As if Game 1 wasn’t already star-studded enough! On Sunday night, for Game 2 of the 2019 NBA Finals between the Warriors and Raptors, Obama was in the building, Drake was in the building (of course), and Guy Fieri was in the building! Not only did some of the most famous people in the world come to watch, but the best players in the world came to play.
Klay Thompson started hot by scoring 11 of the Warriors 13 points as he put his classic shooting form on display. He kept the Warriors in the game during the first quarter! Steph Curry carried the Warriors in the second quarter as he scored 12 of the Warriors 17 points to end the half. This allowed Golden State to only go into halftime down 5 when they easily could have been down 10 or 12 points.
After halftime, the Warriors came out firing on all cylinders and the Raptors had one of the worst 3rd quarters I have ever seen. They missed shot after shot and had as many turnovers as field goals. Golden State had the ball flying around from player to player on offense, and the Raptors couldn’t do anything to keep up.
Fortunately for them, Kawhi put the team on his back late in the 3rd quarter and did all he could to keep them in the game by driving to the basket and getting free throws nearly every time. His strength and length were on total display as he put up shot after shot while getting fouled hard by the Warriors every time her drove.
Leading the Raptors by 8 going into the 4th quarter, it looked like the Warriors had this game wrapped up when suddenly Klay Thompson went down with a pulled hamstring!
Then the Raptors whipped out the classic high school Varsity defense – the box-and-one! This defense prevented the Warriors from scoring five straight minutes down the stretch and almost won the Raptors the game, if not for a clutch (maybe ill-advised) dagger three from Andre Iguodala.
This game had tons of highs and lows for both teams. It was a classic Game 2 as both teams came out with an incredible sense of urgency to start the game and never stopped until the final horn. Such an awesome game deserves to be broken down in full! So here is my detailed breakdown of the most impactful players, moments, and takeaways both teams have from this game.
Full Film and Screenshot Breakdown of Game 2!
Klay’s Fast Start
Klay has the ability to get hot faster than any other player in the NBA (besides Steph Curry maybe), and when he gets going offensively, there is almost nothing any defense can do against him. The Raptors started out with Lowry on Klay and that in part was why he was able to get going so early in the game. Lowry defending Klay allowed the Raptors to have the speed to keep up with him coming off of screens, but the negative to that was that Klay could rise up any time and get his shot off over Lowry.
The Raptors stopped covering Klay with Lowry about halfway through the first quarter when they decided to put Pascal Siakam on Klay. It was an interesting strategy because his length obviously allows the Raptors to contest every Klay three-pointer, but you also risk Siakam losing track of Klay because he isn’t as fast as him. Sometimes Siakam’s defense was perfect,
but sometimes it just didn’t matter how good he was:
Klay’s fast start allowed the Warriors to not get run out of the gym early because Steph didn’t have it going at all in the first quarter (he was 0-6 until 3:53 remaining in the second quarter).
Klay's shooting, coupled with Draymond’s great defensive rebound in the first quarter, (six in total) helped control the tempo for the Warriors and prevented them from getting run out of the gym on fast breaks like this one:
Fred VanVleet Needs to Keep Having Kids
Fred VanVleet’s magical run continued in Game 2 as he hit big shots and played excellent defense on Steph Curry (at least as well as you can).
He scored 17 points and had three steals. He also double-teamed Curry at the right times again and forced him into multiple turnovers including this one:
He was also the primary defender on Curry during the Raptor’s box-and-one, five minute stretch in the 4th quarter.
He also threw that money lob for a monster Siakam slam! He knows how good Draymond Green is at defending 2-1 fast-break lobs so VanVleet threw the ball just far enough away from Green where he couldn’t reach up and grab it!
Curry Gets Going
Early on in the game, Doris Burke reported from the sideline that Steph Curry wasn’t feeling well and that he was constantly talking to his trainer during timeouts.
After some internet investigative reporting, the conclusion seems to be that it was either a stomach bug or diarrhea.
Either way, his shooting was terrible for most of the first half. But with 3:53 left in the quarter, and the Warriors down 10, Steph Curry scored 12 of the Warriors final 17 points of the half, as they cut the deficit to 5 points.
Before Curry started going off, the Warriors were 2-17 from the field at the 5:00 minute mark of the second quarter with only Boogie Cousins playing decently well at all.
The Warriors had a terrible second quarter, however, before we could crown that quarter the worst one of the game, the Raptors said: “hold my Molson”.
The Worst 3rd Quarter Ever?
If Game 1 was called the Pascal Siakam game, then Game 2 should get the title: “The Raptors’ worst quarter ever”. A little wordy and not too creative, albeit, but it is definitely in contention for worst one, and it is certainly where the Raptors lost this game.
Despite how important the other 40 minutes of a basketball game are, the first 8 minutes of the 3rd quarter decided this game. I know that is hard to say with all of the other misses the Raptors had tonight, but trust me, when we go through this we’ll see why.
The reason it was so bad was because the Warriors also happened to play a perfect quarter of basketball in response to the Raptors poor play. The Raptors had 7 turnovers and 7 field goals while the Warriors had 14 field goals on 14 assists. The Raptors looked like the Warriors in Game 1 as they displayed poor transition defense,
turned the ball over repeatedly, and couldn’t defend the Warriors backdoor cuts/lobs.
This quarter sealed the Raptors fate, despite how hard they fought to get back in the game.
The Final Five Minutes of the Game
This is when the Raptors bust out their box-and-one. Basically what this defense does is allow the team to have one defender chase the best star player around and deny them the ball.
This then forces that star players teammates to shoot, dribble, and create plays without the help of their best player.
This is why it is run so often in high school. Usually, when a team has a superstar player, the rest of the team isn’t so great, and the role players feed off of the superstar’s shot making. When you take him out of the game with a box-and-one you cut the head off the snake. You render the team useless.
This is exactly what happened to the Warriors Sunday night with five minutes remaining. You can call the defense “janky”, as Steph did post game, but I say run whatever it takes to win the game. I know how effective a box-and-one can be on a team because I was often one of those role players who had to try and do something when it was ran on our best player. You feel pretty uncomfortable at first because you don’t know how to react, and you don’t usually practice against it. It takes about a quarter to adjust to it and by then you could already be out of the game.
It took the Warriors five minutes to score because they didn’t know what to do. I understand Steve Kerr not wanting to use a timeout to discuss how to play against a box-and-one, but I think it could have saved them a lot of headaches and they could have scored more points before the Iggy three if they had just called a timeout and addressed the defense.
The Iggy Three. Should He have Shot It?
Iguodala’s three pointer to ice the game was highly debatable in the moment and even more so post game. Should he have shot it? You’ll get a different answer with each person you ask.
I think he should have shot it, but I also think that the Raptors did the right thing by not contesting it. The reason Iggy made the right move by taking the shot was because he was open. Moreover, there were four Raptors’ defenders in the paint when he had the ball and Curry was being denied by Fred VanVleet.
No one else could have taken the shot in that situation but Iguodala. Also if Iggy would have driven into the paint, there’s no way he would have gotten a shot off. The Raptors would have fouled him or stripped him of the ball because, as I just said, there were four defenders in the paint! If he went to the free throw line (where he’s a 39% free throw shooter in the playoffs) then he would have probably not made both and the Warriors would have only been up 3 or 4 (at best). His three-point percentage in the playoffs (35%) is almost as good as his actual free throw percentage! Thus, it statistically made more sense for him to shoot a three rather than go to the line for two free throws or maybe even lose the ball driving to the basket.
If I’m the Raptors, I’ll live with that shot. You played the percentages and you got the ball out of the Warriors’ best player for the final possession. That’s all you can really ask for. If I had to nitpick though, I would suggest fouling Iggy as soon as he catches the ball, but no one was near him so who knows if they would have had enough time to do so.
Either way, I don’t think either team messed up here with the decision that they made in that possession. Championship teams, despite how star-studded they can be, always need role players to hit big shots. You can't win a title without them and Iggy proved that on Sunday.
Other Big Takeaways and Things to Look for Next Game
Boogie!!
DeMarcus Cousins was back this game! He started out playing defense like a maniac and settled down well in the second quarter as he helped the Warriors weather the Raptor’s run before Curry scored his 12 points to end the quarter.
It was a genius move by Kerr to start Cousins instead of bringing him off the bench. Before this postseason, Cousins had only come off the bench 23 times which means he isn’t used to doing so. He is most effective as a starter so Kerr’s decision to start Cousins immediately made him more comfortable and more engaged on both ends of the floor.
Cousins’ primary job this game was to rebound, score, and take Marc Gasol out of the game. That was evident from the very first possession of the game when Cousins crowded Gasol’s playmaking space from more than 30 feet out:
His defense wasn’t great to start; he messed up this switch with Draymond big time and the Raptors attacked him basically every time he was on the floor.
His effort was at the level it needed to be though, and when you’re as talented as Cousins, the effort can be half the battle on the defensive end. Coaches just want players who can play hard and compete. Cousins did that really well tonight. His aggression translated into points on the offensive end and he even played better defense in the second half once his energy became more focused rather than out of control.
The big question the Raptors have to worry about is three-fold. Is this a one-time thing? Or will Cousins only get better as this series goes on? Can they exploit him being on the floor, or has that opportunity passed?
The Raptors will continue to test him on defense and try their best to frustrate him. What will happen as a result? We’ll find out on Wednesday night.
I also just want to include this clip because I really liked this move and it looked like Sacramento Cousins:
Warriors Injuries
Iguodala looked like he may have been injured this game due to a hard Gasol screen, Klay has a pulled hamstring, Looney has a chest contusion, and Durant is out for Game 3. This NBA Finals series is a battle of attrition for the Warriors and at some point, they just won’t have any more bodies to throw out there to play. It sounds crazy to say, but they could use Kevin Durant if they continue to lose more roster players.
Warriors Ball Movement
The Warriors assisted on 89.5% of their shots on Sunday and when a team plays that well it’s basically impossible to beat them. They played the highest level of basketball on the offensive end and the Raptors missed dozens of good looks. If any of that changes then this outcome looks different.
Curry’s Gravity
Curry’s ability to attract multiple defenders at a time is unparalleled and the Raptors over-committing to stop Curry will open up tons of future opportunities for Warriors’ role players, as it did in this game. Players like Quinn Cook and Alfonzo McKinnie can really take advantage of those opportunities when they do get those open looks as a result.
Because of Curry's scoring ability, Ibaka is forced to leave the rim and give Bogut an open lob.
Look how Curry absorbs two defenders as Livingston gets the open layup as a result.
Raptors’ Misses
If you’re a Raptors’ fan don’t be too distraught about this loss. As a team, you shot 28% from three (34% in the series now) and missed about every good look in the book. Here are just some of the wide-open misses (sorry if this hurts to look at).
You missed all these shots and only lost by 5. That’s a huge positive to take away from this game if you’re a Raptors’ fan.
Kawhi Takeover?
Kawhi Leonard is averaging 28.5 points per game in these finals and yet I feel like he can be more aggressive. He asserted himself well in the 3rd quarter but seemed to sort of vanish at the end of the 4th quarter. This was partly because Draymond Green was defending him, but Kawhi still needs to do a better job of staying involved in the offense to end games.
In fact, if the Raptors hope to win a game on the road in Oracle, they will need Kawhi to replicate a LeBron-esque performance from the 2015 NBA Finals. In those finals (without Kyrie and Kevin Love), LeBron played mainly iso-ball and mucked up the game to the best of his ability. He took tons of punishment and consistently went to the foul line which took the Warriors out of their transition offense. This isn’t to say the Cavaliers didn’t run. (The Raptors have done that a little bit already).
They just picked their spots more strategically and only ran when they had the numbers advantage.
Kawhi did a mini version of this to end the third quarter and this is basically what allowed the Raptors to hang around in the game so that they didn’t go blown out. Whether he has the stamina and strength to do that for a whole game is a question we have yet to get the answer to, but road games in the Finals are where stars assert themselves. This is the reason the Raptors got Kawhi. They needed a superstar who could win games for the team on the road in the playoffs.
If the Raptors hope to steal a game in Oracle, which is a must if they want to win this series, then they will need Kawhi to put on a historic performance and win one game in Oracle because you can’t beat the Warriors three times in a row in the playoffs. No one has done that since LeBron and the Cavs did so three years ago.
Kawhi Double Teams
It’s no secret that the Warriors frustrated Kawhi with their pesky defense and double teams. Included with a heavy dose of Klay and Green taking turns guarding Leonard, the 34 points Kawhi scored on Sunday were probably the hardest 34 of his career.
The Warriors trapped Kawhi at the right time and with the right personnel
Here’s a perfect trap in the corner:
Here is another:
And another. This one forced Kawhi to call a timeout one possession after the Raptors had just called one.
These traps made Kawhi’s life on offense difficult. We’ll see if the Warriors turn up the intensity on those traps and really force the Raptors role players to beat them on the road. Historically role players play better at home than on the road so it would make sense for the Warriors to trap even more and make the Raptors role players win a game in Oracle Arena. They won one in the regular season, but obviously a road NBA Finals Game is an entirely different beast.
Raptors’ Defensive Adjustments
The Raptors fell victim to the Warriors back cuts and lobs on five different occasions in Game 2. That was an easy 10 points they could have taken away which also would have won them this game.
Livingston had a couple easy cuts and lobs
Bogut killed them on the lobs as soon as he entered the game in the 3rd quarter and the Raptors never seemed to make the proper adjustments to contain them.
Raptors’ Final Takeaway
If you’re the Raptors, while you have to be frustrated with the loss, there are plenty of positives to take away that are fixable.
First is making shots. If you just make two more threes, then you could win by one. Second is defensive adjustments. They seemed to unlock something with their box-and-one. And while it won’t be sustainable for a whole game, they certainly can try it for stretches if Curry is on the floor with four non shooters in the future. Third, you also fouled a ton and fouled at the wrong time. For example, in the first quarter, the Warriors went to the line 11 times in the last 3 minutes because they were in the bonus so early. This also allowed the Warriors to hang around and eventually capture the lead.
So if you’re the Raptors you shouldn’t be discouraged going into Game 3, just like the Warriors shouldn’t be ecstatic going into Game 3 either.
Warriors’ Final Takeaways
This is simple for the Warriors: health. If they can get Klay back and he can play in Game 3 then they’ll be okay. If not, then they are in real trouble because the Raptors can take total advantage of that on the defensive end. Additionally, without Klay, the primary defending of Kawhi Leonard falls on the shoulders of Iggy and Green instead of a three-man defensive rotation. This makes their tasks on both ends of the floor much more difficult.
These finals are truly fascinating, and it has only been two games! Game 3 and Game 4 can be the most important games in a series because one team can take total control of the series. Will the Warriors take control of the series or will the Raptors pull off an upset and steal one in Golden State? Only one way to find out...
*Cover image found via BostonGlobe.com