Welcome to The Rotation, our daily playoff wrap-up of our favorite stories, large and small, from last night’s NBA action.
The JET took off once again
By Matt Cianfrone (@Matt_Cianfrone)
I’m going to be honest. When Jason Terry signed with the Bucks this summer, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. While I understood the reasoning behind it — a young team needed a veteran voice — I thought there were options that could help more on the floor as well.
And then the season started.
All year long Terry brought life and energy and shooting. And he did the leadership things he was signed to do as every Buck talked great about him. So it didn’t take long for me to completely change my tune. The random Terry minutes became a blast as he talked trash, made big shots and celebrated, all while acting like it was the most fun thing he had ever done.
But when the playoffs came, it was supposed to all end. That was the moment where Terry’s age was supposed to hold him back. After all, in the playoffs, problems like not really being able to do anything but shoot tend to come back to hurt players and teams.
So when the Bucks comeback started late in Game 6, it was startling that Terry was on the floor. But then it became more than Terry simply being on the floor as the Bucks came back. Suddenly, Terry was making plays on defense, getting his hands on passes and running down the Raptors passes to ghosts.
And when Terry hit the 3-pointer that put the Bucks up 80-78, I lost it. It was just such a cool moment when a 39-year-old with nothing left to prove, playing really only because he loves the game, had another big moment. Then Terry stripped DeMar DeRozan and hit another 3-pointer to give the Bucks a chance they ultimately wasted.
I’m not really sure if Terry will play in the NBA next season. In a way I hope he does. The Bucks still could use his veteran voice and his shooting. The fans could use his energy and the happiness he brings to any random game.
In a way, though, I hope he doesn’t because this would be a pretty great way for Terry to go out. By hitting big shots. By busting out his JET celebration. By just having fun and loving the game of basketball and everything that comes with it. It was perfect.
Long live the JET.
Toronto’s offense sputters in near-meltdown
By Jeff Siegel (@jgsiegel)
DeMarre Carroll hit a 3-pointer with 5:17 left in the third quarter that gave the Raptors a 25-point lead, 71-46.
Jason Terry hit a 3-pointer with 3:06 left in the fourth quarter that gave the Bucks a 2-point lead, 80-78.
The Raptors scored just nine points in just over 14 minutes of game action. This is the same Toronto team that held the greatest offense in league history for about a month earlier this year.
So what the hell happened?
In a word: stagnation. Too much stagnation. Too much standing around until the shot clock essentially forced them to move.
I went back through every Raptors possession during the Bucks’ 34-7 run. No more than three of the Raptors’ half-court possessions started with more than 12 seconds on the shot clock. The Bucks made it difficult for the Raptors, but as soon as the ball crossed the antlered logo, either DeMar DeRozan or Kyle Lowry would pound the ball into the wooden floor for five or six seconds while the rest of the guys on the floor stood and watched. Then Serge Ibaka or another Toronto big man would set a ball screen, the Bucks would snuff it out, leaving DeRozan or Lowry to create with very little time.
This way of playing doesn’t necessarily mean the Raptors got a bad shot every time down the floor. They finished fourth in the league in the regular season in points per possession on shots that took place with fewer than four seconds on the shot clock for a reason — DeRozan and Lowry are two of the best in the league at creating something from nothing with limited time on the clock, but even the vaunted Warriors, who finished first in that same metric, only scored 0.885 points per possession on those kinds of shots. They’re inherently some of the most difficult shots in basketball because the defense knows the shot has to go up within a certain timeframe, allowing them to be more aggressive.
The Raptors still pulled the game out, thanks in part to just enough of these shots going in down the stretch, but these periods are scary for them as they move on to the next round against Cleveland. With the Cavaliers’ firepower, it’s hard to imagine that the Raptors will be able to survive stretches with such little scoring of their own.
Possible explanations for Tony Parker and the age-less Spurs
By Ian Levy (@HickoryHigh)
The Memphis Grizzlies were great but the San Antonio Spurs were greater, particularly Tony-freaking-Parker, who you may have heard sent the Grizzlies home with 27 points and two huge buckets down the stretch. It’s one of the biggest mysteries in the NBA — how do the Spurs continually summon these incredible performances from veterans whose bodies should have long since failed them?
I have a few conspiracy theories I’d like to propose.
Bionic limbs. NBA players are drug-tested but, to my knowledge, they are never tested for robotic implants and things of that nature. Perhaps Parker was playing last night on a pair of carefully camouflaged robot legs?
Vampirism or other assorted black magic. I’ve never seen Gregg Popovich outside during the day, have you? The detail left out of that story about him leaving a $5000 tip on dinner in Memphis was that…no one ate the garlic bread.
Alien DNA. It’s been a long time since I watched the X-Files, still trying to get Robert Patrick’s mug out of my brain. But weren’t their some kind of super strong conspiracy dudes who had their human DNA mixed with alien DNA? Would kind of explain their reticence about talking to the media…
Caffeine and red wine, taken together in sufficient quantities reverse the aging process. I’ve been conducting some personal experiments in this area. I’ll let you know how they turn out.
Next: The different kinds of Russell Westbrook triple-doubles
The arid climate in San Antonio slows decomposition. I used to live in Boise, which I’m guessing has a similar climate to San Antonio. When I lived there, the air was so dry that our crackers and cereal never went stale, no matter how many times I carelessly left the box open on the counter. Coincidence?
Whatever it is, the Spurs have figured out something special. I’d happily pay money for a course at the airport Holiday Inn on how to extend my own physical prime.