Watch Brooklyn Nets @ Toronto Raptors (Game 1) live on Sky Sports Arena on Monday, August 17 at 9pm
Sunday 16 August 2020 14:16, UK
Marc Gasol has vowed defending NBA champions the Toronto Raptors will be the most 'unselfish, toughest' team in the playoffs.
The Raptors start their postseason campaign with a first-round playoff series against the seventh-seeded Brooklyn Nets. Game 1 of the series is live on Sky Sports Arena on Monday night at 9pm.
"We are ready to take on the new challenge and we are very excited for it," veteran center Gasol said. "Just getting that timing together, the reads, the chemistry, the body language… how much we are willing to put on the line for the guy next to us, that builds a lot of trust and love.
"We are going to be the most unselfish, the toughest team regardless of who is out there."
Gasol played a crucial role in the Raptors surge to the championship after joining the team from the Memphis Grizzlies via trade in February 2019. Although Toronto lost two key compnents of their title triumph in free agency - Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green - they enter the 2020 playoffs with a better regular season record than 12 months ago.
The 35-year-old Spanish center said team chemistry will be critical if the Raptors are to successfully defend the title.
"The ball goes through my hands a lot," said Gasol. "It's a matter of me looking at the basket and understanding the angles, how the opponent plays me and what spacing the offense is going to try and create.
"We have so many guys that are threats who do a great job. We are all here for the same reason, which is to win. We will do everything necessary to do that. Once you work for your team-mates and help each other - thinking about them before you think about yourself - it always works out.
"We are a very resilient team. To go through it together is all that matters to me. That's the beauty of this game. Going through processes as a team and getting better each and every night, that's what you do it for - to eventually win games as a group."
