Get past the emotion of the event and this was not what any Raptors
fan wants to see in any end-of-game situation once the playoffs begin.
Kyle
Lowry left the game with 3:18 to go after picking up his disqualifying
sixth foul on a moving screen. Fred VanVleet did not dress for the game
because of a bruised hand that was in a soft protective glove over the
game so he wasn’t in it to begin with.
This one might have gone off the rails with those two still on the court, but without them, all hell broke loose.
DeMar
DeRozan, who was having issues with Corey Brewer all afternoon, got a
tech when an obvious foul on a layup went uncalled with 30.9 seconds
left. Had he made the basket the game would have been tied.
Instead,
the ball was rebounded, went the other way and ended in a Russell
Westbrook pull-up jumper to put the Thunder up by four.
Then the technical was issued.
Following
a timeout, DeRozan stalked the official who made the call , with any
number of his teammates trying to stay between him and the official
before DeRozan uttered one of those magic words to earn technical No. 2
and a seat an early end to his afternoon.
Minutes later Serge
Ibaka joined DeRozan on the ejection list , we’re assuming for something
he said and then coach Dwane Casey made it a trifecta of Raptors to get
the heave.
It was not the finest moment by an officiating crew —
Marc Davis, Haywoode Workman and Brent Barnacky for those scoring at
home — nor was it for the Raptors who lost composure in a game that was
well within their grasp.
But frustration is a tough animal to keep caged and once out of the cage DeRozan wasn’t willing to close it.
This
was about respect and whether the Raptors set out to make a statement
about a perceived lack of respect by officials and by extension the
league itself, or whether it just happened naturally, there was a
message being sent.
DeRozan, who was already paying for his
ejection, will likely be digging into his pocket a little more following
his post-game comments that included a re-assertion of what he thought
of the non-call — it was deliberate attempt to keep him from a layup — a
definite assertion that something needs to be done about the level of
officiating and finally an assertion that the Raptors have for a long
time been getting the short end of he stick in this regard.
“No, we’re used to going against the odds every step of the way,”
DeRozan said. “It’s been like that. We fight through it, but as soon as
we say something, we’re the bad guys, we get fined, we get criticized.
Every single night when we play we fight against all the odds. We still
prevail, but we’ve all got a breaking point and it’s frustrating. You
seen it tonight.”
DeRozan has clearly had enough and rather than
bite his tongue one more time and avoid punishment for the league he was
going to let it all come out.
And now it has.
THE GAME
Sadly
this was a stunningly entertaining game for the first 45 minutes but
will only be remembered for the final three minutes and change.
The 132-125 win by the Thunder snapped a franchise-tying 11-game winning streak.
Lost
in the frustration and angst felt towards the officiating crew was a
15-point, eight-assist night by Delon Wright who played his second
consecutive game of 30 minutes or more and looked right at home.
Wright
even spent time on Russell Westbrook and while Westbrook still got his
millionth or so triple double, just the experience of defending one of
if not the most electrifying players in the game will serve him well in
future contests.
CJ Miles had perhaps the dunk of his career going
baseline and then putting one-time Raptor Patrick Patterson on a poster
with an emphatic dunk.
Then just the sheer toughness of Steven
Adams who returned from a driving Ibaka knee to his nether region and
still finished the game with 25 points, eight rebounds including five
offensive boards and three assists.
Plenty of moments in the game
like those, but we’re left talking and writing about technicals and
ejections, rather than basketball.
MORE LOVE FOR RAPS’ BENCH
Thunder
coach Billy Donovan isn’t an easy man to impress, but he is thoroughly
impressed and has the utmost respect for the way Toronto’s bench mob
plays the game.
“We played them in December and they were great
then,” Donovan began. “They have great motors. They play with great
energy and enthusiasm.”
And then he got to the part of the bench makeup that most impresses him.
“They
play with no agenda and I respect that as a coach,” he said. “They play
to make the right play. I think when they are out there they are just
trying to make the best play whether it’s at the offensive end or
defensive end of the floor. They don’t care who scores. They don’t care
who shoots. They are just trying to do the right thing and play their
role and they do it together.”
It’s not surprising opposing
coaches and most certainly their own coaching staff loves this group.
They are everything coaches hope to instil in a unit.
“I think
they have probably come to realize that they function better when they
play together rather than when they play as individuals,” Donovan
suggested. “That can be said for any team. But I respect what they bring
to their team because when they do come in it brings a different sense
of energy and urgency. Not to say the first unit doesn’t do that, but
there’s just a difference for them when they come in. They know what
they have to do what he team needs.”
You hear this sort of thing from opposing coaches just about every game these days.
QUICK HITS
What
started out as a very good night for Ibaka deteriorated rather quickly
from a shooting standpoint. Ibaka hit his first two shots of the night
against his old team and then missed the next nine to finish with seven
points and a team-worst minus-23 on the night … VanVleet’s bruised hand
is not considered serious according to Casey … In the game Toronto’s
bench outscored Oklahoma City’s bench 57-23. The OKC starters outscored
Toronto’s starting five 109-68.
Source: http://torontosun.com/sports/basketball/nba/toronto-raptors/raptors-derozan-is-done-keeping-his-mouth-shut
