WASHINGTON — Throughout their first-round series with the Washington Wizards, there was quite a bit of discussion as to just how much the Toronto Raptors revered second unit was missing its point guard, its facilitator, its motor — Fred VanVleet.
What we knew was Toronto’s reserves were not playing well at all. What we didn’t know was why. VanVleet is only one player. Only one part of a complicated machine. Was his absence alone really the catalyst for the unit’s struggles? Could the substandard play of ancillary pieces like Pascal Siakam, Jakob Poeltl and C.J. Miles all really be tied to VanVleet missing the majority of the series? Isn’t that too reductive?
Well, VanVleet returned Friday night in Game 6. The Raptors won the game by 10. And as VanVleet and Toronto’s bench thoroughly outplayed Washington’s starters in the fourth quarter, going 15-7 in a little under six minutes, the theory became pretty hard to deny.
“We just added Freddy to the group — that’s the difference,” admitted Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. “I was trying not to make a big deal out of it while he was out to keep our other guys motivated. But he was the difference.
“He’s kind of the engine. The toughness. That little birdie on the shoulder. I thought it really propelled Pascal and those other guys to give them a sense of confidence.”
Turns out, VanVleet really is that critical. Toronto’s second unit played so well down the stretch that Casey was able to rest Kyle Lowry for half of the fourth quarter, and DeMar DeRozan all the way until there was only three-and-a-half minutes remaining.
All five of Toronto’s bench players finished the game with positive plus/minuses, and Siakam led the Raptors with a plus-18. After the game, Casey asked Siakam, “Do you really need Fred that badly? Does Fred mean that much to you?” Turns out, the answer is yes.
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“When Fred is out there, we feel complete,” Siakam said. “We need him out there. Every day, I always asked him, ‘When are you coming back?’”
The last time we saw VanVleet in uniform, during Game 2 of this series, he badly missed his only shot of the night, struggled to dribble dynamically, laboured navigating screens, and completely whiffed when trying to catch a hard pass, letting the ball sail into the first row of seats.
That was 10 days ago — only six days after the Raptors guard sprained his right shoulder in a collision with Miami Heat immovable object Bam Adebayo. VanVleet was fighting to return from the injury far earlier than Toronto’s training staff expected him to be able to, or even wanted him to. They’d estimated it would take two weeks at least. That night, it took only three minutes to see why.
“I get out there,” VanVleet said of Game 2, “and I knew I couldn’t do all the things necessary.”
Vanvleet’s night ended with him slumped over on the bench, visibly emotional, Serge Ibaka’s big right arm wrapped around him, as the realization set in that he couldn’t contribute, and likely wouldn’t be able to anytime soon. VanVleet had argued with Toronto’s staff vehemently to play in that game. But from that point forward, he knew he’d have to do things their way instead of his.
He spent the last 10 days rehabilitating constantly and deliberately. He did almost everything while wearing a portable ultrasound device on his shoulder, its blue LED lights flashing through the fabric of his training top.
During practices, while his teammates worked on sets and plays, VanVleet ran court-length sprints and shuttle drills at a lonely end of the gym to help maintain his conditioning. During games, he watched from the end of the bench, stewing and seething in frustration as the unit he ran all year struggled to perform.
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“That was really tough. In terms of my basketball career, it’s up there in terms of the tougher things I’ve had to deal with,” he said. “I’m a warrior, man, and not being able to be out there and go to war with the guys — it’s just been a tough two weeks.”
Every day, Toronto’s staff ran VanVleet through mobility and strength tests, measuring his recovery empirically. And every day, it got a little bit better. On Tuesday, he played three-on-three with the final five players on the Raptors roster, waging intense practice court battles with Malcom Miller, Lorenzo Brown, and Malachi Richardson. He played as hard as he could — he knew coaches were watching, evaluating everything he could and could not do.
On Wednesday, prior to Game 5, VanVleet arrived at Air Canada Centre with designs on playing that night. He went through a rigorous pre-game workout. He was able to get through almost everything.
“But when I was fighting through screens, I ran into coaches a couple times and I was like, ‘Whoa, if I run into Marcin Gortat like this, it might put me out a little bit longer,” he said. “It didn’t feel all that great. So, I just said I’ll take one more game. But, in my mind, I knew I was going to play Friday, regardless of anything. I’m done watching. It’s time to get out there and go to work.”
He played three-on-three again Thursday. Then, Friday, VanVleet huddled with Casey and the Raptors training staff, telling them, “All right, I’m going to give it a shot.”
VanVleet watched the first quarter, but started the second, trading ball-handling duties with Delon Wright in a dual guard lineup. He certainly got involved, finding Jonas Valanciunas on a lob, committing a turnover in the paint, and commandeering a fast break off a long rebound, which Miles finished with a jam as VanVleet flexed and roared.
He engineered a 12-4 run, drilling his first field goal of the playoffs — a long two — and finding a cutting Siakam with another lob for his third assist in four minutes. It would’ve been hard to draw up a much more impactful return.
Late in the third, as he sat on the bench with a heating pad on his shoulder, Casey called VanVleet’s name again. And early in the fourth, he stepped into a three, his first in more than two weeks. It was part of a 17-9 run from the time VanVleet checked in to the Wizards calling a timeout three-and-a-half minutes into the fourth.
“I just wanted to be a support guy out there to kind of ease the storm a little bit,” he said. “Coming back in, putting us at full strength as a unit — my job is to make guys’ jobs easier, make their life a little easier out there. I thought I was able to do that. Running the team and playing defence and stuff — I can do those things in my sleep.”
The sleep VanVleet has this evening likely won’t be too comfortable. He says his shoulder’s “nowhere close” to 100 per cent, and that during the game he felt it on every screen, every spill to the floor.
He felt it when he wrestled for position, felt it when he sprinted. He was feeling it when he stood in the centre of the Raptors locker room after the game, fielding questions with his hands in the front pocket of his red hoodie, admitting, “I’m back probably a little bit before I should be.”
Really, he won’t stop feeling it until the playoffs end. He knows that. But more than anything, he feels relieved, grateful even, to be back.
“Tomorrow morning’s going to be rough,” he said. “But that’s the season, man. Ups and downs, bumps and bruises. I’ve just got to take it in stride and do all the proper things I can control to get it back right. But that’s why the game is so great. You go out there and lay it on the line for your teammates, for your franchise. If you do those types of things, the game will pay you back.”
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