Title: Raptors Takeaways: Throwback late-game execution completes comeback over Pacers
Date: November 22, 2023
Original Source: Sportsnet
Synopsis: In my latest at Sportsnet, I broke down a Raptors comeback against the Pacers, complete with a throwback from the playbook.
Shortly after the trade deadline, in February of 2018, the Toronto Raptors ran an unexpected play to force overtime against the Milwaukee Bucks.
With 3.3 seconds on the clock, C.J. Miles set to inbound with Jonas Valanciunas at the elbow. Kyle Lowry went wide to the weak side to take an extra defender out of the play. DeMar DeRozan came across the court just above the free-throw line, around a feigned Valanciunas screen, giving him a clear lane for a catch and, surely, a baseline jumper against a scrambling defence.
Instead, the pass went directly to Valanciunas, reminding everyone that the inbounder is the most dangerous player on the floor. Miles darted toward Valanciunas, surely for a dribble-handoff. But Valanciunas kept the ball, driving to his right past John Henson, who had leaned too far toward helping on Miles. Valanciunas dropped a nasty hammer on Henson to tie the game at 110, and it very likely should have been an and-one situation with a free throw to potentially win the game.
The Raptors lost that game in overtime, so forgive me for this trip down memory lane. Wednesday’s 132-131 victory against the Indiana Pacers invoked more than a few flashbacks of Raptors games lost in the past, both distant and more recent.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 