Scottie Barnes and the Raptors leave with nothing after giving everything in Game 7 loss
No Ingram, no Quickley. Swords were pulled, flames and fireworks shot into the air. Heat and light hit my face slightly before the roar of the crowd. Big, booming pyrotechnics and light work from these Cavaliers along with a slight audio assault. The sizzle in the air when the in-arena-host yells “SPYDAAAAAAAAA”. A raucous arena, full of mostly Cavs fans, but some Raptors too. Game 7, baby.
Dean Wade was sent back into the starting lineup by Kenny Atkinson, hoping to find the magic of the first two Cleveland games. Scottie Barnes brought his own magic, scoring the first 5 points of the game. A turnaround on Harden, and a transition And-1. After a missed free throw from Evan Mobley there was a sizeable “YEAHHHHH” from the crowd. The same thing happened after James Harden missed from the line. It wasn’t a trick on my ears, the Raptors faithful had traveled well.
All the hallmarks of this Raptors streak of great play were present in the opening. Barnes was great. Walter & Shead hit a triple each. Barrett churned his feet, duck-like, indomitable, inscrutable for a difficult bucket in the lane. Battle cashed a triple. Collin Murray-Boyles planted a hot stove screen, a quick shove to the back of his defender, a hard roll, and a battle at the top of the mountain against Allen for a lob, that he won and punched home. They were active and scrambling on defense. Coach Darko was rapidly swapping guys in and out to maintain energy. In the first 8 minutes of the game the Raptors jumped out to a 20-12 lead and managed to grab a blow of wind for most of their important guys. A massive opening – with Shead as the leading scorer (7 points), through awareness, cutting, and a bit of gumption.
Of course, the Cavaliers would have their response. Over the last 4 minutes of quarter they outscored the Raptors 12-4. They put more shooting on the floor, finding more space and more punch at the end of their possessions — it helped that Donovan Mitchell’s jumper was dropping — and the Raptors were pretty flummoxed by the mobility of the shooters + Mobley at the back end. Not taking great shots, and certainly not making many of them. A fairly even opening quarter that came to a close with the Raptors ahead, 26-24, and despite a foul disparity of 9 to 1, and a free throw disparity of 12 to 1.
Stars put their hand on the wheel when the car drifts from the path. Barnes and Barrett did just that in the opening of the second quarter. Tireless, blue collar buckets. Stops/steals on defense. Guarding up, guarding down. Doing all of it while navigating a very slow moving Poeltl, whose mobility looked very limited. Somehow, by the strength of their stars, and Shead, who was living out his own version of Space Jam — skying above bigs for put backs, canning triples, driving to the cup for 14 first half points — the Raptors found themselves back up by 10.
Linking up often, finding tethers, the Raptors found their way back quickly on defense. They carry their ropes into cavernous maze of the Cavaliers defense and always find their way home. The Cav players want to hit home runs. Atkinson wants them to hit singles. The Raptors want perfection, they want no-hitters, but they’re not perfect and they make mistakes. Even when they make mistakes though, they are dogged and exhaustive in their attempts to clean up after themselves.
Across from the Raptors sits the most expensive team in basketball. A vaunted offense, and a star laden one. They guided the Cavaliers back across that 10-point deficit and back home to a tied game at halftime. Some tremendous ping-ping-ping passing sequences, some free throws, and some great individual shot making allowed them to climb their way even. After the first 6 games the teams were tied 3-3 and had each scored 669 points. Only fitting.
A Mobley finger roll landed the Cavs in the lead for the first time in Game 7. A Mitchell triple and a layup — where Poeltl didn’t even bother to make an attempt to contest as the low man — put the Raptors in a troublesome spot to open the second half. The Raptors on the other side, were still nursing a cold spell from downtown. In addition to all that, it seemed like we were getting a more passive stint of offensive play from Barnes. Pacing oneself is part of the game, especially when you expend the energy Barnes does, but the Raptors needed a punch of energy from somewhere, and went without it.
Both teams traded buckets back and forth. Small runs of play. But, the shot making edge had begun to inch towards the Cavs, then lean heavily. In addition to all that we saw a lot of the 50/50 balls end up in the hands of the home team, along with some steals that would be more in character of the Raptors defense. Toronto had a really good look at getting all the way back into the game, but a couple of lackadaisical turnovers squashed their run before it could even start. Strus picked Barnes’ pocket in the back court, dropped it off to Allen for a thunderous dunk, and the Cavs stadium went nuts. A 15 point lead in Game 7, with only 16 minutes of game time to go.
An off the ball, backcourt head butt, flagrant foul from Strus to Barnes slowed the game down, sent the Raptors to the line, and offered Barnes & co. a moment to collect themselves and charge forward. If ever it was gonna happen, now was the time. The Raptors were trying to gnaw and chew their way back on a lot of missed shots from the likes of Barrett & Shead — who had their water turned off — and they needed their foremost star to carry.
Only, it never came. Barnes got called for his 5th foul while chasing a ball down against Allen. The Raptors were staring a truly abysmal half court offense in the mirror (77 points per 100 possessions) and couldn’t generate the run outs they needed to keep pace. Even more to that point, they completely lost the thread on defense. Their perimeter defense lost its bite, their bigs (mostly CMB) had to rotate into position, and Allen finally joined the fray for the Cavaliers. He ran roughshod on the inside of the arc, powering his way to a 20 & 15 stat line before the 4th quarter even began. The Raptors were stuck 19 heading into the death. They’d need a miracle, of sorts. It didn’t come. They lost, and in a really decisive manner.
It wasn’t a miracle for the Raptors to be here in a Game 7 with the Cavaliers. It was the logical outcome of the grit, tenacity, and wit they brought into this series. It didn’t matter that Quickley missed the whole thing, and it didn’t matter that Ingram didn’t play more than 11 minutes across games 5, 6, and 7 – despite his play being the central narrative force of the first half of the series. There’s nothing to do except roll out there with the guys you have. Time after time, the Raptors stepped forward and said “I didn’t hear no bell.”
By not surrendering to the early death, the Raptors resolved to learn. With their tight rotation of mostly young guns, they learned every moment along the way. A playoff series brings a tremendous sense of clarity. A singular type of education. When players lay their life on the line for every possession, you see the essence of them. It is the crucible and the trial by fire in which a lot of the league’s best players are made. In that environment, the Raptors learned they didn’t have enough to topple the Cavs in this series.
They did find out, however, that they had more than they thought going into it. There are champions at the end of every season, and then everyone else. The way to differentiate yourself from the rest is to give those moments to your fans and keep the lessons for yourself. Hand wringing about failed stars and underperforming regulars falls to the wayside to make way for the optimism attached to their youth. Hope springs eternal, and especially for these Raptors who have yet to bloom.
Fun series. Would’ve liked to see the Raptors take this one. Hopefully they get the next one.
Have a blessed day.
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