Toronto Raptors vs Dwane Casey: Can coaches have revenge games?

Dwane Casey returns to Toronto tonight as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons. After being fired last season, is Casey looking for a “revenge” game against the Toronto Raptors?

On the schedule, it’s just another regular season game. In the boxscore, the results of the game will mean what it always has: one team wins, the other loses. However, on Wednesday, as the Toronto Raptors look to bounce back from their loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, there is something different in the air.

As the Toronto Raptors try to protect home-court tomorrow against the Detroit Pistons, there are people within both organizations that will not be treating this as just as another calendar game. Due to the way former head coach Dwane Casey parted ways with Toronto this offseason, one cannot help but think that things will be personal this time around.

It is precisely this — the off-court narratives and interpersonal intrigue — that makes the NBA such a dynamic and exciting league.

THE “REVENGE” GAME

The trope of the “revenge” game is well-documented and one that is highly talked about in basketball circles. Players who have been traded away or have had their rights renounced by teams may sometimes get the last laugh, lighting up their former team as if to say, “you could’ve had all this.”

Last season, Canadian Kelly Olynyk of the Miami Heat torched his former squad, the Boston Celtics, for a career-high 32 points after Boston cut ties with him in the offseason.

Similarly, earlier this year, Jonas Jerebko, a reserve for the Golden State Warriors tipped in the game-winner as time expired, emerging as the unlikely hero against his former team, the Utah Jazz, which waived him.

We see how players can affect change on the court directly in these games. They hustle a little harder, they’re a bit more locked in, and they are more aggressive when they have the ball, behaviours which all ultimately help to sway the game’s outcome in their favour.

But is it possible for coaches to make this same type of impact? How will Casey make his impact felt from the sidelines as he returns to Toronto?

He surely won’t be dressing for the game or clamouring for the opportunity to dunk over Serge Ibaka. Thus, does it come from energizing his guys, from the starters to his bench, or does it come from instilling a punishing defensive mindset from the opening tip?

After all, despite the Raptors being exposed repeatedly in the playoffs, Casey has been heralded as a player’s coach and a defensive genius many times in his career, most notably when his defensive sets as an assistant coach helped the Dallas Mavericks secure their first-ever NBA Championship back in 2011.

This will also be a test for Casey to see how well he knows his former team. The Pistons may have a slight edge if Casey’s time with the Raptors has allowed him to understand each of his former players’ strengths, allowing him to game plan more effectively.

Regardless of the outcome, this will be a must-see match for the narrative alone.