Sunday 9 February 2020 13:02, UK
Overcoming the absence of injured stars is becoming a regular occurrence for the Toronto Raptors. So is winning games.
Fred VanVleet scored 10 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, Pascal Siakam scored 20 points, including the tie-breaking free throw with 22 seconds remaining, and the Raptors extended their franchise-record winning streak to 14 by beating the Brooklyn Nets 119-118 on Saturday night.
Terence Davis scored 20 points in his first home start, Matt Thomas had a career-high 15 and Serge Ibaka added 12 as the Raptors won despite playing without All-Star guard Kyle Lowry, earning their 10th consecutive home victory over the Nets. Toronto has won 18 of 19 in the series, including six straight.
Davis started for Lowry, who was inactive because of a whiplash injury caused by an accidental collision with Ibaka in the third quarter of Friday's win at Indiana. Lowry was pictured on social media wearing a neck brace on the flight back to Toronto.
VanVleet said the Raptors have become accustomed to winning without a complete line-up.
"At this point, I think we're experienced enough in that realm, unfortunately," VanVleet said. "We've had a ton of guys out this year. We don't really think about it."
Besides Lowry, Raptors center Marc Gasol missed his sixth straight game because of a sore left hamstring, while guard Norman Powell sat for the fourth consecutive game because of a broken finger on his left hand.
NBA Gametime pundits Caron Butler and Brian Shaw have both been impressed with how players have stepped up to fill in for their injured starters, and how the team as a whole has remained competitive despite their star man leaving in the summer.
"[With] the departure of Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and also the expectations, you would think that they would immediately change," Butler said.
"All of a sudden they come back and they're like, 'we want to show people we're a really good team, not a one-man band' and that's exactly what they're doing. They're doing it by committee and, collectively, they're defending extremely well."
"Last year they got a lot of practice playing without Kawhi when he was load managing," Shaw pointed out. "What people forget is that they are the defending champions, that they do have championship DNA. They have a lot of guys on this team that went through the wars to win that championship last year.
"They are the definition of a team. It doesn't matter who it is. Three players [were out injured against the Nets]: Gasol, Lowry - starting point guard and starting center - and Norman Powell who had been playing well for them. And there's a step from VanVleet tonight, a step up from Terence Davis.
"On top of that you've got to give [head coach] Nick Nurse some credit because in the games that they've played where they've played other teams who have had superstars, they've been able to take them out of their games with different defensive schemes - all season long they've been consistent at doing that.
"Now you look up and they're second in the East and that's saying a lot. I think that they like cruising there, under the radar, ready in position [to be] peaking at the right time."
In particular, having Davis and Thomas step up to make huge contributions despite the pair both massively lacking in NBA experience is a huge bonus for Toronto.
Thomas played a career-high 22 minutes and shot 6 of 9, including 3 of 4 from long range.
"Every time he rises up, you think it's going in," Raptors coach Nurse said.
Thomas also matched his career best with six rebounds.
Davis, meanwhile, shot 5 for 8 from three-point range and Butler can definitely see some similarities with Steve Kerr's Golden State Warriors championship offense about the way the Raptors deploy him and in terms of the way he plays the game
"He's making shots and they're doing a remarkable job of finding him," added Butler. "He's going to stay on the perimeter and continue to move.
"This is all about watching the Splash Brothers, seeing what they've done over the last couple of years and the success that they had, and now teams are really starting to copy it."
For Shaw, it's the tenacity he plays with and the intelligence of his movement which has stood out as he scored 20 in just his second career NBA start.
"He plays with a chip on his shoulder every single night, he brings toughness to this team" Shaw said. "Kyle Lowry is their tough guy even though he's one of the smaller guys on their team but he brings that same kind of edge every night when he plays.
"For a young player who went undrafted, having this opportunity - he plays the game and understands that you keep moving offensively, you don't stop. His ability to relocate, keep moving - and he takes what the defense gives him. He doesn't try to force anything and that's rare to see from a young player with the little amount of experience that he has."
Victory over the Nets means the Raptors remain unbeaten since a 105-104 home loss to San Antonio on January 12. The Raptors also swept their third straight set of back-to-back games.
And with role players stepping up in such a fashion, even with injuries to key stars, who is to say that the bandwagon can't keep rolling for a while yet?
