TORONTO – The Toronto Raptors didn’t much like Bismack Biyombo much when the big man from the Democratic Republic of Congo played for Charlotte.
“I hated him,” Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan said Sunday. “He was a fouler, always blocking shots. He always went for the pump fake though, but I hated Bis.”
“He was a nightmare at Charlotte for us,” added Toronto coach Dwane Casey. “On the boards, blocking shots, just being a nuisance … You just have some guys that accidentally bump into you and just hurt you. And that’s Bismack. Not trying to be dirty. It’s just how he plays.”
In the absence of the injured Jonas Valanciunas, the 23-year-old Biyombo has become a force under the basket for the Raptors in the playoffs. A finger-wagging shot-blocker, he is a six-foot-nine 245-pound physical presence.
He also energizes the crowd and his teammates. A Biyombo block or dunk at the Air Canada Centre is like igniting a giant barbecue. It’s an impressive spark.
Toronto outrebounded Cleveland 54-40 Saturday night with Biyombo pulling down a Toronto playoff-record 26. He added four blocked shots and seven points as the Raptors rallied to trim Cleveland’s lead in the Eastern Conference finals to 2-1 with an emphatic 99-84 win.
Game 4 goes Monday night in Toronto.
Biyombo’s style of play comes at a cost. Sometimes he takes as good as he gives, leaving Casey to lament missed calls like when Biyombo, at the end of Saturday’s game, went down after a blow to the groin area.
Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue was diplomatic when asked Sunday if he expected Dahntay Jones to receive supplemental discipline on the play. “I didn’t see it,” Lue said of the incident.
Saturday’s loss was the first of the post-season for the Cavs, who had won 10 straight to open the playoffs.
READ MORE: DeRozan, Biyombo lead Raptors over Cavs 99-84 to take Game 3
“Trust me, we were not in the mood that we wanted to be in (Saturday) night,” Cleveland veteran Richard Jefferson said of the post-game mood. “A lot of us all went out to dinner together, and that’s the first time in a month the dinner conversation wasn’t joyous and excited and having fun. It was a night where we were just kind of talking about the things that we needed to do.
“We were trying to keep our minds off of it, but you could see that everybody was a little off.”
A happy Biyombo is squarely in the Raptors good books these days. DeRozan confessed he told Biyombo of his negative feelings and that his feelings have come full circle.
“Now by far he’s one of my favourite teammates of all time,” he said with a smile.
Biyombo confirmed the story.
“He actually told me that personally, that he really hated me, until he got to know me as a person, and then he turned out to love me. I’m sure there was a lot of feeling-out there, but until you really get to know the real side of me, then you know who I am. But on the floor I don’t have friends.”
Biyombo, who signed with Toronto in the off-season, makes US$2.8 million this season. He has a player option for next season, meaning he could hit a contract jackpot.
DeRozan pointed to Biyombo’s willingness to work for the team.
“He never asks for the ball. He just wants to do all the dirty work for us, set the screens, getting rebounds, blocking shots, and when he gets going, he gets to point in the air doing the finger thing, that kind of gets us going. That kind of fuels us to keep playing hard. The spirit he has out there is amazing.”
Casey cited his team’s compete level in the Game 3 win. DeRozan talked about pride, shaking his head at idle chatter the playoffs have produced.
“Especially when you see headlines and things being said. You really sit there and wonder where do you all get this from,” he said. “Where do these people get these suggestions and allegations from?
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“It’s crazy just to see it some time because people don’t realize how sick or upset we be after a loss and especially how we lost the first two games (to Cleveland). We felt embarrassed. We knew that wasn’t us. To see things like that is definitely frustrating and the only way to shut it up is to go out there and play.”
Kyle Lowry, the other half of Toronto’s $25-million backcourt, found himself in the crosshairs after going to the dressing room briefly during the first half of Game 2. What was either a bathroom break or mental pause suddenly ratcheted into unwarranted speculation in some quarters that Lowry had quit on the team.
Casey said Valanciunas (ankle) was back on the court but offered no timetable for his return.
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