As the players headed off the court, Coach Dako encouraged them. "You played really well just now. Keep it up."
"The best thing you did was control the pace. You did an excellent job of setting the pace tonight. It was exactly the kind of pace that suited us."
"Let's keep playing at this pace and make sure we drag them into our rhythm."
"They're a team that's very good at playing fast. So tonight, we need to slow them down and make things uncomfortable for them. If we do that, we'll already have won half the battle!"
The players were all fired up.
They roared in response.
When they took the court again, the Grizzlies didn't get a chance to fast-break on their first possession, but their passing was noticeably quicker.
That meant the Raptors players had to move their feet faster on defense, too.
But no matter how fast people moved their feet, they still couldn't match the speed of a pass.
Eventually, Morant found an opening.
He had a wide-open look from beyond the three-point line on the left wing.
He rose up and knocked down the three.
As soon as the shot went in, the Grizzlies hurried back on defense.
The Raptors had a brief chance to fast-break, too, but it vanished in an instant, and Dauding, who was inbounding the ball, hadn't noticed it.
With the fast-break opportunity gone, Zhang Jiacheng wanted to slow things down and pull the Grizzlies into the Raptors' offensive rhythm, so he slowly brought the ball upcourt.
Once he reached the frontcourt, he went right back to the pick and roll with Dauding.
But this time, the defense was clearly prepared. He couldn't pass to Dauding or take the shot himself.
Down on the baseline, Baturu tried to slip under