Toronto Raptors center Marc Gasol took responsibility for his team’s slow start in Game 2 that ultimately left them in a 2-0 hole in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Milwaukee Bucks scored the first nine points of Game 2 and ultimately jumped out to a 35-18 lead. Toronto’s comebacks fell short, as Milwaukee dug the hole too deep early on — which Gasol blamed himself for after missing three shots in the first three minutes.
“The beginning [of the game] set us in a really bad spot,” Gasol said, via Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN. “We couldn’t get a grip of the game early on, and I take full responsibility for that.
“I played really bad, and that set the tone.”
Gasol owning up is respectable, but it was certainly a team effort. It’s fair to wonder if the circumstances in which they lost Game 1 lingered on their minds — as they seemed to for one player — in the slow start.
