Toronto Raptors: Takeaways from Game 1 loss to Cavaliers

After a brutal loss to the Cavaliers in Game 1, the Toronto Raptors need to make some key adjustments – and actually show up – to have any chance in Game 2.

Well, that wasn’t very good. The Toronto Raptors got obliterated by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night, dropping Game 1 of the 2017 Eastern Conference semifinals without much of a fight. In truth, the 116-105 scoreline flatters the Raptors. The game was competitive for maybe a minute during the second quarter.

The Raptors missed shots, telegraphed passes and botched defensive coverages. Head coach Dwane Casey definitely has some work to do.

Here are some key takeaways from Game 1 that Casey and his staff should examine before Wednesday’s rematch in Cleveland.

Toronto’s starting lineup isn’t working

After going small in the first round against Milwaukee, Casey reverted to his favored starting lineup in Game 1, replacing Norman Powell with Jonas Valanciunas. The logic was perfectly sound, but Casey ultimately made a mistake.

It’s not like the usual five – Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll, Serge Ibaka and Valanciunas – has a great track record. That group played just 40 minutes together in the regular season, getting outscored by 25.2 points per 100 possessions. Over a further 44 minutes in the playoffs, that number stands at 24.7.

The sample size is small, but the playoffs is no time to wait for a “regression to the mean.” If your starting lineup loses by 10 points, as Toronto’s did last night, it’s difficult to win.

As Raptors color commentator Jack Armstrong suggested constantly on TSN’s broadcast, Toronto should go small to keep up with Cleveland. Valanciunas is the obvious casualty of such a move. The big Lithuanian wasn’t terrible yesterday, but both Powell and P.J. Tucker give the Raptors a better chance to win. Matt Moore of CBS Sports (A.K.A. Hardwood Paroxysm) saw this coming:

The worry, of course, is that Love will overpower whichever undersized wing has to guard him. That may be, but it’s not like Kevin Love post-ups are the lifeblood of Cleveland’s offense. Putting more speed on the floor to defend screens and close out on shooters may be Toronto’s best option. Unless you’re the better team, which the Raptors are not, you have to pick your poison.

Meanwhile, a four-out offense around Ibaka gives the Raptors significantly more shooting and ballhandling. Toronto wasn’t quick enough to make plays when the Cavs trapped Lowry and DeRozan. Starting Tucker, or especially Powell, can help alleviate that problem, while also giving Toronto’s stars more space to work with.

Cleveland stifled Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan

Both Armstrong on TSN and Grant Hill on TNT noted how aggressively Cleveland defended screens. The Cavs jumped out to trap Lowry and DeRozan nearly every time they came off a pick.

It was a wise decision from the defending champions. The Raptors are not a good passing team, and they looked abysmal in the first quarter when Cleveland forced the ball out of Lowry and DeRozan’s hands. Ibaka and Valanciunas, Toronto’s go-to screeners, combined to average just 1.6 assists per game this season. Don’t count on them to make plays in space.

Toronto turned the ball over eight times in the first half, all while Lowry and DeRozan – the collective engine of the Raptor offense – struggled to find a rhythm. Casey drew up a few counters to Cleveland’s scheme, and he’ll need to use them in higher doses for Game 2.

Casey had his two stars screen for one another a few times to confuse Cleveland defenders. Here, meanwhile, the Raptors set up two staggered picks for DeRozan, giving him a runway to attack the lane:

Casey can go to those actions, and he can draw up some more complex sets to get Lowry and DeRozan on the move away from the ball. But still, they’ll need to perform at a higher level. Lowry and DeRozan need to split more traps and make quicker decisions, and everyone needs to hit open shots.

It just wasn’t Toronto’s night

The Cavs badly outplayed the Raptors yesterday, but on another night, the game would’ve been closer, and that’s a reason for optimism in Toronto.

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Patrick Patterson looked out-of-sorts, going 1-for-7 from the field and grabbing only two boards in 22 minutes. DeRozan went 7-of-16 – not terrible – but didn’t ever look capable of carrying the team as he’s done so often this season. Overall, Toronto shot just 46 percent on open or wide-open looks, per NBA.com.

Those numbers don’t tell the whole story, but they do depict how individual mishaps contributed to the Raptors’ defeat. In the fourth quarter, Powell and Tucker looked like the only players who actually wanted to win.

Assuming Casey can rally his guys, the Raptors won’t show up for Game 2 so flat-footed and unprepared. Milwaukee and Cleveland are two different animals, and it was perhaps bound to take a game for the Raptors to adjust to this level of play.

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For Toronto, Game 1 is in the past. Pull off the upset in Game 2, and Monday’s loss will be a distant memory.