The final score of Monday’s Game 1 between the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors does not tell the story of the game remotely. Yes, the scoreboard looks like a blowout at 134-110, but the context here is critical. Toronto jumped out to a seemingly immutable lead of 33 points in the second quarter. Many teams would have lain away from there. the Nets do not. They fought back and cut the lead to just eight in the third quarter. Despite their underdog status in both the game and the series, Brooklyn continued to fight.
That will be the tone of this series. Toronto has an unintended advantage in talent, but the Nets will not come down without a fight. Even if they do not get 15 assists from Caris LeVert every night, this will be a more competitive series than the score suggests. But what if Fred VanVleet hits 8-of-10 on 3-pointers again? The Raptors will still leave this series relatively quickly with a victory. Here are three key takeaways from today’s victory over Raptors.
1. Back to the drawing board for the Brooklyn defense
The Brooklyn defense is designed to prevent shots on the rim. They allow the second-worst attempts within three feet of the course throughout the NBA, but that means sacrifice on the perimeter. The Nets drop off shooters, go under screens and sell in general to protect the course. That serves the Raptors just fine. Anyone in their rotation can shoot, and on Monday basically anyone in their rotation the shit. Eight different Raptors hit a 3-pointer in Game 1, and the team made 22 as a whole on their way to 134 points.
Brooklyn will have to make schematic adjustments for the rest of this series, but all about all of this is Toronto’s potential matchup with Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference finals. The Brooklyn defense is a lesser version of Milwaukee’s. Only the Bucks allow fewer shots at the edge, and both go to extreme lengths to protect the course. If the Toronto offensive does this well against the Nets, will it thrive in the same way against the Bucks? That’s a question for another day. For now, we know the Raptors are offensively in good shape against Brooklyn.
2. Point Caris?
Caris LeVert has been implicated in point guard duty due to injuries to Kyrie Irving and Spencer Dinwiddie, but his focus, rightly, has been on scoring. He’s the only current Net that can get on the court, so his 25 points per game in the bubble has been a better use of his talents than playing a more traditional point guard role. But Toronto has one of the best defensive works in basketball and used it to limit LeVert as a scorer. That, during an ineffective shooting night, he adjusts. LeVert finished the game with 15 assists.
This is one of the last levels a player must reach before earning superstar status. The best players in the league know how games should affect if their shooter does not fall. LeVert did that in this game. No matter what happens in this series, the Nets will be able to keep their heads high knowing what a valuable experience this was for one of their best young players.
3. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot may not have missed a shot yet
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot began a two-way contract this season. Well, he’s one of the bubble’s breakout stars. In eight seeding games, Luwawu-Cabarrot hit 45 percent of his 6.4 3-point attempts per game. That was not remotely sustainable based on his pre-Disney career, so of course he came out in Game 1 and hit six of his nine 3-pointers.
Brooklyn’s priority this season both in and out of the bubble has prepared him for next season when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving give them a real chance to fight for the championship. Every player on their roster is auditioning for a role on that fan, and Luwawu-Cabarrot makes a very compelling case for himself. Star-led teams always need shooters to take advantage of the space that big names create.
