Toronto Raptors (3) Vs Detroit Pistons (6)

Record:

Toronto 51-31 (62%)

Detroit 46-36 (56%)

Round one of the playoffs is the one of the most exciting times of the season. There’s hope for half of the league with the ultimate prize still being within their grasp. The majority of GM’s from around the league are still active as they predict games and begin planning for next season after reviewing what just come to an end. But, most importantly, we get to see the shape of the playoffs and how history will unfold. It’s the perfect mixture pressure and hope. It’s playoff basketball.

 In the 2 conference, top 8 playoff structure, there are usually a couple of series that don’t live up to the hype and then there are the all-time classics. Often the classics come from the middle tier match-ups (4 v 5 & 3 v 6) because there’s so little between each squad. This series is, to say casually, one of those. Both teams finishing with excellent records

Toronto have as much hype behind them as a conference champ. Their GM (Jesse Dunne) is as passionate, argumentative and intimidating as a professional wrestling GM. And his team give as little f’s as he does.

 

Detroit have an experieced GM in Sheed, who has steadily become a threat as the season heads towards playoffs. His moves have been calculated and his franchise incredibly stable, as they’ve become one of the most underrated teams in the Eastern Conference. It’s a match-up of contrasting personalities and contrasting styles, in-your-face vs silent assassain, run-and-gun vs tall timber but make no mistake, it’s class vs class.

 
The Tale of the Tape

The season series was in favour of the underdogs as Detroit finished with a 2-1 record against the Raptors. Their first meeting saw the Raptors win by the narrowist of margins as they defeated a completely different Pistons outfit by a single point, 109-108. The second meeting had to wait until week 18 which was a time in the season where the Raptors had finally reached full strength, though the outcome was completely different as Detroit tied the season series with a 118-87 blowout win. The series decider was played in week 20 at Detroit and once again it was a thriller as Detriot snuck home by a single point, in a 99-98 classic. If the game last week was anything to go by, we are in for a treat this series!

 

Game 1- Toronto (H) 109 defeat Detroit 108

Game 2- Detroit 118 defeat Toronto (H) 87

Game 3- Detroit (H) 99  defeat Toronto 98

 

Series Talking Points

Who will stop Dame?

The best player in this series is Damian Lillard and it’s not close to the next best. Many NBA masterminds believe if you have the best player, you win the series. A simplistic way to think about the game but it often holds true. Well, Dame is by far the most talented and impactful player on either roster. He’s an inside-out threat and a superb playmaker (so forget double teaming). He’s been an MVP calibre talent earning the player of the week on more than one occasion this season. Who will guard him? Will the Pistons concede the matchup and focus the defence on secondary scorers? Is there a combination of Dragic-Dinwiddie that can make him work hard on the other end and tire him out? This is the biggest challenge for Sheed as he sets his match-ups for game 1.

Damian Lillard Dame GIF by NBA - Find & Share on GIPHY" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_6" title="Damian Lillard Dame GIF by NBA - Find & Share on GIPHY">

Can the Toronto big men keep Detroit off the glass?

It’s no secret that Detroit are BIG and they’ve had to go big since their star, Kyrie Irving, was shut down for the remainder of the season. Big ball, especially big, no shooting, ball seems a thing of the past but it’s been incredibly affective in the NSL. Obviously Detroit will start the lineup of Gobert-BAM and if they do they’ll crash the class and intimidate the opposition cutters at the rim. The challenge will be for the Toronto bigs to break even. Since arriving via trade Thomas Bryant has shown glimpses but still has promise to fulfill. Vucevic at PF has been a great experiment for the Raptors as he’s been a consistent contributor, but it feels like he has another gear. What will he be able to conjure against two of the best rim-protectors in the game? Can Bam and Gobert take adavantage of their defensive assignements and impact the offensive end?

 Who will own the wings?

Fournier, Ingles, Hollis-Jefferson, Marvin Williams, Norman Powell and Josh Hart are the names that feature on the each roster that are eligible for the Small Forward position. The only name jumping off the page here is Evan Fournier and, I’m not 100% sure how he can impact the defensive end of the floor (though I’m sure he doesn’t need to).

The battle for wing superiority is up for grabs and it seems if there’s a win for the Pistons in the front court and a decisive win for the Raptors in the back court, maybe this underrated position decides the series?

Norman Powell and Josh Hart have slashing ability and Marvin Williams can make the outside shot, one of these players are going to have to play above themselves to give the offensive output of Ingles and Fournier. Who will stand up?

Predicted Line-ups

Toronto

C T.Bryant   PF N.Vucevic*   SF J. Ingles    SG E.Fournier     PG D.Lillard *     6^th J.Holiday *    7^th C. Wood

Detroit

C R.Gobert*   PF E.Adebayo*   SF M.Williams   SG N.Powell   PG G.Dragic*   6^th S.Dinwiddie   7^th J.Hart

 

Joe Ingles GIFs | Gfycat" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_9" title="Latest Joe Ingles GIFs | Gfycat">

Predictions

Going into this game, it’s fair to say Toronto deserve to be favourites. Everything on paper seems to be in their favour, they have the best player, most depth and finished with the highest seed. On the other hand, Detroit play gritty defence and it’s been famously said that “defence wins championships.”

This series has all the makings of a 7 game, thriller. While there is a clear underdog, the underdog won the season series which will, no doubt, give confidence to Detroit that they not only belong in this series but can win.

The wizardry at the controls would be a treat to watch on a game-by-game basis as tactically both GM’s are strong and will make moves to get the edge. It’s a free-hit for Detroit who have nothing to lose. Their expectations on the season were most-likely thrown out the window once their star went down so their main objection will be to take the series a game at a time and wear away on their opponents. It’s amazing what can happen when there’s nothing to lose.