Rookie Murray-Boyles catalyzes Raptors in must-win annihilation of Heat
The Toronto Raptors entered the crucible of must-win basketball, the identity-defining pressure of the playoff hunt, and saw their world in the grain of sand that is an NBA rookie. They put Collin Murray-Boyles on a basketball floor that featured Bam Adebayo, 83-point scorer, Scottie Barnes, All Star, and Brandon Ingram, All-Star, and watched him cameo as the most impactful, impressive, and inspiring player on the court for a time.
How much do I know
To talk out of turn
Murray-Boyles started his work modestly, humbly, by winning possessions on the defensive end. He slid his fight with Davion Mitchell, who had been cooking to that point, and forced a miss, grabbing the rebound. Then he grabbed an offensive rebound and spat the ball to Ja’Kobe Walter, who as has become his custom splashed the triple. A loose ball on Toronto’s end bounced into no-man’s land, and Murray-Boyles tipped it away with rapidity, jump-starting a Raptors’ fastbreak. (A classic little-things-king Kyle Lowry play.) He scored himself in transition.
You might say that I’m young
You might say I’m unlearned
In the second quarter, Murray-Boyles continued to wreak havoc on the defensive end. Darko Rajakovic employed him as the primary defender on Mitchell, allowing him to roam around the floor and terrorize it like a polar bear loose at the zoo. He helped liberally and swallowed baseline drives, tipping away would-be passes. He annihilated a triple with his bear-claw paws and lumbered down the court, gathering an errant hit-ahead pass, lurking around the baseline, and eventually tossing the ball through the net on the ensuing possession.
But there’s one thing I know
Though I’m younger than you
When the dam finally broke, it was Murray-Boyles and his fellow youngsters — namely, Walter and Jamal Shead — standing at the base of the thing, grinning and holding sledgehammers. The three had won their first-half minutes by wider margins than any starter, with Murray-Boyles leading the entire game at plus-17. As long as he was on the floor, the Heat were nothing more than a prop for his ascension. At halftime, the Raptors had attempted twice as many shots at the rim as the Heat. Despite the presence of far more heralded players, it was Murray-Boyles’ performance that singularly allowed such a victory. He bricked up the rim on one end, leading to transition going the other way, which unlocked the rim for Toronto’s offence.
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
The Heat shook free once again of the Raptors’ grip in the second half with Murray-Boyles not on the court. Toronto couldn’t force turnovers, and Andrew Wiggins went berserk from deep, pulling Miami within single digits. Brandon Ingram came through for Toronto on the offensive end, but Murray-Boyles — again inserted into the game — found a stop for Toronto. He started on Miami’s point guard, switched onto its center, and forced a miss, fought for a rebound in the mud.
He’s doing this with one working thumb.
He’s not worried about his thumb, he said after the game, not going to sacrifice his identity in order to protect his injury from harm.
“I wouldn’t be playing if I did that. That’s my identity, being aggressive. Being a defensive pest out there. Being active. That’s what I made a name off of, so I have to do it.”
He didn’t win every battle. He missed some chippies around the rim, certainly influenced by his bum thumb. He had a few drivers pass through his digs. Nobody wins every fight in the NBA. But he won enough, with enough force, to completely tilt the see-saw in Toronto’s direction.
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin’
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’
(Okay, that’s not from “Masters of War,” but it’s on the same album.)
Toronto absorbed Miami’s punch to start the second half, spat some blood, cracked its neck, and went back to work. Toronto’s lead grew and grew, every point of distance requiring a brief wrastle in the mud.
Murray-Boyles and Barnes played a game of give-and-go in the late third, Murray-Boyles gently and violently hurling the ball off the glass into the rim. He used his right hand. Later he saved a ball from going out of bounds. His chest heaved, exhausted.
“I have utmost respect and trust in that guy,” said Rajakovic after the game of Murray-Boyles. “The way he competes. The way he just thinks about how to help the team. He is playing basketball with no agenda. He’s just playing basketball to win, and whatever needs to be done, he’s going to be guarding wings, guarding 5s, rebounding. He’s going to be running in transition every single time. He does so much for us and helps us so much every time he’s on the floor.”
The Raptors pushed their lead to more than 20 points in the fourth quarter. Jakob Poeltl was the one stomping on Miami’s throat, pushing them deeper into the mud with layup after layup. Murray-Boyles didn’t play in the fourth; he didn’t need to. His thumb survived to fight another day. But for a time, the game was uncertain. Both teams were throwing jabs, and it was Murray-Boyles who decided the contest with his verve.
Murray-Boyles didn’t lead Toronto in points. Barnes pitched an immaculate game in that regard, finishing with 25 points on only 16 shots. Ingram was only close behind him. Murray-Boyles didn’t lead the team in assists or minutes. But the rookie was Toronto’s anchor in its most important game of the season. The team was floundering, potentially lost without him. And he offered a safety blanket. His team took that baton of identity, of stability, of grit and ran it to the finish line.
Murray-Boyles was one of the youngest players to appear in the game for either side, yet he defined the game. And in the hunt of the playoffs proper rather than the play-in, the Raptors have another must-win game against the Heat in two nights. They’ll need to ensure their identity follows them into that contest.
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