TORONTO – The morning after the Toronto Raptors‘ ugly overtime loss to Cleveland, Kyle Lowry was decidedly upbeat as he strode to the press conference podium with a jaunty “What’s up people?”
If there was any stewing or frustration about dropping Game 1 of their second-round series against the Cavaliers, it’s that the Raptors had to wait another full day to take a second swing at their nemesis.
“Yeah (I’m upbeat),” Lowry said. “We play in less than 28 hours and get a chance to go back out there and get back on the court.”
While the angst of Raptors fans flooded social media, the players insist it’s a different feeling than the previous two seasons that saw Toronto ousted by Cleveland, including a humiliating four-game sweep in last year’s second round.
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As they studied video Wednesday morning at Biosteel Centre, the countless uncharacteristic mistakes in a game that came down to just one point were obvious.
“We should have won. We should have had that game, and it was more of ‘Damn, we gotta wait to redeem ourselves, to get this feeling off of us,”‘ DeMar DeRozan said. “That was more the feeling.
“The confidence hasn’t went anywhere. If anything it heightened to wanting to get back out there. If we had the opportunity to come back and play tonight, we would have played today, just how high amped we are excited we are to get out there and play.”
The Raptors became just the second team in 20 years to lose a playoff game after leading for every minute of regulation.
They had numerous chances to close the game out, including an almost laughable scramble under the basket that saw four missed shots – from DeRozan, Jonas Valanciunas and C.J. Miles – all fail to fall in less than four seconds.
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“You ever see the movie ‘The 6th Man?”‘ DeRozan asked with a grin. “It was like somebody was sitting on the rim. Antoine was sitting on the rim knocking them out. It sucked.”
In the 1997 comedy DeRozan referenced, Kadeem Hardison plays “Antoine,” who dies of a heart attack while dunking, but returns as a ghost to help his University of Washington team win.
“We had a lot of great looks,” DeRozan continued. “I thought my putback was good, C.J.’s, J.V.’s . . . Like I said, just Antoine sitting up there, knocking the ball out.”
Fred VanVleet had two wide-open three-point attempts, at the end of both regulation and overtime. Either one would have given Toronto the win.
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“Talking to him and showing him the shots – two great looks that he feels good with and we feel good with,” coach Dwane Casey said. “DeMar made the right decision (in passing to VanVleet on the game’s last play). He had the defence collapsing on him so he found him. It’s easy in a one-point game to pick out certain shots, but for the most part I think we took the shots the defence gave us in those situations.”
VanVleet played just his second game with significant minutes of the playoffs after injuring his shoulder in the Raptors’ season-finale.
“It’s sore,” said VanVleet, whose shoulder was treated with a heat pack when he wasn’t on the floor. “It’s going to be a process throughout the playoffs. I’m going to get hit, I’m going to fall, it’s going to be banged up but it’s nothing serious. More treatment today, get some rest, obviously as much as I can and get ready for (Thursday).”
The 24-year-old backup guard said he took hits all game long, but fell pretty hard going for a layup in the fourth quarter.
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“So that kind of accelerated the pain a little bit but nothing that kept me out of the game,” He said. “And obviously I’m not looking for excuses. It’s one of those things you just have to play through.”
VanVleet said his confidence isn’t shaken by the two big missed shots.
“You think about it. It’s natural. I’m a human being,” he said. “(But) I have a pretty good grasp on it. I’ve got thick skin. I’m going to take those shots every time. If you don’t want me to take them, don’t put me out there, don’t pass it to me.
“When you make it you’re the hero. When you don’t, you suck. That’s what makes making them that great. The pain of missing them and the agony of having to sit through the night and sit on that until the next chance to go out and play, those highs and lows of the game is what makes the game so great.”
A day after the loss, the Raptors were perplexed about the lack of video review for an elbow DeRozan took to the face. Kevin Love had the ball and was swinging wildly, connecting with DeRozan’s chin. DeRozan went down and was slow to get up.
“I’m made of steel,” DeRozan joked.
Casey was less amused. Asked if he’d received an explanation for why the referees didn’t review the play on video, he said “Not a good one, not a good one.
“They said it wasn’t intentional, it was incidental. My thing is let’s review it, that’s why we have a $50 million replay centre, let’s get it right. Nobody’s right or wrong and if they look at it and say ‘Hey, it wasn’t intentional,’ OK, but let’s at least look at it. There’s no excuse for that, we look at a lot less . . . as a league I think we owe it to the players and the fans.”
Following Thursday’s game, the series shifts to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4. The Raptors went 0-5 in playoff games at Quicken Loans Arena in the past two post-seasons.
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