Raptors’ Murray-Boyles deserves lion’s share of minutes in Game 3
“This one game that we played in the playoffs is equivalent to 15 or 20 games in the regular season (in terms of) how much you can learn.”
If we’re to believe head coach Darko Rajakovic’s glass-half-full message following the Toronto Raptors’ Game 1 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and just before their Game 2 loss, then it’s safe to say there’s been enough on-court action to justify drawing some conclusions.
For instance, Collin Murray-Boyles has been notably more impactful than Jakob Poeltl thus far. That is despite the rookie experiencing post-season hoops for the very first time, while the veteran of 10 seasons — and 24 playoff games — has looked every bit the 30-year-old with a bad back and limited mobility as fans feared.
Rajakovic seems to know it too.
Poeltl played all of nine minutes on Monday — finishing a minus-seven — and didn’t see the floor in the second half. And the third-year bench boss deserves credit for yanking his starting centre before things got any uglier, as they did in Game 1.
But he’s also the coach who stuck with Poeltl as a Game 2 starter even after the big fella struggled immensely in the series opener and has since said the vet is “going to be a big part of Game 3.”
Does Rajakovic give Poeltl another chance with the first five on Thursday? Maybe it’ll depend on Immanuel Quickley’s availability, as the guard-centre pairing has undeniable chemistry, with a plus-4.21 net rating in more than 1,600 minutes. And maybe two games aren’t enough to shake Rajakovic’s faith in Poeltl, who has built a foundation of trust in the 153 games they’ve spent together as coach and player, 151 of which saw the big man start.
But I’m willing to say it ought to be.
By Rajakovic’s math, two playoff games are equivalent to nearly half a regular season’s worth of insight. And in those outings, Murray-Boyles has shown enough to earn the lion’s share of centre minutes — as a starter — moving forward.
Which is how I want to frame this, by the way. As much as this can be about how poorly Poeltl has played, I’d rather focus on how well CMB has instead. What to make of Poeltl’s waning production, his beleaguered back and a $25.9 million AAV until 2030 will be GM Bobby Webster’s conundrum to mull over this summer. (And hopefully, a lifetime supply of Robax and a couple months of R-and-R will salvage the situation.)
Right now, there are just two more Cavaliers wins standing between the Raptors and a ticket to Cancun. If these games are as chock-full of learning as Rajakovic suggests, then they’re far too valuable — for this series and Toronto’s future outlook — to not let Murray-Boyles soak up as much playing time as possible.
“Since Day 1 of the regular season, we’re trying to install habits that I believe can help us in the playoffs,” Rajakovic said last week. And to put it very simply, the Raptors have been able to execute upon said habits (i.e., controlling the possession battle, generating transition opportunities and applying rim pressure) far more effectively with CMB on the floor.
Habit 1: Controlling the possession battle — His team-best eight contested rebounds (double his closest teammate) have helped even the gap.
Habit 2: Generating transition opportunities — The Raptors near-10 per cent jump in transition frequency when Murray-Boyles is on the court (highest among Toronto’s rotation players) has been vital in rediscovering the lifeblood of their offence. Toronto’s time-to-shot off defensive rebounds was 1.5 seconds faster in Game 2 with CMB (and Mamu) routinely jetting up the floor compared to Game 1, when the Raptors were nearly two seconds slower than their season average in that regard.
Habit 3: Applying rim pressure — The rookie is tied for the second-most paint points (24) on the team, shooting 12-of-14 in the key (10-of-11 at the basket). Plus, a team-best six screen assists — the most among rookies and tied-ninth among all playoff players — freeing up his teammates to get up close doesn’t hurt either.
All that to say, it’s not difficult to understand how Toronto won the battle on the glass (plus-seven), on the break (plus-14) and in the paint (plus-12) when the rookie played 28 minutes and had the second-highest usage on the team in Game 2.
Had it not been for a season-high 22 turnovers for 22 points from the Raptors, Brandon Ingram’s uber-rough outing and the other-worldly shot-making of James Harden and Donovan Mitchell all coinciding in the same game, there’s plenty to suggest the series could’ve been 1-1 heading back to Toronto. And Murray-Boyles would’ve been a big reason why.
That’s not to say he’s been perfect.
There have been more than a few rookie miscues, the half-court offence has been less productive (but better on the offensive glass) with him on the floor and the Raptors are minus-21 in his minutes. But I’ll gladly take errors of action than those of inaction.
He’s been incredibly active offensively and, more importantly, has done a great job of making himself available. For instance, when Scottie Barnes forced Harden to sail an overhead pass that resulted in a Cavs turnover midway through Game 2, Murray-Boyles started the transition play underneath the rim while Poeltl was a foot behind the charity stripe, but by the time Barnes turned around to dump the ball to a trailing big, it was the rookie who found himself closest and took the pass into a drive for some well-earned free throws.
And while his presence in the halfcourt raises similar spacing concerns as Poeltl, what has set CMB apart from the vet thus far is his willingness to participate as a scorer in those situations.
He’s shown no hesitancy in challenging the likes of Mobley and Jarrett Allen at the rim in this series — fourth on the team in shots taken, on a team-best 75.1 per cent true shooting. He’s gone 6-of-9 when guarded by Allen and 4-of-4 against Mobley. As another example, Murray-Boyles is the only player this post-season to register 10 cuts, and he’s scored on seven of the eight shot attempts on said plays.
Back in November, I wrote about how the Raptors chose to throw CMB into the fire, and how his abundance of confidence allowed him to rise above the smoke. I even noted his willingness to repeatedly attack then-reigning Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley as an example of that fearlessness.
Testing an all-world defender, even once, takes gumption. Doing it right after failing takes boatloads of it. A quality we don’t see from many seasoned players, let alone one that just entered the league.
The 20-year-old has stayed true to form in that regard. So, while Poeltl has developed a level of offensive craft greater than Murray-Boyles throughout his career, he’s not been involved enough for it to matter with just four shot attempts through two games.
And on the defensive end, it’s no secret that Murray-Boyles has shown far more utility.
While the Raptors haven’t exactly bottled up the Cavaliers (getting outscored by 48 points in the halfcourt), bringing down Cleveland’s rim frequency from 42 per cent in Game 1 to 29 per cent in Game 2 was a major step in the right direction. Toronto was able to do so by mixing a variety of tactics like switches, blitzes and doubles that fell apart far less often with Murray-Boyles involved.
The Cavaliers’ turnover rate jumping nearly five per cent when he’s on the floor — the highest increase of any Raptor who’s played at least 30 minutes — hasn’t hurt either.
Again, it hasn’t been perfect. The Raptors half-court defence is still giving up more points per play when he’s on the floor than when he’s off, and Mobley and Allen have found their fair share of success finishing over the rookie (5-of-8 shooting combined), who does give up height in both matchups. But Murray-Boyles has helped contain dribble penetration, at least somewhat, and he’s been far less prone to allowing putbacks than Poeltl this series.
(By the way, Sandro Mamukelashvili deserves more playing time in this series as well, as the only rotation player to be winning his minutes thus far. His activity and spacing have been immensely valuable on offence, especially in trying to make life easier for Brandon Ingram while Quickley has been out, and his defence has been more than satisfactory relative to expectations.)
My point being, it’s obvious that the Raptors are trying to overcome multiple problems at once this series. And while Murray-Boyles and Poeltl present their own deficiencies, one has done a much better job of also offering solutions along the way.
So while the Raptors try to conquer the overwhelming odds as a team down 2-0, I know which player I’d want anchoring that effort. And Rajakovic’s formula backs it. Through two games that mean much more than a couple of losses, Murray-Boyles has earned his place on the court and proven he belongs during the playoffs.
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