"On a long enough time scale, what you put into a thing is what you get out of it. If you try hard, you get better. If you hit a baseball hard, it goes far. This is basically the First Law of Thermodynamics. And against the Atlanta Hawks, the Toronto Raptors proved that 'long enough time scale' to be approximately five seconds."
"They started out very much not getting the points that the quality of their looks deserved. That changed quickly. It was fast enough to cause whiplash. They opened the first quarter against the Hawks by smoking five consecutive layups, including a pair in transition by Scottie Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles. That's good process but bad results. The team created terrific looks with dynamic offence, pace, and drives. But they didn't turn into points."
"The only problem was that as good as Toronto's process was, Atlanta's was just as impressive. The Hawks, too, played fast. The Hawks, too, created layups. Toronto allowed every Hawk to play one-on-one, with little team defence of which to speak outside of a few spurts that led to oodles of steals. But those came in small, isolated moments of the game."
On a fast-paced game against the Atlanta Hawks, the Toronto Raptors initially failed to convert excellent offensive looks into points but rapidly corrected their efficiency within seconds. The Raptors opened with five consecutive layups, including transition finishes by Scottie Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles, generating dynamic looks through pace, drives, and screening. Bench players and stars combined for 77 first-half points after the turnaround. Atlanta matched Toronto's pace and produced layups of its own. Toronto frequently allowed one-on-one chances and exhibited inattentive off-ball coverage, with only brief defensive spurts. Defensive adequacy provided Toronto's decisive stretch, and Barnes functioned effectively as a screener.
Read at Raptors Republic
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