Hardwood Highlight of the Night: Raptor bigs work high-low for clutch basket
Everything for the Toronto Raptors right now is about finding a way to replace DeMar DeRozan.
A lot of that burden has understandably fallen on point guard Kyle Lowry through two games, and he was at his absolute best on Tuesday against the Sacramento Kings. But Lowry already carries a heavy load in the offense, and replacing DeRozan's 20 points a night is a task that needs to be shared among multiple players.
In a tight fourth quarter, the Raptors couldn't simply hand the ball to Lowry on every possession and ask him to make something happen. With 4:39 to play in the frame and a narrow lead, head coach Dwane Casey drew up a creative play for a baseline inbounds that empowered his bigs to make something happen at a key juncture.
Here, Lowry inbounds the ball to Jonas Valanciunas as Terrence Ross cuts around Valanciunas to the weakside. Valanciunas also acts as an impediment to Lowry's man, should Lowry follow his pass north.
That's what Lowry ends up doing, receiving a tight hand-off from Valanciunas. Meanwhile, Ross cuts back toward Valanciunas to draw attention under the rim, while non-shooters in Amir Johnson and James Johnson (somewhat poorly) try to space the floor on the weak side.
That Ross flash to under the basket actually turns out to be about more than just drawing attention. As Lowry comes to the right elbow for a cross-elbow dish to Amir Johnson, Ross slides toward Reggie Evans, setting a screen that allows Valanciunas to make a back-door cut to the other side of the paint.
Amir Johnson is a solid passer, but the action beneath the hoop confuses the Kings' defense and creates a very easy passing lane for the high-low feed. Ben McLemore sticks to Ross after the screen - not a bad call since Ross could have popped out to the weak corner - and Evans is slow to get back on Valanciunas.
It's not a particularly complicated play, but it's a tough one to defend. Ross is too dangerous off the ball to switch Evans on to, Lowry requires a great deal of attention, and Amir Johnson is a better passer than his 1.6 assists per game would indicate. It's these kind of multi-player actions that the Raptors will have to rely on more without DeRozan's ability to get easy points on the move and at the line.
(Courtesy: NBA, Sportsnet)