© John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Coming into this series, the thought was, if the Warriors could shut down Kawhi Leonard, they would have a great chance to beat the Raptors. The Warriors shut down Leonard in Game 1 on Wednesday night. They did not win, nor were they particularly close to winning.
Here are three thoughts from the Warriors’ Game 1 118-109 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Pascal Siakam looked like Draymond Green of the Western Conference Finals
Siakam looked like the regular season version of himself on Wednesday night. He’s one of the strongest candidates to win the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, playing up-tempo offense and staunch defense while expanding his range. Here’s what his astonishing year-by-year improvement has looked like:
But after a fantastic first round of the playoffs against the Orlando Magic, in which he averaged 20 points per game on 50 percent shooting and 36.4 percent shooting from 3-point range, Siakam’s scoring and efficiency tailed off in the last two rounds. In the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers, he averaged 19.1 points on 44.4 percent shooting and 27.3 percent shooting from deep, and in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, he averaged 14.5 points on 40 percent shooting and 25 percent shooting from 3-point range.
The question for Siakam was which version would show up? Would it be the stifled, inefficient version that was on display against the Bucks, or the regular season-like, dominating version that showed up for round one? On Wednesday, it was clearly the latter. Siakam was dominant in a way that will make the Warriors reexamine their entire game plan going forward.
In addition to the already enormous problem of defending Leonard, Siakam reaffirmed that he has the potential to play like a bona fide second star. Steve Kerr said he looks like a younger version of Draymond Green, and not only did he play like Green at his best, he outplayed Green tonight.
Siakam was dynamic on both ends of the ball, dropping 32 points on 14-of-17 shooting (2-of-3 from 3-pt), 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 2 turnovers. He pushed the pace, operated in the post like a point forward while also unveiling Hakeem Olajuwon-like post moves and a keen eye for passing. If he plays like this every game, it’s hard to see the Warriors winning this series.
Beaten by everyone but Kawhi
Again, the theory coming into this series was that the Warriors needed to essentially only shut down Kawhi Leonard to win. That proved woefully untrue. In addition to Siakam’s astounding performance, the Raptors’ length and shooting ability as a team were on prime display, even while Leonard was far from his usual self. He finished with 23 points (5-of-14, 3-of-6 from 3-pt) with most of those points coming at the line (10-of-12). He was still fantastic, with 8 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal, but offensively, he wasn’t the unstoppable dynamo that was expected.
Instead, it was Marc Gasol, Fred VanVleet and a revived Danny Green, who, along with Siakam, swung the tide drastically in the Raptors’ favor. Gasol was left unguarded behind the 3-point line and made the Warriors regret their decision twice, going 2-for-4 from behind the line. His 20 points came efficiently (6-of-10, 6-of-6 from FT), along with 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and a block.
Gasol’s shooting presented an unsolvable problem for the Warriors, who were already being ruined by the spacing of the Raptors’ shooters. Green had struggled mightily in recent games, but tonight, he scored 11 points (4-of-9, 3-of-7 from 3-pt), in tandem with VanVleet, who tallied 15 points (5-of-8, 1-of-4 from 3-pt) off the bench. With the length and athleticism of Leonard, Siakam, Serge Ibaka and Gasol, this spacing and shooting wore out the Warriors, even with the help of DeMarcus Cousins returning to shift onto those front court players for eight minutes tonight.
Staunch, selective Raptors defense hammers home necessity of Durant
The Raptors put on a defensive clinic and it was no fluke. The team is long, athletic and incredibly intelligent. They sagged off Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Kevon Looney, effectively operative with a 3-2 zone that led to near-constant double teams of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. What was proven was that the Warriors have essentially two players who can create their own shot in Curry and Thompson. When Draymond Green is moving like a bowling ball, that number occasionally moves to three.
But Green was limited by that defense tonight, and was unable to get into that dynamic, full-court offensive press mode that he was in against the Portland Trail Blazers. When the Raptors sagged off the Warriors’ non-shooters in favor of hounding Curry and Thompson, they simultaneously forced Green into difficult circumstances. The opportunities for him to drive and kick out were there, but they were rarely for shooting opportunities.
There’s no question this Warriors team can beat the Raptors without Durant, but without home court advantage, the necessity to win four of the next six games becomes an increasingly complex problem to solve. That’s even more difficult with the fact that Andre Iguodala left tonight’s game injured, holding that left calf that has bothered him this year. If the Warriors want to win this series, it looks more and more likely they’ll need Durant to do it.