Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Raptors Can't Stop Patty Mills & Kevin Durant in Game That Probably Shouldn't Have Even Been Played
What are we doing here?
Just an hour before tipoff Tuesday night the Brooklyn Nets placed James Harden and Bruce Brown in the NBA's COVID-19 protocols. The two joined four others placed in protocols earlier in the day and Paul Millsap who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. And yet, as if unfazed by the mounting COVID cases throughout the league, the NBA plowed on.
"Cross our fingers, hope they get no more positive tests and we don’t either," Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.
Well, Game on.
Was it worth it? We won’t know for a few days now. But for the Raptors, the situation is particularly precarious. The Ontario government already forced Precious Achiuwa into COVD-19 protocols as a close contact of a positive case despite NBA protocols permitting fully vaccinated players, Achiuwa included, to continue playing through close contacts as long as they continue to test negative. What if, God forbid, this wasn’t the end of the Nets’ problems?
"Yeah, it’s weird. I think that is just crazy what's going on out there and when it feels like we kind of have it under control is never really under control," said Pascal Siakam. "I just think we’ve got to continue to try to stay safe as much as possible and yeah, we just hope that we can be healthy."
So, yeah, they played the game. It looked ugly for a bit, really ugly for the Raptors, then less ugly, then the Nets let Kevin Durant and Patty Mills takeover. After some late-game heroics from Scottie Barnes, an over-aggressive closeout from Chris Boucher on Mills, and a lackluster would-be game-winner from Fred VanVleet that flew astray, the Nets eventually eked out a 131-129 victory Tuesday night.
"He didn’t get off a great shot I don’t think but he got a pretty decent shake down and look there," Nurse said of VanVleet's pull-up 18-footer that would have clinched the game as time expired. "I don’t think it came off his hand great, it looked a little worse than it was but I think the shot he created was pretty decent on that one."
Barnes certainly did his part to keep Toronto alive late, first pulling Durant out to the three-point line late in the fourth off an offensive rebound. It was clear Durant knew the scouting report: Don’t go. But when he didn’t, Barnes let it fly, nailing the step-back three to pull the Raptors to within three. Two minutes later, he pulled Kessler Edwards out to the corner and again nailed an off-the-bounce three to tie things up at 117.
"I think the biggest thing that he'll learn going forward is his mechanics are solid, especially on the release and all that stuff," Nurse said. "So you can do a lot. You can shoot off the dribble, you can shoot not 100% on balance, you can shoot on the move, you can do a lot of things when, at the end of it, you snap it through with those good mechanics. So, I think he's learning that and he's also getting used to shooting them, for sure."
Unfortunately for Toronto, Mills just wouldn’t go away late, racking up 16 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter alone before turning the reins over to Durant and the Nets offensive rebounders who buried Toronto in overtime.
"We put so much attention on the highest score and I felt like sometimes we’re just out of position," Siakam said.
Despite all their absences, the Nets’ typical second unit somehow dominated the Raptors early. Nic Claxton, Day'Ron Sharpe, and Edwards kept Toronto off the glass to the tune of a 33 to 17 rebounding disparity in the first half and 38 points in the paint. It was as bad a first half as the Raptors have had all season, surrendering 66 points on 51% shooting.
Whatever was said in that halftime locker room must have reinvigorated the Raptors because a totally different team showed up in the third. The ball started moving again, whizzing around to open scorers as the Nets found themselves a step behind. VanVleet tallied 16 of his team-high 31 points in the quarter alone.
But those offensive rebounding issues reared their ugly head again for Toronto down the stretch. A trio of offensive boards left Mills open for a wide-open three to put the Nets up 117-111. Then, in overtime, a missed Durant jumper turned into another Nets possession and eventually the game-winning free throws.
“They just really had a lot of effort and energy going in there and trying to tip the ball out, going for rebounds and trying to get easy baskets on the floor. We just needed to be more aggressive and box out," Barnes said.
Highlight(s) of the Night
Barnes and Siakam hooked up for a beautiful alley-oop in the second quarter.
Siakam then did it again in the third quarter, posterizing Kevin Durant on the fast break.
Up Next: Golden State Warriors
The Raptors will have plenty of time off before returning to the court Saturday to take on the NBA's new all-time three-point king Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors at 7:30 p.m. ET.
