The Toronto Raptors and perfecting the art of defense
Interior Defense
Defense starts from within itself. You defend the paint and then work your way out. The easiest look in basketball is around the rim, which is why defending the paint is where games can be won and lost.
In short; take away the easy looks and force teams to create elsewhere. A surefire way to success but nothing is ever as easy as it seems. One of life’s many mantras, especially if you are ever the pessimist.
The Raptors have made their interior defense look like a relative doddle at times, and Game 1 was no exception. The amount of length the team possesses acts as a deterrent for would-be scorers around the rim, with like likes of Pascal Siakam and Gasol providing a solid wall in the restricted area.
Defensive plays like the one above were a prime example of how the Raptors held the Warriors to just 32 points in the paint in Game 1. Everyone knows how good of a passer Draymond Green is for the Warriors, and when he’s barrelling to the rim, defenders want to help off their shooters and protect the rim.
That gives Green the time to look up and kick it out to an open shooter, and if your open shooters are Curry and Thompson you are going to make your opponents pay. Green has tunnel vision pretty early on in the clip and with the Raptors defenders staying home on the shooters, it leaves Draymond with the tough task of finishing over Marc Gasol in the paint.
While Gasol doesn’t have the foot speed he once possessed, he still knows where he needs to be on the court and still has a large frame to contest with. That makes Green’s job all the more difficult. Gasol extends himself, doesn’t lean into contact and makes a great stop on the defensive end.
It wasn’t just one-on-one situations around the paint for the Raptors, though. They constantly helped off their man to protect the paint and support at the appropriate time.
The lack of shooters outside of Curry and Thompson could prove to be a real problem for the Warriors in this series. In the clip above, Leonard is allowed to help off of Andre Iguodala, who finished 0-of-4 from three and converge on Thompson in the paint who is guarded by Lowry.
The two defenders delay Thompson long enough for Siakam to come from behind and time the block perfectly. The Warriors did score on the second chance, something that did prove to be a problem throughout the game, but the initial defense is wonderful.