Familiar concerns for Raptors after another Game 1 loss Despite going in as 9.5-point favourites at home, with the second seed and a different, revamped roster built for moments much bigger than this, the Raptors suffered a familiar fate to begin the 2019 postseason according to TSN's Josh Lewenberg. Josh Lewenberg TSN Raptors Reporter Follow|Archive TORONTO – Over the last week, former Raptors big man Lucas Nogueira has been back in Toronto after spending the last several months training in his native Brazil. Making the rounds, Bebe visited the team’s practice facility on Thursday and told reporters that he would be in attendance for Saturday’s first-round series opener against Orlando. “I’m nervous,” said the affable centre with the big hair and the even bigger personality. “Game 1 is always complicated.” Speaking in Orlando a day earlier, Terrence Ross – who spent nearly five seasons with Toronto before being traded to the Magic in 2017 – was asked about his old team’s Game 1 misfortune. “I don’t know,” he said with a shrug and a smile. “I don’t know if they psych themselves out.” Even if you are only vaguely familiar with the Toronto Raptors, you’re probably aware of their dubious playoff history, which includes their propensity for starting off on the wrong foot. If you’ve lived that history – either as a fan, coach or player – you’ve certainly felt the weight of it. Despite going in as 9.5-point favourites at home, with the second seed and a different, revamped roster built for moments much bigger than this, the Raptors suffered a familiar fate to begin the 2019 postseason. With Saturday’s 104-101 loss, Toronto fell to 2-14 all-time in Game 1s, including 1-10 in the opening game of the first round. Of course, it’s something that’s awfully tough, verging on impossible to explain. This so-called curse spans over two decades of Raptors basketball, from the Vince Carter era to the Chris Bosh teams to this recent run with DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Dwane Casey at the helm, and now even further. After winning their first-ever postseason opener in the Washington series last season, supposedly putting an end to the “curse”, and then turning over the top of the roster and changing the coach over the summer, few expected this stat to resurface. Yet, here we are. How did they get here? In short, they were out-played by a young and hungry Magic team that they may have taken lightly, but should know better than to overlook again. The Raptors got off to a solid start, but fell apart in the second quarter where they fell behind by as many as 16 points. They answered with a 22-2 run to regain the lead early in the second half but Orlando didn’t go away, and full credit to them. The nine Magic players who saw the court on Saturday came into the night with just 75 games of playoff experience combined. Their started had appeared in 33 postseason contests and none since 2014. Twenty-eight of those games belonged to D.J. Augustin, who was instrumental in Orlando’s win. The 31-year-old, who scored a total of 21 points in 82 minutes with the Raptors before being cut in 2013, had 25 points in 29 minutes for the Magic in Game 1. Despite their youth and inexperience, the Magic didn’t fall apart when the veteran Raptors – who came in with 320 games of playoff experience in their starting lineup alone – threw their counterpunch. With Steve Clifford at the controls they’re well coached, and with Augustin leading the way they were in good hands. The 11-year vet stayed calm, made plays, got to the rim and hit four three-pointers, including the game-winner. That clutch three came with Kawhi Leonard and Marc Gasol – two former Defensive Player of the Year winners – getting crossed up on the play. The point guard matchup was a perceived strength for the Raptors going into this series – an all-star in Kyle Lowry and one of last season’s Sixth Man of the Year finalists in Fred VanVleet versus a pair of journeymen in Augustin and Michael Carter-Williams. Instead, Lowry resurrected another familiar Raptors playoff narrative, missing all seven of his shots and going scoreless in nearly 34 minutes. Lowry’s playoff struggles are overblown. He’s had some memorably – and in some cases historically – bad games, but he’s also had great, series-changing games (his Game 7 against Miami was one of the best individual performances in franchise history, for instance). However, this was a lot closer to the former. With the addition of Leonard and the emergence of Pascal Siakam, Lowry’s role has changed some this season. He took fewer shots and scored fewer points, but also finished second in the NBA in assists, averaging a career-high 8.7. Speaking to the media on Thursday, in the lead up to this series, he acknowledged that there’s less pressure on him to score big as long as he leads the team and makes his typical winning plays. For what it’s worth, Lowry wasn’t as bad as his scoreless night would indicate. He had seven rebounds, eight assists, was a team-best plus-11 and took what looked like a painful charge on his former teammate, Ross. However, he was the primary defender on Augustin in the first half – when the Magic point guard scored 19 of his 25 points – forcing Nick Nurse to change the matchup and put Danny Green on him after halftime. Lowry is almost always a net-positive when he’s on the court, in large part because of little things he does to give his team and edge or make his teammates better. But, simply put, he can’t get so thoroughly out-played by Augustin. No, the Raptors don’t need him to score big, but they do need him to score. He got some good looks on Saturday, shots he normally makes and probably will make down the line, but when the jumper isn’t falling he’s got to find a way to be more of a factor offensively. “I shot some shots, I got to the basket and I created,” Lowry said.<doc-sep>Seriously, the Raptors are different this year. They just didn’t totally show it in Game 1 against the Magic, falling 104-101 — the death punch coming in the form of a DJ Augustin three with 3.4 seconds left. DJ. Augustin. For real. While the result was sour and painfully familiar in these parts, there were concrete examples and moments over the course of the loss where the altered Raps DNA was on display. All that talk throughout the regular season wasn’t B.S. One of the main sources of the belief that these Raptors wouldn’t fall into the same post-season traps of past editions has always been Kawhi Leonard. The dude is a monster and a proven playoff stud, and for much of Saturday’s series-opener, he lived up to the billing. On the opening offensive possession of the game, Leonard probed deftly and rose up for a mid-range J — cash. He followed that up with another, and then a three, and then a trip to the line, and then a lefty jam. He had 11 points on four shots before the arena even emerged from its customary playoff firework haze. At moments where the game teetered, Leonard took control and drained buckets that restored comfort, at least temporarily. Flanking his attack was Pascal Siakam, whose suspect performance against Orlando’s gangly and fiesty forwards in the regular season had some questioning how much he’d really be able to offer as a secondary scoring option in this series. Those fears were proven unfounded. Siakam dropped a loud 24 on 12-of-24 shooting, including a pair of his meanest dunks to date. Siakam leaves Ross stumbling with the crossover; boss finish #wethenorth pic.twitter.com/kFmOo3QGLQ — Sam Holako (@rapsfan) April 13, 2019 (A side note: I know the growth of Siakam’s pull-up game is the most necessary next step in his development, but count me in for Siakam spending his entire summer honing himself into a Dunk Contest worthy high flyer.) Kawhi’s 25 and Siakam’s 24 served as the pillars of Toronto’s offensive attack in Game 1. That should be something the Raptors can count on as the post-season unfolds, hopefully, over the next month, month-and-a-half. Leonard and this year’s supercharged Siakam are the biggest reasons why these Raptors looked and felt different up until about 7:30 Eastern Time on Saturday. Regrettably, though, the Raps couldn’t entirely flip the page over from the last five years. Kyle Lowry, man. He’s at once the easiest and most difficult player in the world to defend against his hoards of very loud detractors. This game was that conflict exemplified. Lowry did not have his best game. Not even close. He went scoreless on 0-of-7 shooting, all but one of those attempts coming from outside. A couple of those looks fall, and the tenor of the game is entirely different. There was a passiveness to his game akin to what he displayed during the middle portion of the regular season. His offensive shortcomings make it really easy to bust out the LOL PLAYOFF LOWRY jokes, and how could you possibly blame anyone for doing so. Jokes are good and fun. But so is Kyle Lowry, even when his stroke betrays him. In a game where the Raptors lost by 3, and every other starter was a minus on the night, Lowry was a +11. The health of Toronto’s kill-you-from-all-angles offense is directly tied to Lowry — his vision, his gravity and generosity with the ball. His seven boards and eight assists weren’t hollow. “He had some really good looks that he’s gonna normally knock down,” said Nick Nurse after the game in the voice of Dwane “Make or Miss, Doug” Casey. “He was still impacting the game greatly. I thought he was a positive factor in the game which is why we went with him and I’m sure he’ll bounce back and play a little better in the next game.” Far more blame probably belongs on the shoulders of the non-Lowry lineups that couldn’t string together any prolonged runs of good two-way play. Fred VanVleet hit a pair of huge triples a minute after subbing in late in the first quarter; he was a drag on the operation for much of his remaining 25-ish minutes of floor time, finishing as a -16. Norman Powell and Serge Ibaka weren’t terribly effective in seventh and eighth man roles, either, combining for just nine points on ten shots in 16 and 19 minutes respectively. Outside of the reserves, there weren’t any notable goats in the loss. A lot of credit for the result belongs to the Magic, who defended their sacks off for as close to 48 straight minutes as one could reasonably expect. Orlando packed the paint, swarmed pioneering ball-handlers when they got close, and forced the Raptors into a ton of drawn-out possessions, all the while avoiding sending the Raptors to the line. Toronto took just 14 free-throws on the night. “I thought our defense was very good for most of the game. Even when things went against us we hung in the game. We kept fighting,” said Magic coach Steve Clifford. To help counteract Toronto’s marauding transition game, the 22nd-best offensive rebounding team in the regular season made a notable point of chasing its own misses. They grabbed 10 offensive boards, wiping out 10 opportunities for the Raps to strike quickly. And then there was D.J. Augustin — the other guy who the Raptors cut bait with back on December 8th, 2013. His 19-point first half was essential for Orlando. Nikola Vucevic was held pointless until midway through the second, and finished the night with a meager 11-8-3 on 3-of-14 shooting. Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier were icy from the field, too. As Clifford alluded to post game, without Augustin’s second-quarter exploits, the Magic never would have had the cushion built to withstand the 20-2 run Toronto went on over about six minutes between the end of the second and start of the third. Of course, Augustin’s standout moment came with the shot clock and game clock just barely disparate in the final frame with the game tied at 101s:<doc-sep>The Orlando Magic came away with the Game 1 upset win on Sunday. Game 2 goes Wednesday in Toronto at 10:30 a.m. The Orlando Magic shocked the Raptors on Sunday, stealing home court advantage with a big 104-101 Game 1 win. D.J. Augustin led the way for the Magic with 25 points, six assists and the game-winning three with 3.4 seconds left. Game 2 is set for Wednesday in Toronto at 10:30 a.m. Here are five takeaways from Game 1... A playoff career-high for Pascal Siakam It was Siakam, not Kawhi Leonard, who led the Raptors in scoring for most of Game 1. He had a quiet second quarter when the Magic took the lead with a huge run, but he was at the centre of Toronto's run in the third quarter that saw them regain control of the game. Siakam then came up big down the stretch on both ends of the court, scoring six points on offence and blocking two shots on defence, both of which came on back-to-back possessions. Siakam finished the game with a playoff career-high 24 points. It took him 24 shot attempts to get there - a credit to Orlando's defence - but he made almost as many baskets (12) as Leonard, Marc Gasol and Kyle Lowry combined (15). Siakam also had nine rebounds, four assists and one assist in the game. The Raptors are going to need much more of that from Siakam in the coming weeks in order to advance. Kawhi Leonard almost saves the day Kawhi Leonard was clutch once again for the Raptors. With Toronto down 99-96 with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Leonard helped them retake the lead by scoring five quick points. He first drained a tough step back 3-pointer, followed by a baseline jumper to put the Raptors up 101-99. Unfortunately for Leonard, it wasn't quite enough. D.J. Augustin was equally as clutch, responding with five quick points himself in the final minute to put the Magic ahead, and Leonard missed a 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds left that would've sent the game into overtime. Augustin steps up Augustin was the difference-maker in this one, and we're not just talking about the clutch three that eventually won the Magic the game. He got things going for Orlando, scoring 19 in the first half on near-perfect shooting. He disappeared in the third quarter but made his presence felt in the fourth when the team needed him most. Augustin scored the final five points of the game for the Magic, including this cold-blooded 3-pointer to put the Raptors away on their home court in Game 1: Augustin finished with a team-high 25 points and six assists. He shot 9-for-13 from the field and 4-for-5 from 3-point range, including a perfect 2-for-2 in the clutch. According to Basketball Reference, this is just the second time in his 10-year career (and the first time in the playoffs) that he's hit a shot with five seconds or less on the clock to win the game. Where was Kyle Lowry? With 3:18 left in the game, Lowry was scoreless on 0-for-7 from the field in 30 minutes of game time. The Raptors were down 94-92. He finished the game with zero points and didn't shoot the ball again. At that same point in the game, D.J. Augustin had 20 points. He finished the game with a game-high 25 points and hit the game-winning three to steal Game 1 away from Toronto. Game 1s haven't been kind to Kyle Lowry. The Raptors have made the playoffs now in six straight seasons since 2013-14 - they're now 1-5 in the opening game of the playoffs. In his career with the Raptors, Lowry is 1-9 in Game 1s. His averages? Not great: 10.8 points per game shooting 31.7 percent from the field. Lowry has played good in some of those Game 1s and obviously sub-par in others, but Sunday was by far his worst in that stretch. Kyle Lowry was 0-7 FG (including 0-6 3PT) for 0 points in Game 1, adding 7 rebounds and 8 assists for a 45.5 offensive rating - his worst in an #NBAPlayoffs game since joining the Raptors. 📊 https://t.co/xg51WvaU0b pic.twitter.com/1IFxDAFSOq - StatMuse (@statmuse) April 13, 2019 Lowry wasn't the reason why the Raptors lost Game 1 and he shouldn't shoulder the blame for the loss, but if the Toronto truly wants to compete for a championship, Lowry can't afford to play like he did in Game 1. Expect Lowry to bounce back in Game 2 on Wednesday, but it's going to be a long two days before then. Raptors Game 1 woes continue There's just something about Game 1 and the Raptors. The Magic now have the home court advantage after grinding out the win, with another slow start hampering the Raptors' playoff campaign. The Magic closed as 9.5-point underdog today, their biggest upset win in a playoff game in franchise history. The Raptors are now 2-14 in Game 1s, the 2nd-worst record by any team in NBA history (min. 2 games). pic.twitter.com/Jqq7dE4nFc - ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 14, 2019 Since 2013-14, the Raptors are now 1-5 in their opening game of the first round. Throughout the entire playoffs, that number doesn't look much better at 2-14 in Game 1s all-time.<doc-sep>D.J. Augustin hit a three with 3.4 second left to go to give the Magic the win in Game 1 of their series with the Toronto Raptors. The Orlando Magic just made it a series. No one expected the Magic to be in this series but they were one of the hottest teams in the league to close the season - they continued that hot play in Game 1 winning 104-101. D.J. Augustin finished with a game-high 25 points, six assists and the game-winning three-point bucket with 3.4 seconds left to steal home-court advantage away from the Raptors. Aaron Gordon added a double-double of 10 points, 10 rebounds and played great defensively finishing with three steals. Kawhi Leonard matched the game-high with 25 points of his own and Pascal Siakam added 24 points in the loss. Game 2 goes Tuesday night in Toronto at 8:00 p.m. ET. Check out below for all the action from Game 1. Box score | Play-by-play End of Game: Magic 104 Raptors 101 M A G I C W I N G A M E 1️⃣#BlueAndWhiteIgnite pic.twitter.com/nq3K9IeU7X - Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) April 13, 2019 7:34 p.m. - Ball game - Magic win. 7:33 p.m. - Kawhi Leonard gets a good look from three that goes wide left. 7:29 p.m. - D.J. Augustin finishes a driving layup and then BURRIES a cold-blooded triple to give the Magic a 104-101 lead with 3.4 seconds left to go in the game. Wow! 7:26 p.m. - After a Jonathon Isaac triple gave the Magic a 97-96 lead, Evan Fournier comes up with a steal and dunk to give the Magic a 99-96 lead. Kawhi Leonard goes on a personal 5-0 run - a three and a fadeaway Raps in front by two. 7:16 p.m. - Pascal Siakam is starting to turn up! Two straight blocks and a scream! Siakam has a game-high 22 points, 6 rebounds ans two blocks. 7:11 p.m. - Orlando's Michael Carter-Williams took an inadvertent shot to the nose from Kyle Lowry - he stayed down on the other end of the court while Norm Powell took the ball to the tin for two. Timeout on the floor. MCW immediately got up and ran after the ref to show him his bloodied nose - no tech was given. Raptors lead 88-84 midway through the fourth. End of Third Quarter: Raptors 76 Magic 75 7:00 p.m. - The Raptors were able to dig themselves out of a 16-point deficit to take the lead heading into the fourth period. Pascal Siakam leads the way with his playoff career-high 18 points, five rebounds. Kawhi Leonard has matched Siakam's 18 with 18 points of his own. D.J. Augustin has one point since exploding for 19 in the first half. Kyle Lowry is struggling a bit in this one - no points, 0-for-5 from the field. 6:39 p.m. - Marc Gasol three gives the Raptors a 61-59 lead. Gasol in his Raptors playoff debut looking good so far - 10 points, 5 rebounds 3 assists, shooting 57% from the field. 16p deficit = Erased pic.twitter.com/tSs8JYm2XX - Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) April 13, 2019 6:34 p.m. - 9-2 Raptors' run capped by a Kawhi Leonard straightaway three gets Toronto back in the game and forces Orlando to take a timeout. Magic lead 59-58 early third. Halftime: Magic 57 Raptors 46 6:15 p.m. - The Magic continue to be red-hot from the field, led by D.J. Augustin who's torching the Raptors right now with a game-high 19 points shooting 77.8% from the field. Orlando outscored the Raptors 32-19 in the second period, but the Raptors closed the half with back-to-back threes from Marc Gasol and Danny Green. GO D.J., CAUSE THAT'S OUR D.J. pic.twitter.com/SJu6VK8x8z - Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) April 13, 2019 6:05 p.m. - The Magic are lighting it up from three-point range shooting 53.8% and now have a 48-41 lead late in the second quarter. The Magic are swarming defensively and turning Raptors' turnovers into quality offensive possessions. 6:01 pm - Nikola Vucevic gets his first two of the game as part of a 10-2 Orlando run which gives the Magic the lead again in the second. End of First Quarter: Raptors 30 Magic 25 5:43 p.m. - Kawhi Leoanrd has activated playoff mode - an 11-point first quarter on 100% shooting from the field has fuelled the Raptors to an early lead. Fred VanVleet came off the bench red-hot as well knocking down back-to-back triples as part of a Raptors' 8-0 run. Credit the Magic for hanging around with all the emotion at Scotiabank Arena, they could've easily let the game run away from them. Kawhi Leonard - 11 Points // 4-4 LOCKED IN pic.twitter.com/47X5NgdTbJ - Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) April 13, 2019 5:39 p.m. - JV back in the 6ix to support his former team. Reports of lightning in the building. Great to have you back, big fella! 🇱🇹⚡️#WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/EwVLoVANl5 - Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) April 13, 2019 5:33 p.m. - Kawhi Leonard is cooking early - he's up to seven points on 3-for-3 shooting from the field. Toronto leads 11-8 at the first stoppage in play. Kawhi Leonard gets things underway for the Raptors this postseason - he gets a midrange jumper to go to take a 2-0 lead on the first possession. Pregame The Magic are going with DJ Augustin, Evan Fournier, Jonathan Isaac, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic as their starting five. The starting five is set - Kyle Lowry, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam and Marc Gasol. Scotiabank Arena is ready for the playoffs.<doc-sep>
TORONTO – The rebuilt Toronto Raptors opened the NBA playoffs like so many editions before them — with a loss. But the message in the post-game locker room was: It’s only one game. In a loss that conjured memories of so many Raptors opening-game losses, D.J. Augustin scored a dagger three-pointer with 4.2 seconds to play as part of a 25-point night, and the upstart Orlando Magic beat the Raptors 104-101 on Saturday to take Game 1 of thee seven-game opening-round playoff series. The Raptors are 2-14 in Game 1s all-time, including an eyebrow-raising 1-8 at home, and when they beat Washington in Game 1 last season, it snapped a streak — finally — of 10 consecutive Game 1 losses. “(It’s) first one to win four games,” Marc Gasol said. “You go back, watch film, see what worked, see what didnt work, see what you’ve got to better and play the next game. Story continues below advertisement “Win or lose, we’ll come back and do the job again.” Kawhi Leonard had 25 points but air-balled a three-point attempt on the last play. Pascal Siakam had 24 points, Fred VanVleet had 14, and Gasol and Danny Green scored 13 apiece for the for the Raptors, who went 58-24 in the regular-season for the No. 2 seed in the East, and are making their sixth consecutive playoff appearance. Kyle Lowry, who took a hard knee to the groin from former Raptor Terrence Ross early in the game, had a horrible offensive night, scoring zero points on 0-for-7 shooting. “I think (Lowry) had some really good looks that he’s gonna normally knock down,” said coach Nick Nurse. “We need to get him involved a little bit offensively and we need some points from him. . . (But) I look down and I see he was a plus-12 in the plus-minus and he had zero points, so he was still impacting the game greatly. I’m sure he’ll bounce back and play a little bit better next game.” Nikola Vucevic and Jonathan Isaac had 11 points apiece, while Aaron Gordon added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who were 42-40 in the regular season, and are making their first playoff appearance since 2012. Playoff expectations are sky-high this season. After the Raptors had been sent packing from the playoffs by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third consecutive season, team president Masai Ujiri rebuilt with an eye at a championship appearance, acquiring Leonard and Green, and then adding Gasol at the trade deadline. Story continues below advertisement The Raptors are by far the more experienced team, their 320 playoff games by the starters before Saturday numbering almost 10 times that of Orlando’s. But the Magic, who’ve been one of league’s hottest teams since the all-star break, matching Toronto’s conference-best 22-9 record over the final 31 games of the season, clearly didn’t get the memo. “Our goal was to make the playoffs but not just make it,” Augustin said. “We want to make noise and win a series or two. We feel like we can, we believe in ourselves.” A 15-0 Orlando run in the second quarter put the visitors up by 16 points, leaving the Scotiabank Arena crowd in stunned silence. “It’s the playoffs, you’re going to go up and down,” Leonard said. “Everybody wants to win the game. That dry spell in the first and then second quarter hurt us a little bit, but we were able to keep coming back, and push in that third quarter.” The Raptors roared back with a 20-2 run that straddled the second and third quarters. They took a narrow 76-65 lead into the fourth. In a game with 13 lead changes, seven of them came in the final 12 minutes. The Raptors led by as many as six points midway through the fourth, but the Magic clawed back with a 10-2 run that had them leading with two minutes to play. Leonard’s fadeaway jumper from in front of Orlando’s bench had the Raptors up by two with 1:02 to play, but Augustin answered with a jump shot to tie the game. Gasol had a three-point shot bounce off the rim. Story continues below advertisement Then, a defensive miscue by Leonard and Gasol left Augustin alone at the perimeter and he knocked down the three-pointer to seal the victory. “They made some tough shots, but (our) communication could be a little bit better,” Lowry said. “We’ve got to play a lot harder. . .