The Toronto Raptors are coming face to face with a fundamental truth about life, sports, and NBA road back-to-backs: none of them are even remotely fair.
Lurking behind that up-front reality is a more specific truth about competition: You can acquit yourself well and have nothing to show for it; good process doesn’t guarantee good results.
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It is the exquisitely and eternally fascinating aspect of any competition against a genuine opponent: The person on the other side of a field — or a pitcher-batter confrontation, or a net, or a court — has something to say about the outcome. In golf, there really is no personal opponent to stare down. How you manipulate a golf ball with an assortment of clubs is the only thing you can control or worry about. No other person gets to hit the golf ball; only you do. However, in just about every other competitive context, another person has his (or her) say in the flow and feel of an event.
When you hit a tennis ball, the opponent gets to shape the next reply. In baseball, you might throw a great pitch, but if the hitter is looking for that curveball or can at least spoil it, your attempt to throw a put-away pitch on a 1-2 count will be thwarted. Then, you might throw a slightly above-average fastball on the outside edge, but the hitter will put a great swing on the ball for an opposite-field double down the line.
Sports — golf being the exception which proves the rule — are generally dialogues. You can set a high standard in a given set of circumstances, but if your opponent has better answers to your questions, you’re out of luck.
This, in short, is what has happened to the luckless Raptors over the past 48 hours in Oakland and Salt Lake City.
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Toronto, down 63-45 to a “flying death machine” version of the Golden State Warriors inside a roaring Oracle Arena on Tuesday night, erased every last point of that deficit and created a photo-finish fourth quarter against the league’s one remaining unbeaten team. However, Stephen Curry decided to be Stephen Curry, and Kyle Lowry got called for a debatable nickel-dimer offensive foul on a screen. Poof — Toronto’s valiant comeback effort against the champs fell agonizingly short.
Having spilled the tank against the Warriors, the Raptors had to saddle up and make their way to Salt Lake City, playing a game at altitude on short rest. The game, being in the Mountain time zone, brought forth an earlier start time than the night before in Oakland, reducing Toronto’s turnaround to an even greater degree.
Under the circumstances, Dwane Casey’s team fought admirably against the Jazz, bottling up Utah’s offense most of the night and gaining a six-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. After a wobble, the Raptors were able to keep their nose in front, forging an 85-84 lead with under 90 seconds to go.
Then, however, the Raptors lost hold of the plot.
See this dunk?
THATS IT. DUNK OF THE YEAR.
DEMAR DEROZAN DESTROYED RUDY GOBERT! #Raptors #RTZ #WeTheNorth https://t.co/chnJIRf6zj
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) November 19, 2015
DeMar DeRozan was (De-)risin’ in that rousing and hair-raising throwdown over Rudy Gobert, but the larger point to make about that jaw-dropping dunk is that it marked the end of Toronto’s (meaningful) offense on Wednesday night. The Raptors scored just one more basket in the next 3:48. By the time that dry spell ended in the final minute, Utah had carved out a multi-possession lead. Toronto never again earned a possession with a chance to tie or re-take the lead.
Two vigorous and determined efforts — foiled by the league MVP one night, sabotaged by a poor fourth-quarter finish the next, especially at the offensive end of the floor — led to a lot of energy wasted on a far-flung Western road swing for Canada’s NBA team.
Two nights, two flights, two different elevations, two time zones… and two losses.
This is the NBA at its brutal and unforgiving worst.
The Toronto Raptors can only get some rest and rededicating themselves to the task of fixing their late-game offense, giving them the margins which are cutting against them at the moment.
