Tag: Raptors

Stevens: ‘most important thing is how we play tonight’ vs Raptors

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens wants his team to stay focused on the moment in front of them in their Game 7 battle with the Toronto Raptors.

Ahead of one of his biggest games yet as head coach of the Boston Celtics, Brad Stevens isn’t especially worried about the Toronto Raptors being a veteran team that’s done what it takes to advance and hang a banner.

Part of that is because he knows the Celtics have tough veterans of their own who, while they might not have been fortunate enough to win it all at this level, have seen plenty of closeout games already in their careers.

“Jaylen’s played in played in three of them, against [the] Washington [Wizards] too,” explained the Celtics coach. “Marcus [Smart] played in that Washington series as well, so these guys have some experience in that.”

Part of it is more of a focus thing, because Stevens is aware that resting on the laurels of the past will often leave you reminiscing more than winning.

“As I said the other day, I think [experience is] great and all, [but] the most important thing is how we play tonight. What has happened in previous games whether we won or lost doesn’t really matter. You’ve got to play well tonight, and that’s it. I think the biggest thing that you take away from that experience is it’s a long game. You’ve can’t relax for one minute. And at the same time you’re not going to win the game in the first minute.”

“So, you’ve got to make sure that you’re playing the right way all the way through,” he added.

How well the Celtics can stick to that program — and how well they execute it in each moment — is likely going to be the deciding factor on whether they advance in the 2020 NBA Playoffs.

Or whether they get an earlier-than-hoped-for start on getting ready for the next run at a title.

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Kyle Lowry’s big smile has become the NBA’s newest meme

Get you somebody who smiles at you like Kyle Lowry.

The NBA’s bubble playoffs has unquestionably given us a lot of great basketball that we should all be thankful for.

It feels like every single game is some stress inducing experience, even though a lot of us don’t even root for the teams that are playing. These games are somehow always close.

The playoffs have also undoubtedly delivered us some pretty incredible meme content. There was Anthony Davis, a panicky Kawhi Leonard and (somehow?) Drake.

Now, we’ve got Kyle Lowry and his huge smile.

After delivering a spectacular game winning pass to OG Anunoby on Thursday, Lowry ran over to hug is teammate and celebrate their miraculous win. You know, how teammates do.

But nobody was as happy as Lowry was. That was made clear by this absolutely ridiculous smile he let off.

Fam. What a smile. That is a happy, happy man. Get you somebody that smiles at you like Kyle Lowry smiles at, well, whatever.

NBA Twitter took this and ran with it. NBA on TNT built a whole smiling Kyle Lowry montage.

Then the jokes came. Ah, yes. The jokes. They turned him into a 90’s sitcom, y’all.

But, really, everyone just wants to be as happy as Lowry is someday.

Even the city of Toronto was in on it.

Shouts to Lowry for delivering a big Raptors win and the biggest smile of all-time. We needed that.

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Masai Ujiri says the officer who shoved him after NBA Finals did it ‘because I am Black’

His words were powerful.

A year ago after the Toronto Raptors won the franchise’s first NBA championship on the road against the Warriors, team president Masai Ujiri’s celebration was tarnished by an encounter with a security guard at Oracle Arena.

Sheriff’s deputy Alan Strickland claimed that Ujiri instigated the incident and assaulted him as he tried to walk onto the court. He filed a lawsuit against Ujiri in February, citing “physical, emotional and psychological pain and suffering,” according to the Globe and Mail.

Ujiri filed a countersuit against Strickland and the Alameda police department saying that the events that occurred were falsified and painted him as an aggressor.

Video released earlier this week as part of the countersuit proved Ujiri’s point. It revealed that he was initially shoved twice by the officer as he was making his way to his team on the floor before reacting in any way. The incident was captured on the officer’s body camera.

On Thursday, Ujiri reacted publicly to the video being released for the first time in a statement. In it, he astutely pointed out how success is not a deterrent for racist attacks against Black people in America.

“I was reminded in that moment that despite all my hard work and success, there are some people, including those who are supposed to protect us, who will always and only see me as something that is unworthy of respectful engagement. And there’s only one indisputable reason why that is the case — because I am black.”

Unfortunately, Ujiri’s statement is spot on. His success is not a deterrent to racism.

He also made it a point to say that it was because of that success that he had the resources to clear his name. Many other people who look like him don’t have those same privileges.

Ujiri has remained a class act throughout all of this. He could’ve issued a statement that was much harsher than this and he wouldn’t have been wrong to do so.

Instead, he chose to use his words to push forward a greater cause and shine a light on the inequities Black people and people of color face in America every single day.

Shoutout to him. Hopefully, he’ll get the justice he deserves soon.

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This Nets-Raptors game 2 sequence was hilariously bad and NBA fans had so many jokes

This is SO bad.

NBA basketball in August is a very weird thing for viewers, so it probably feels the same way for the players.

Especially after not playing in actual NBA basketball games for months at a time. Coming back from that can’t be easy. It’s only natural that there’d be a bit of rust — even after the NBA’s eight seeding games.

But, uh, nobody expected THIS much rust to be in this sequence from the Raptors-Nets game.

In the second quarter, the game was tight and the Nets had the lead. All of a sudden, it looked like literally no one could score. It was as if the basketball Gods had put lids on the rims.

It was comically bad. Like, fam. Is this LA Fitness again? It was non-stop garbage basketball. And also non-stop cackling for fans.

It was so bad that it got picked up on Shaqin’ a Fool.

NBA fans came with SO many jokes. And they were all golden.

Hilarious. The Raptors picked up steam and eventually won the game, 104-99. But still, even if it was just for a moment, NBA players were finally looking like one of us. 

 

Canadian singer Jessie Reyez performs thrilling anthems atop the CN Tower

A stunning, fearless performance.

Canadian singer Jessie Reyez teased earlier Monday that her rendition of the national anthems ahead of the Toronto Raptors-Brooklyn Nets games was going to be something extra special. The final product, which played ahead of Game 1 in Orlando, did not disappoint.

In a spectacular display, Reyez performed both the American and Canadian anthems perched high atop Toronto’s CN Tower.  Secured by a safety harness, Reyez was fearless in her performance, not just because she was suspended 1,815 feet above the city, but because of the boldness of her political message.

From the Edgewalk of the city’s tallest landmark, Reyez showed her support for the Black Lives Matter movement and performed ‘O Canada’ while taking a knee.

The singer stood for the American anthem, but before performing, Reyez looked defiantly at the camera and pulled down her Breonna Taylor neck gaiter.

What a powerful, poetic and yes, political, performance.

NBA restart: 5 must-watch games to watch this weekend

The NBA is back, fam!

Basketball is officially back and we’re already in the swing of things.

Thursday’s games were absolutely incredible. We watched Zion Williamson’s return to the Pelicans but Rudy Gobert and the Jazz ended up stealing the show at the end.

Then, we had LeBron James and Anthony Davis just overcoming a 3-point barrage from Paul George and unbelievable defense from Kawhi Leonard to edge the Clippers out in their bubble opener.

That’s just the beginning, though. The NBA’s return is off to a tremendous start, but there’s plenty of more to come beginning with this weekend’s slate of games.

Here are the five games from the weekend that you need to tune into.

Toronto Raptors NBA Championship odds, picks and best bets

Assessing the betting odds and chances of the Toronto Raptors winning the Eastern Conference and the 2019-20 NBA Championship, with picks and best bets.

The Toronto Raptors were second in the Eastern Conference with a record of 46-18 when the 2019-20 NBA season was suspended. Below, we look at the BetMGM betting odds of the Raptors winning the NBA Championship once play resumes with a 22-team format in Orlando, Fla., later this summer.

Toronto Raptors season recap

The Raptors were cruising through the regular season in defense of the franchise’s first NBA Championship title, won a year ago. The free-agent loss of SF Kawhi Leonard was hardly noticeable as the Raptors were 23-9 at home and also 23-9 on the road. They were 8-4 in the Atlantic Division and 30-10 in the Eastern Conference with a point differential of plus-6.5, ranking second in the conference.

Toronto was also dominant from a betting perspective. The Raps were 35-28-1 against the spread at the time play was paused. They covered the spread by a league-best 3.3 points per game (PPG). While averaging 113.0 PPG with 106.5 PPG against, the Raptors were 34-29-1 against the Over/Under, but covered the number by just 0.1 PPG.

PF Pascal Siakam made the biggest improvements in the post-Leonard world. He was averaging a career-best 23.6 PPG in his fourth NBA season. Five other players – PG Kyle Lowry, SG Fred VanVleet, SG Norman Powell, C Serge Ibaka and SF OG Anunoby – also averaged double digits. Ibaka led the way with 8.3 rebounds per game.

Looking to place a bet on the NBA Championship? Get some action on it at BetMGM. Bet Now!

Toronto Raptors NBA Championship odds

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Monday, June 8 at 6 a.m. ET.

Despite winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2018-19 and sitting second in the Eastern Conference through 64 games played this season, the Raptors share the sixth-best 2019-20 championship odds with the Denver Nuggets at +2200. A $10 bet on the Raptors to go back-to-back would return a profit of $220 while the same wager on the Los Angeles Lakers (+250) – the favorite – would fetch a profit of just $25.

The value is right for the RAPTORS (+2200) to win the 2019-20 NBA Championship with the third-best odds of all remaining Eastern Conference teams.

Toronto Raptors Eastern Conference odds

The Raptors are +750 to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year. The Milwaukee Bucks are the conference favorites at a lowly -159 and the Boston Celtics share the +750 odds.

A $10 bet here on the Raptors would only result in a profit of $75, but bettors should jump at this bet. Back the RAPTORS (+750) to win the Eastern Conference as the best value bet on the board.

Get some action on the NBA Championship by signing up and betting at BetMGM. If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com.

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Sixers say they have done deep dive on Celtics, Heat, Raptors for playoffs

The Philadelphia 76ers continue to do their homework on possible playoff opponents for the 2020 playoffs.

The answer to when the NBA will return remains cloudy right now. There is no real, definitive answer at the moment so everybody has to stay ready and figure out what the next move is.

For the Philadelphia 76ers and their coaching staff, it means doing studies on how the team can improve on either end of the floor while also looking ahead to when the season resumes. Will the regular season resume? Will they go straight to the playoffs? There are a lot of questions that have yet to really be looked at.

For coach Brett Brown, he and his staff have gone all-in on a lot of different aspects of his team during the hiatus. For example, as the current 6 seed in the East, they would take on the 3 seed Boston Celtics in Round 1. However, they could also face the Miami Heat or the Toronto Raptors at some point. All aspects need to be looked at.

“We ended March 11, since that time that we were told we’re not going to be playing anymore, we’ve been taking a deep dive into all aspects of our offense. We’re 3/4 of the way through our defense and after we’ve completed that, in the bullpen, we have Toronto, Miami, Boston good to go,” Brown explained. “We’ve taken significant studies on what that ultimately is going to look like.”

So, what does that work look like? There is so much to do in order to prepare for the playoffs and that is something that Brown and his staff have dived into.

“It’s a combination of both analytic and video work,” he explained. “Some of it is gut feel work from our coaches and me of things we’re going to have to do to get ready one of those few teams.”

In terms of what he said initially, it hasn’t gone in that order of offense, defense, and then playoffs. He and his staff are preparing for anything right now.

“In relation to the order of which this has unfolded, it’s not something like ‘let’s get offense out of the way, defense, situational basketball and then let’s dig into OK playoffs are going to start, who are we going to play?’,” he finished with. “A lot of work has been done with a handful of teams, those three teams especially so that we’re good to go when the situation arises.”

For reference, the Sixers went 3-1 against the Celtics, they were 1-3 against the Heat, and they were 1-2 against the Raptors. Their final game against Toronto was scheduled for March 18 at home. At the end of the day, all of that goes out the window in the playoffs so Brown and his staff will have to do the best job they can under these unique circumstances to make sure they’re set to go. [lawrence-related id=31041,31032,31021]

Norman Powell’s career high 37 points spoils Steph Curry’s return from injury, 121-113

Stephen Curry’s 23 points in his return from injury wasn’t enough against the defending champion Toronto Raptors.

In a rematch of the 2019 Finals, the Golden State Warriors game against the Toronto Raptors was one of the most anticipated games on the NBA’s slate. Stephen Curry made his long-awaited return to the court after missing the past 58 games.

Yet, the defending NBA champions spoiled Curry’s reunion at Chase Center in San Francisco, 121-113.

The Warriors battled the Eastern Conference playoff-bound Raptors late into the game. However, even with Curry’s help, Golden State could not closeout.

The Dubs cut the Raptors lead to one-point heading into the final period of the game. Yet, the talent of Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry took over the contest. Golden State made it entertaining at the end of the game with a late run with Curry on the floor, but it wasn’t enough.

Lowry and Siakam combined for 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting in the fourth quarter to hold off the gritty Warriors.

The Raptors sealed Golden State’s 10th straight loss at home this season. The Warriors will have the chance to snap their 10-game home losing streak on Saturday when the Philadelphia 76ers come to the Bay Area.

Stephen Curry

Curry was on a minutes restriction against the Raptors, but the six-time All-Star took advantage of his time back on the court. Curry scored 23 points on 6-of-16 shooting in 27 minutes. Curry added seven assists and six rebounds against the Raptors.

In his return, Curry flashed glimpses of his All-Star caliber play. Whether it was long-distance shooting or crafty passes, the two-time Most Valuable Player looked like his old self on the court.

Norman Powell

All-Stars like Siakam and Lowry lead the Raptors, but against the Warriors, Norman Powell arrived. Powell registered a career-high 37 points on 13-of-20 shooting in 38 minutes for the Raptors. The UCLA product added three rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Anytime the Warriors chipped away at Toronto’s lead, Powell answered.

Damion Lee

Damion Lee continued his breakout campaign with another solid performance. Lee matched Curry’s total with 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting while adding five rebounds and three assists.

Lee had back-to-back chances to keep the Warriors in the game late, but could not convert a pair of free throws. When Marquese Chriss stole an offensive rebound, Lee missed an open 3-pointer to cut Toronto’s lead to three with under a minute remaining.