The Toronto Raptors defense is a living, breathing, artistic masterpiece.
Head coach Nick Nurse has the ability to squeeze excellence out of his players and has the bravery to try just about anything. One through 15 on the roster understand the ask, trust one another and execute every call. The Raptors defensive unit is up to something special, especially considering they lost two of the league’s best defenders.
One might assume that losing a two-time Defensive Player of the Year would cause a team’s defense to bottom out. That’s what happened to the Spurs after trading Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green following the 2017-18 season—they went from the fourth-ranked defense to the 20th-ranked defense.
No, not the defending champion Raptors. Somehow, some way, they got better.
That’s worth repeating. The Raptors lost Leonard and Green and went from the No. 5 defense last season (106.8) to the No. 2 defense this year (105.1).
“No one in this locker room is surprised by what we’ve done so far,” Raptors guard Fred VanVleet told Bleacher Report.
“We didn’t know what it would look like, but I know we weren’t forecasting the losses to be what everybody else thought it would be like,” VanVleet continued. “I mean come on, Kawhi is Kawhi and Danny is a huge, huge piece of what we did last year, but we knew we had enough.”
Enough would be one thing. The Raptors are absolutely suffocating. They’re long, fast, switchable, aggressive, disciplined and incredibly smart. They’ll full-court press, switch all screens, trap or drop or hedge against pick-and-rolls, or throw any different kind of zone at you. Their toolbox is filled with different options for disrupting the opposing offense and forcing it to react to the Raptors’ pressure. Their depth has allowed them to succeed despite an inordinate amount of injuries. They thrive in the chaos they create.
“We scramble,” wing Stanley Johnson said. “We have a lot of really good communication. We have a really good game plan every game. It gives us a distinctive edge going into every game. Our game plans are really, really good. We don’t accept ‘not good enough.’ We don’t accept guys getting open shots.”
Understanding the basic principles of what the Raptors want to do to achieve such greatness isn’t always easily identifiable because they don’t live and die by one system. Instead, Nurse has equipped his team with the tools to play any style and devises a plan that may vary ahead of every game. He’ll even call audibles as he feels out each game.
“I think more often than not, we just like to be aggressive and dictate what we want instead of just letting teams do what they want to do,” VanVleet added. “We try to be very disruptive. We really take each game individually versus just saying this is our game plan no matter who we’re playing. We adjust on the fly.”
There are through-lines that help provide context to how they have been so effective despite their willingness to try something different going into, and sometimes within, each game. At a baseline level, that is to control the tempo of the game by being the aggressor. How that takes shape from game to game is oftentimes quite different.
“Ideally we’d like to do both. We’d like to pressure the ball and protect the rim,” Nurse told reporters. “I believe that defense starts with kind of being the aggressor and getting up into the ball. It really helps you with passing angles and fighting through screen-and-rolls when you’re up pressuring the ball.”
That most often manifests itself with the Raptors’ menacing activity at the point of attack. They’re top-two in deflections, top-four in loose balls recovered and top-two in steals.
The Raptors players get their tentacles on everything. And that usually forces the handler into giving up the ball if not turning it over. But if the ball-handler moves the ball, the Raptors have to react, and sometimes that comes with consequences. Typically, when teams sell out pressuring, they sacrifice something else: primarily shots at the rim or from the corners. So, to pull this off, the Raptors have to be everywhere.
And they are.
“I think it’s just our philosophy is to disrupt rhythm and take away what they want to do,” VanVleet said. “I know we give up a lot of threes. We’ve got a certain shot spectrum that we want to stick to offensively and defensively, so there’s certain things that we give up and certain things that we don’t.”
Pressuring the ball doesn’t come at the expense of defending the paint, and eliminating shots at the rim is paramount for the Raptors. They protect the rim at a high level, allowing the eighth-highest frequency of shots at the rim and holding teams to the second-lowest field-goal percentage.
Because the Raptors press up, they force opponents to put the ball on the ground and attack. The Raptors scramble into position, taking turns cutting off drives and flying out to defend kick-outs. They swarm to the ball so you can’t even get a shot up at the rim.
“We do usually force those guys to put it on the deck a little more and hit driving lanes,” Nurse continued. “We’ve got to use other people and bring some help, and sometimes that gets us into a lot of rotations, but we know that and we are in rotations a lot. It’s not maybe something you would build your philosophy on, wanting to be in rotations a lot, but we do that pretty well too. We rotate and fly back out to the shooters pretty good.”
The Raptors allow the highest frequency of corner three-point attempts, which doesn’t seem like a trait of one of the league’s premier defenses. To make this work, they contest the second-highest number of three-pointers per game, which helps them hold opponents to the fifth-lowest percentage on those shots.
Raptors highlights don’t always come in the form of a logo-three or spectacular dunk. It’s any old possession in the first quarter of a Sunday afternoon game when they take away multiple looks, get their hands in passing lanes and force offenses into tough mid-range shots. It’s hard to constantly be in rotation, but the Raptors have the foundation to make that reality less of a problem than it would be for most teams.
“if you make a mistake, there’s another man that’s there to help you out,” forward Chris Boucher said. “Knowing who has to go and what’s the drill if somebody goes, that really helps.”
The trust Nurse has built in his locker room along with the philosophy of using pressure to dictate how the offense plays allows the Raptors to try just about anything on the floor.
“Trust in personnel. We’ve got the trust to believe in whatever it is they’re asking us to do, whether it’s right, wrong or silly,” VanVleet said. “It wasn’t always like that. Now it’s easy. We’ve had some time together. But there were times last year where we lost games and struggled at times defensively because we were trying different things. That’s the hard part. But when you win a championship, it erases all your sins.”
There is a “different” level of confidence that comes from winning a championship, according to a man who would know, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. The Raptors have carried that confidence into a remarkable follow-up to their title-winning campaign, one that is founded in their defensive program.
Principles are replicable with or without Leonard and Green. The team has the trust, talent and smarts that allow them to execute schemes regardless of their personnel, and it has turned out to be even better than the season they had leading up to their championship run.
“We play defense as a team. And the best defenses are the best team defenses,” Johnson said. “No disrespect to them, you just gotta come together as a unit. Kawhi is a Hall of Fame-caliber defender, Danny Green is a championship-caliber defender, but a lot of guys have stepped up and given us a little push. Collectively, we’ve been able to recoup what we’ve lost.”
You may not have thought the Raptors would be this good. They didn’t let the championship hangover affect them. They lost one of the best two-way stars in NBA history and haven’t missed a beat. Every individual has dug a little deeper, and now they’re taking this confidence as far as they can. Based on their success so far this season, they’re more than ready to go seven games with anybody and make a legitimate push for a title repeat.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
