. Murray-Boyles didn’t play in the fourth; he didn’t need to. His thumb survived to fight another day. But for a time, the game was uncertain. Both teams were throwing jabs, and it was Murray-Boyles who decided the contest with his verve.

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