Title: Scouting with the enemy: Breaking down the Raptors-Nets series
Date: August 14, 2020
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic, I collaborated with Alex Schiffer of The Athletic New York to preview the first round playoff series between the Raptors and Nets.
The Toronto Raptors have drawn the Brooklyn Nets in the first round. As far as third playoff meetings between two teams go, this one feels a little anticlimactic — the Vince Carter Nets famously beat the Raptors in six games in 2007 and 2014 saw the Raptors take the veteran Nets to the final play of Game 7 in a franchise-altering series for the upstarts.
This time it’s far less personal and, we imagine, a little less dramatic. There probably won’t be a “F— The Grand Floridian” from Masai Ujiri. As New Japan Pro Wrestling fan Joe Harris surely knows, though, life is about long-term storytelling. If this sets the table for a much tastier rematch when the Nets are healthy in 2020, it will stand as an important matchup in retrospect.
The Athletic will have Alex Schiffer, Eric Koreen and Blake Murphy (me!) covering while safely distanced at home, a setup that we believe will still allow us to take you through all the ins and outs of the series. The Athletic’s Joe Vardon is also on the ground in Orlando. Today, Alex and I take a look at some of the key plot points and most important matchups for Raptors-Nets.
Murphy: Before we get too deep on who is playing in this series, let me make sure I have all of Brooklyn’s injuries and absences set straight.
Continue reading at The Athletic.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 