The Building Storm
It was a cold winter day in Detroit, Michigan when the Raptors confidentially walked into Little Caesars Arena (Scotiabank Arena South) to match-up with the struggling Detroit Pistons. The Raptors would walk away from this meeting with another W to add to their record. Unfortunately, as Nick Nurse said, “A win with a heavy price, to be honest.”
That fateful game involved Raptors centre Marc Gasol leaving the game early in the first quarter with a left hamstring strain, then Norman Powell followed suit with a left shoulder subluxation early in the fourth quarter. The cherry on top was the Raptors burgeoning super star Pascal Siakam going down with groin strain late in the fourth quarter. These injuries to three key players left a bad taste in the mouths of Raptor fans and a question on their lips “How are they ever to compete in the East with a perpetually injured team?” Well the answer to that my fellow Raptor fans is something we’ve become incredibly familiar with: Nick Nurse, the bench mob, and Championship DNA.
A Historic Comeback
Following this massive blow to their roster, the Raptors railed off two quick wins against the Washington Wizards and the Dallas Mavericks. It was the later of these two wins which was the most impressive as the Raptors were able to come back from a 30-point deficit (yes, you’re reading that right) to steal this game from the Mavericks. This victory is even more impressive when one takes into account the season that the Mavericks are currently having, as they have achieved a record of 21-10 (5th in the Western Conference) while being led by young phenom Luke Dončić (insert comparisons with Trae Young here). Unfortunately for the Mavericks, Dončić had recently suffered an ankle injury and so the Mavericks had to rely on the ‘unicorn’ Kristaps Porzingis (what a downgrade).
If the very act of coming back from a 30-point deficit doesn’t seem like a noteworthy achievement, maybe getting into the specifics would change your mind. This game was like many games before it, in the sense that the Raptors were undermanned and missing key players, and yet they were able to get a W against seemingly insurmountable odds.
The Raptors have presented this ability multiple times throughout the season, as they had already weathered an early season storm where Serge Ibaka and Kyle Lowry had been injured in the same game, and then were ruled out for the next eleven games. It was throughout these next eleven games that the Raptors went 8-3 with a surprising win against the Lakers, as well as refurbishing their apartment in Joel Embiid’s head.
Built Different
These wins are a result of three key factors; Nick Nurse, the bench mob, and Championship DNA. Nurse’s coaching ability has gained notice throughout the league as he has developed the ability to use defensive schemes and traps to completely neutralize opposing team’s offensive abilities, while increasing his own.
This ability was on full display during the 30-point comeback, as after the Mavericks lead ballooned to 30 at the 2:33 mark in the 3rd quarter, Nurse changed the defensive scheme into that of a full court press. This defensive scheme caused turnovers and panicked passes from the Mavericks and they never recovered.
This willingness to experiment with different defensive approaches is nothing new for Nurse, as in the NBA Finals last year the Raptors used a ‘box and one’ approach to neutralize the Golden State Warrior’s Steph Curry. Nurse’s ability to examine an opponent’s offensive weak points and target them has allowed the Raptors to remain a top team in the East, while having had a fully healthy roster for only six games this season.
Raptors deep and talented bench, where Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, undrafted rookie Terence Davis II, and Chris Boucher are consistently showing up and balling out. In the games where the Raptors starters seem to be lacking in energy and focus, the bench is able to come in and inject energy and the desire to win. These bursts of energy allow the Raptors to run the other teams off the floor and cause a plethora of highlight reel plays.
Lastly, but certainly not least, the championship DNA is alive and well in the Raptors. In years past, Raptor fans could tune in for a game and get this feeling in their gut that the Raptors just didn’t have it in them tonight. It was like the energy wasn’t there and not even the sparkplug bench could help the team. However, this has changed with this iteration of the Toronto Raptors.
This season has presented a version of the Toronto Raptors where it seems that no lead is too large for the Raptors to come back from (*stares at the Mavericks*), and that the Raptors never ‘mail it in’ or throw in all the deep bench players to get some run time.
The talking heads of the NBA community may have you believe that the Raptors are about as far away from defending their championship as one can be. However, I would argue that in a 7 game playoff series the defensive schemes of Nick Nurse and the Raptors hunger for success, would give the Raptors a decent chance at defending their title.
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