Raptors at San Antonio Spurs: Preview & 3 keys to victory
By Graeme Klayh
The Toronto Raptors will play their second game on a back-to-back in San Antonio. The Spurs, favourites to win it all, will be rested while the Raptors are coming off a game in Memphis.
The Toronto Raptors take their talents to one of the best teams in NBA history, to one of the best home court advantages in NBA history. The San Antonio Spurs are still up to their old tricks, only this time, they are doing better. With Hall-of-Famers Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili’s careers winding down, they are still doing Spurs type things. And no one is surprised.
The Raptors took their first meeting against the Spurs in December while playing a near perfect game to defeat them. Toronto shot 57.8% from the field that day, and taking the match 97-94. DeMar DeRozan had his way with Kawhi Leonard, as he returned from an injury that very day. I wouldn’t expect the same results in this contest, as San Antonio has won a NBA record 37 games at home in a row to start the season (although the Golden State Warriors are completing the same feat now, what a season!).
The Toronto Raptors defeated Memphis last night in an exhausting and physical game. Worse, the Raptors needed Lowry and DeRozan for more than 36 minutes each to nail down a nailbiter of a win.
Thus, the San Antonio game may look like a schedule loss for the Raptors, and it is, but it’s better to have a back to back game against a team is gonna kick your tail anyway. The Spurs are the best team in the league by a lot of metrics. They score 104.3 points per game and let up only 92.6 opponents points in the return, all while playing one of the slowest paces in the NBA. The Warriors may have the best record, but the Spurs hold all the cards. Gregg Popovich has the team in the realm of greatness again, and they play the slow, efficient, pound the rock game in counter to the Golden State Warrior’s revolutionary up and down tempo. This team is my favorite to win it all this year, and we will all see why Saturday evening.
It is not impossible to win this game, but everything will need to click right and they will need to play a complete game. The most important things they will need to do are…
- …score more than 100 points. Plain and simple, the offense is going to have to click in order to compete and trump this incredibly well-rounded defense. The Spurs defense is 2nd in the NBA in opponent field goal percentages (.434), opponent three-point field goal percentage (.330), opponent free throw attempts per game (19.8) and opponent rebounds per game (40.2)
- …don’t take any player’s role for granted. They have 9 players that score between 5 and 10 points per game. Their ‘all hands on deck’ approach is why they are so great.
- …hold a lead going into the 4th quarter. The Spurs have trailed for only 11 minutes and 13 seconds in 444 minutes played in fourth quarters at home this season. Need I say more?
I am not being negative but I don’t see a situation where the Raptors win this game. The Spurs are too well prepared, too well coached, and too much. I have hopes this could be a good game to rest some players against the team that invented the notion. San Antonio 112 – Toronto 92.