TORONTO — Last Year’s NBA Finals Might As Well Have Been Dubbed The Official Seven-game Series Of The Future.

Both The Oklahoma City Thunder And Miami Heat Were Most Effective When They Used Their Star Small Forwards — Kevin Durant And LeBron James — As De Facto Power Forwards, Pairing Them With Only One Traditional Big Man.

“Let’s Say You Play Four Games In A Week. At Some Point, In Two Or Three Of Those Four Games, The Other Team Is Going To Go Small Out There,” Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach Scott Skiles Said. “They’re Going To Play Smaller People. They’re Going To Have One Big Guy In The Game. Versatile Players That Are [bigger] Than 6-8, Can Put The Ball On The Floor And Still Play Out Of The [power Forward] Spot. It’s The Way The League’s Been Going For Quite A While. It Happens All Of The Time.”

This Year, The Raptors Hope They Are Ready For Such A Development. There Are Two Main Ways Of Going Small In The NBA, With Both Happening More Often. The First Is What Skiles Was Talking About — Small Forwards Like Durant, LeBron James And Carmelo Anthony Playing Power Forward. Skiles’ Bucks Are An Example Of The Other Way: They Start Two Point Guards, Monta Ellis And Brandon Jennings. Jennings Is Listed At 6-foot-1, With Ellis Two Inches Taller.

The Raptors Were Able To Overcome The Backcourt On Monday, Beating The Bucks 104-95 In Toronto’s Penultimate Pre-season Game. Ellis And Jennings Shot A Combined 14-for-39 From The Field, With The Raptors Not Diced Up In The Paint.

In The Recent Past, The Ellis-Jennings Pairing Would Have Been A Recipe For Raptors Destruction. The Last Time The Raptors Had A Very Good Perimeter Defender In The Backcourt Was … Well, It Has Been Some Time. Jose Calderon, For All Of His Offensive Efficiency, Has Been A Frequent Victim Of Dribble Penetration. He Has Not Been Matched Up With An Elite Defensive Shooter Guard In A Long While, Either.

Kyle Lowry, The Team’s New Point Guard, Is A Defensive Upgrade Over Calderon, While Landry Fields And, In Theory, Rookie Terrence Ross, Can Guard Quicker Shooting Guards. As Importantly, The Trifecta Of Lowry, Calderon John Lucas III Means The Raptors Can Go Small When They Are Looking For Offence, Too.

Against The Bucks, Ellis Occasionally Had His Way. He Is An Exceptionally Gifted Scorer, Though. Overall, The Raptors Were Not Ripped Apart On The Perimeter.

However, In The Upper Class, The Other Type Of Small Lineup Is The More Meaningful One. That Is Why The Los Angeles Lakers’ Addition Of Dwight Howard Was So Interesting: Of Course, You Jump At The Opportunity To Acquire The Most Dominant Centre In The Game. However, Their Best Lineup Includes Howard And 7-footer Pau Gasol, Neither Of Whom Is Fit To Cover Durant Or James. So, Which Team Will Conform To The Other In A Potential Seven-game Series?

That Is Not The Raptors’ Concern. With The Absence Of Such A Supernova Wing Player, The Raptors Brought In Dominic McGuire On A Non-guaranteed Contract. He Will Likely Make The Team, In No Small Part Because Of The Shift To Small: You Need A Player That Can Plausibly Run With Those Players On The Wing And Muscle Up With Them In The Paint.

“I Don’t Think Anybody’s Going To Stop Carmelo Or LeBron,” Casey Said. “But We’ve Got Some People Who Can Stay In Front Of Them And Contain Them And Give Some Resistance.

“[McGuire] Is A Tough Guy. He Talks On Defence. He Takes Pride In Guarding His Position. He’s A Utility Guy. A Guy Like That Can Have A Long Career In The League, Doing That, Guarding [shooting Guards, Small Forwards Or Power Forwards] And Taking Pride In It. He Cannot Play A Whole Game And Come In And Then … Give Us Some Valuable Minutes.”

Every Team Needs A Swiss Army Knife, At Least For Defensive Purposes.

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