Blake Murphy Sports Writing

Title: Raptor Recalibration, Game 5: Getting the little things right, shooting regression, targeting Redick and more
Date: May 8, 2019
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic, my playoff day-after playoff column looked at a blowout Game 5 victory for the Raptors that gives them two chances now to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Read an excerpt!

Title: ‘Being who I am, not thinking about being injured’: Pascal Siakam’s resurgent Game 5 lifts Raptors
Date: May 7, 2019
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic, I wrote about Pascal Siakam bouncing back and fighting through a calf injury to help lift the Raptors in Game 5 against the 76ers. Read an excerpt!

Title: How the Raptors are trying to guard J.J. Redick and why Joel Embiid complicates it
Date: May 7, 2019
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic, I wrote about how the Raptors are trying to handle a difficult J.J. Redick matchup and why Joel Embiid’s presence makes a certain two-man game so hard to handle. Read an excerpt!

Title: Raptor Recalibration, Game 4: Going big, fluid transition defence, McCaw minutes and more
Date: May 6, 2019
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic, my playoff day-after playoff column looked at a tense Game 4 bounce-back for the Raptors that saw them upsize their lineup against the 76ers. Read an excerpt!

Title: As Raptors and 76ers embroil in one of the tensest games imaginable, Kawhi Leonard reaches rarefied clutch status
Date: May 5, 2019
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic, I wrote about an intense Game 4 between the Raptors and 76ers and tried to contextualize the tension and Kawhi Leonard’s clutch play statistically. Read an excerpt!

Title: Raptor Recalibration, Game 3: Hesitation blues, 76ers dial up ball-screen volume and more
Date: May 3, 2019
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic, my playoff day-after playoff column looked at a terrible Game 3 loss for the Raptors that put them in a precarious 2-1 hole to the 76ers. Read an excerpt!

Title: Raptors leave Kawhi Leonard with too little help, 76ers keep looking better in taking Game 3
Date: May 2, 2019
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic, I wrote about a disastrous Game 3 for the Raptors against the 76ers and how they desperately need to give Kawhi Leonard some help. Read an excerpt!

Title: Tethering Marc Gasol to Joel Embiid could help Raptors regain control against 76ers
Date: May 2, 2019
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic, I wrote about how a rotation tweak could help fix a lot of the smaller matchup problems the Raptors have been running into against the 76ers. Read an excerpt!

Title: Raptor Recalibration, Game 2: 76ers matchup changes, Green’s end-of-quarter 3s, cold shooting and more
Date: April 30, 2019
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic, my playoff day-after playoff column looked at a shaky Game 2 loss for the Raptors as they looked unprepared for the 76ers adjustments. Read an excerpt!

Title: How the 76ers could try to adjust to Kawhi Leonard and what the Raptors might do in response
Date: April 29, 2019
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic, I wrote about how the 76ers may respond to getting dominated by Kawhi Leonard and what the Raptors can be ready to counter with. Read an excerpt!