Well, that hurts.
Toronto seemingly lost Game 1 because of some awful late-game misses, and there’s really no other blame to be placed. Rotations were solid, the team had a game plan that worked (which they forgot in the final few minutes), but a couple guys couldn’t make key plays when they had the chance to make them.
One of those players was Jonas Valanciunas, who dominated the third quarter only to find himself completely wanting in the final frame (which won’t be good for Casey’s confidence in him going forward). Valanciunas’ misses ended up being the difference in a win and a loss in the opening game of the East Semi-Finals, and while the blame isn’t solely on him, those misses were certainly the most prominent aspect of an overall limp fourth quarter performance from the entire team.