Getting Defensive – How the Raptors have leaned on defense to take a stranglehold on the series

The basketball world is so deeply enveloped in the pace-and-space era and three-point shooting boom that a core tenet of the Golden State Warriors recent dominance is often overlooked. Defense. In fact, over the past forty years the only team to win a championship with a below average defense was the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001 (they ranked 21st in defensive rating that year). No other NBA champion has ranked lower than twelfth in defensive rating during that time span. Hence the saying, defence wins championships.

The Toronto Raptors have fully bought into this clichéd mantra. Over the weekend the Raptors mauled the Orlando Magic into submission and in the process elevated their strong defense to frightening new heights. After acquiring two former Defensive Player of the Years in Kawhi Leonard and Marc Gasol, the blueprint for an imposing defense was clear to see. By the end of the regular season Toronto sat fifth in both defensive rating and opponent’s field goal percentage. Still, something felt amiss. The seeds of an elite defensive team were sewn, but no individuals (outside of Danny Green) were maximizing their potential.

Fortunately, the bright lights of playoff basketball has gleaned the absolute best from every Raptor thus far. It would be disingenuous to assume that the team has flicked a switch as they were great defensively all season, however they have unlocked another gear.

I don’t know what animal’s genitals Serge Ibaka had eaten before Sunday night’s game, but MaFuzzy Chef was clearly still hungry for a highlight reel block or two.

The weekend massacre

Although the competitiveness of games three and four were entirely different, the effects of the Raptors’ swarming defence was equally as grueling. Toronto generated 17 deflections in both games and turned the Magic – an incredibly conservative and plodding outfit – into a skittish, turnover-prone offense. Orlando finished the regular season sixth in turnover percentage at only 13.3 per cent; over the weekend they crumbled to a nauseating 17.7 per cent. For reference, the Atlanta Hawks were dead last in the league with a 16.2 per cent turnover rate.

The Raptors stranglehold on the Magic started with relentless perimeter defence. Pascal Siakam, Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, and Green are each All-Defensive talents. Those wings possess infinite limbs, corral passing lanes, and are switching with ease onto their opponents.

Green has erased DJ Augustin from this series. After erupting for 25 points and nailing the winning shot in game one, Augustin has scored a total of 24 points in the next three games combined. In the 90 possessions that Green has been the primary defender on Augustin, he has mustered only nine points on 25 per cent shooting and is posting a paltry even assist to turnover ratio.

The rest of the perimeter defense has run amuck. Leonard is roaming freely and wreaking havoc in passing lanes, Siakam has put multiple Magic players neatly in his pocket, and Lowry is of course drawing charges. Closeouts have been airtight on shooters; on Sunday night, the Raptors as a team contested 69 of Orlando’s 81 field goal attempts.

No more Nikola

It is hard to run an NBA offense when your point guard is non-existent. It is even harder when your best player is also being bullied down low.

Nikola Vucevic cannot initially find a quality post position against Marc Gasol. He then gets veered even further from the basket on the re-post. The pressure mounting on Vucevic is cranked even higher as Siakam is lurking, ready to harass any move he makes but equally prepared to still to scurry out on any kickout pass. The net result: a contested fadeaway jumper. This is less of a reflection on Vucevic and more of a testament as to how the Raptors have gameplanned him out of the series. He is the only player that demands significant attention on that end of the floor for Orlando; Gasol has stunted him in the post and Toronto’s wing defenders have impeccably timed their traps to eliminate his passing ability.

Even on situations where the Magic have finally finagled a mismatch for Vucevic, it hasn’t reaped rewards:

Steve Clifford has done an admirable job coaching the Magic out of obscurity, but even he could not game plan for Leonard’s teleportation tricks. Orlando worked so hard to get Green switched onto Vucevic and in a deep position, for it all to be destructed by the merciless Klaw. This is the aforementioned extra gear that has been found.

Vucevic’s numbers this series have been catastrophic. His regular season scoring average of 20.8 points per game has been cut to 12.5, and his field goal percentage has dipped from 51.4 per cent to 37.5. Vucevic is also averaging three turnovers per game against the Raptors. It has been ugly.

Looking Forward

The Magic didn’t have a high octane offense to begin with. They posted a 108.1 offensive rating during the regular season, good for 22nd in the league. In this series, their rating has plummeted to 96.0. Again, for reference, the New York Knicks were dead last in the league in offensive rating at 104.0. The Raptors are making the Magic look decidedly worse than even the tankiest of all the tanking teams! When the starting unit enters the fray, matters become even uglier for the Magic. In those minutes, the Raptors have shrunk Orlando’s offensive rating to 83.8. Yikes.

It is befitting of their role as elder statesmen that Lowry and Gasol’s defensive contributions don’t show up on the traditional boxscore. However, their savvy ability to tip and dislodge balls has been a catalyst behind the Raptors dominance. While Lowry buzzes around ballhandlers like a gnat, Gasol slowly waits for the perfect moment to swing at the ball and hammers down with an almighty thud.

The benefits of forcing deflections and turnovers is obvious. However, it is of even greater importance against a methodical team that are actively trying to slow the game to a snail’s pace. The Raptors turnover frenzy has devolved Orlando’s conservative offense into chaos.

The Raptors potential second round opponents, Philadelphia 76ers, live in the chaos. But they don’t necessarily thrive there. Philly are eighth in the league in pace but sit just 24th in turnover rate. They can be careless at times with the ball and go through brainless offensive stretches. Their talismanic big man, Joel Embiid, also has a proclivity for turning the ball over. Embiid averages 3.3 turnovers per game, the most of any centre in the league. Without looking too far ahead (apologies to Brooklyn and Orlando), this could be a key determinant for how the second round plays out.

The defensive foundation that Toronto is laying now will become even more important deeper in the playoffs. They now possess the elusive superstar scorer in Leonard, have ascended to the top of the league in three-point shooting, and developed eloquent ball movement after Gasol’s addition. But at the core of the Raptors championship aspirations there must be a ferocious and unrelenting defence.

Getting Defensive – How the Raptors have leaned on defense to take a stranglehold on the series originated on Raptors Republic.