The early success of the Sacramento Kings is long-forgotten now that they've lost five in a row and 17 of their last 19 games. They've also lost their last 10 away games and haven't won on the road since they beat the Chicago Bulls on Dec. 21. As good as Tyreke Evans is, there's really no excuse for the Raptors not winning this one.
Eric Smith reports that Hedo Turkoglu, DeMar DeRozan and Jose Calderon will all play today, but Marco Belinelli will sit this one out because of a sore ankle.
Start time: 12:00pm ET Channel: TSN2 Liveblog:theScore.com with James Borbath Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani Sacramento: Tyreke Evans, Kevin Martin, Omri Casspi, Donte Greene, Spencer Hawes
Five questions
1. Is it a coincidence that the Raptors are 9-0 this season when they have at least two days of rest between games? Their last game was Wednesday's win over the Nets.
2. Will DeRozan and Turkoglu start or will Triano work them back into the rotation off the bench?
3. How will Turkoglu be affected by the mask he's being forced to wear to protect his eye?
4. Could Tyreke Evans and Omri Casspi finish one-two in Rookie of the Year voting?
5. As long as the Raptors still win, is it OK for me to want Turkoglu to have a bad game so that when he's asked about it afterward, he simply replies "Mask"?
I assume most Raptors fans already know this, but Raptors President/GM Bryan Colangelo is in the last guaranteed year of his contract with the organization and MLSE has an option to extend him for another year. According to Adnan Virk on the Raptors NBA TV blog, Colangelo told him that all indications are that his option will be picked up and he will back to run the Raptors next season...
Believe it or not, I wasn't really upset or concerned when the New Jersey Nets took a 42-30 lead over the Raptors midway through the second quarter last night. I knew the Nets would go cold and start missing their shots eventually and that's exactly what happened — to the extreme. You could just see the Nets' effort start to sag as their lead dwindled away, and the Raptors closed out the half with a one-point lead and then held the Nets to just 43 second-half points. Toronto took a five-point lead into the fourth quarter and gradually built on that lead until a meaningless Nets three-pointer in the final minute made it a more respectable single-digit loss.
Since Season One of Jersey Shore is now over, I asked Snooki to write the intro to this game thread...
What do you want me to say about the freakin' Nets? Have they even won a game this year? They're a bunch of freakin' jerkoffs. They don't even have any hot guidos on that team. Those Bargnani and Belinelli guys on your team would be pretty cute if they were more juiced and tanned. Anyway, the Raptors fans will be fist-pumpin' like crazy after this game. That's all I have time to waste on this because I'm going out in five hours and I need to start getting ready.
/does handstand and shows vagina to entire Internet
Start time: 7:00pm ET Channel: TSN2 Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, Sonny Weems, Marco Belinelli, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani New Jersey: Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Jarvis Hayes, Yi Jianlian, Brook Lopez
Five questions
1. Can the Raptors pull this one out without Hedo Turkoglu and DeMar DeRozan? They're both expected to return to the lineup on Sunday against the Kings.
2. Are the Nets gradually getting better? They beat the Clippers by 16 last Wednesday and the following three losses were by a combined 10 points.
The Indiana Pacers have the 27th-ranked offence in the NBA, but they've managed to score an average of 112 points in their four games against the Toronto Raptors. Much like how playing the New Jersey Nets is typically a good way for a team to break out of a losing streak, playing against the Raptors can make almost any team's offence look like the Phoenix Suns. Last night's 130-115 embarrassment was no exception.
No DeMar (ankle) or Hedo (ball... I mean, face) for this one. The Raptors won the first of this home-and-home series on Sunday by a 117-102 score, and now they return to Conseco Fieldhouse where they blew a 23-point lead in a frustrating 105-101 loss on Jan. 11. The Raptors are riding a five-game win streak and they're "in the zone" right now while the Pacers have lost three straight and seven of their last nine. As Boston continues to struggle, this is another game that Toronto really needs to win if they're going to have a realistic shot at catching the Celtics in the standings.
Start time: 7:00pm ET Channel: The Score Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, Sonny Weems, Antoine Wright, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani Indiana: Earl Watson, Brandon Rush, Mike Dunleavy, Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert
Five questions
1. Didn't we just play these guys? What is this, Groundhog Day? Oh, wait...
2. Can the Raptors extend their franchise record and score over 100 points for a 14th straight game? (Note: The NBA record for most consecutive games scoring at least 100 points is held by the 1981-82 Nuggets, who scored over 100 in all 82 games.
3. Do the Pacers have anyone that can guard Chris Bosh? Danny Granger had the assignment on Sunday and got into foul trouble early in the first and third quarters.
4. Is Pacers coach Jim O'Brien really going to bench T.J. Ford for the rest of the season? Ford hasn't played since Dec. 30.
5. Will Andrea Bargnani and/or Chris Bosh get out and challenge Troy Murphy's shots from behind the arc? Murphy has made nine of his 16 three-point attempts — many of them uncontested — in his three games against the Raptors this season.
The final score makes it look like an easy win, but the Raptors' 117-102 victory over the Pacers on Sunday was anything but. The game was tied at 97 midway through the fourth, but the Raptors went on a 15-3 run from there highlighted by Jose Calderon's five assists. The Raptors were in a sharing mood yesterday, finishing with an impressive 32 assists — their deft playmaking was a significant reason why they shot a season-high 60.2 percent on the day.
The Raptors have a score to settle with this team. When these teams last met on January 11, the Pacers came back from a 23-point deficit to beat the Raptors 105-101. This is the first of a home-and-home series that concludes with a Tuesday night game in Conseco Fieldhouse.
Start time: 6:00pm ET Channel: The Score Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, Sonny Weems, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani Indiana: Earl Watson, Brandon Rush, Dahntay Jones, Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert
Five questions
1. Is DeMar DeRozan going to play today after missing two games with an ankle injury?
2. Will the Pacers stick with their small-ball starting lineup with Troy Murphy coming off the bench?
3. Will Hedo Turkoglu carry over his energy from Thursday's game (26 points, 11 rebounds) to this one?
4. Will somebody drop a "ball" reference in the post-game interview?
5. Is there any chance this game will get pre-empted for analysis of the two trades the Maple Leafs made today? Oh wait, this game is being shown on The Score so I don't have to worry about that.
It wasn't pretty and it wasn't easy, but the Raptors gutted out a two-point win over the Knicks last night to increase their win streak to four games. This team isn't typically going to win games where they give up more than 100 points, turn the ball over more than 20 times and shoot worse that 75 percent from the free throw line — but they made up for it by out-rebounding the Knicks 52-41 and shooting just under 50 percent from the field.
The Knicks are coming off a 132-105 win over Minnesota on Tuesday so their confidence is probably boosted a little since they lost by 50 to Dallas the game before that. The Raptors won their previous matchup this season 112-104 in New York two weeks ago, so we know this team can thrive in Madison Square Garden. The Raptors spread the scoring around that game as Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh, DeMar DeRozan and Jose Calderon all scored between 18 and 24 points.
Start time: 7:30pm ET Channel: TSN2 Liveblog:theScore.com with Holly MacKenzie Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, Sonny Weems, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani New York: Chris Duhon, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Jared Jeffries, David Lee
Five questions
1. Can the Raptors sustain last night's energy through the second game of a back-to-back? They're 1-8 this season when the second of back-to-back games is an away game.
2. Can the Raptors extend their franchise record and score over 100 points for a 12th straight game?
3. Are the Raptors going to let Danilo Gallinari drop three-point bombs all night like he did two weeks ago when he went 5-for-10 against Toronto?
4. Is David Lee going to play like a man possessed to show up the coaches who didn't name him as an All-Star Game reserve?
5. Do you think Lee deserves to play in the All-Star Game? I do.
Here's the thing about the Miami Heat — outside of Dwyane Wade, Michael Beasley and Jermaine O'Neal, they pretty much stink. Since Wade and Beasley are the only real offensive weapons on that team, the Raptors had a clear mandate once Beasley was knocked out of the game with a knee injury: Force the Heat to try to beat them with everyone other than Wade.
The Miami Heat lost a tough game by a point to Cleveland on Monday when Dwyane Wade missed a buzzer-beater, but they come into Toronto with plenty of motivation as the Heat and Raptors are separated by just a half-game in the Eastern Conference standings. These teams have each won a game in the season series, with Miami scoring at least 113 points in both games despite having just the 16th best Offensive Rating (106.8 points per 100 possessions) in the league.
Dwyane Wade, as always, is the guy to fear the most on the Heat — but the Raptors have done a surprisingly good job defending him this season as he's only shot 41.8 percent from the field in their two meetings compared to his 46.6 percent season average. Michael Beasley has actually been the tougher guy for the Raptors to defend this season, with a 24.5 PPG average on 51.4 percent shooting. While we can assume Chris Bosh is going to provide his usual production on offence and the boards tonight, he might also have to give a better-than-usual defensive effort to keep Beasley from negating his production on the other end.
Start time: 7:00pm ET Channel: TSN2 Liveblog:theScore.com with James Borbath Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, Sonny Weems, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani Miami: Rafer Alston, Dwyane Wade, Quentin Richardson, Michael Beasley, Jermaine O'Neal
Five questions
1. Will the Raptors' high confidence level from beating the Lakers on Sunday help them tonight or will it cause them to relax too much against the Heat?
2. Since Andrea Bargnani has been playing superior defence lately, would it make sense to have him cover Beasley while Bosh handles offensively limited Jermaine O'Neal?
3. Is Sonny Weems up to the challenge of guarding Dwyane Wade in his first career NBA start?
4. Why does Wade play so well in Toronto? He's averaged 34.2 points per game in his last five games at the Air Canada Centre.
From Nothing Easy and Holly MacKenzie's Twitter (@stackmack), we've learned that rookie shooting guard DeMar DeRozan had to leave Raptors practice early today after he landed on Hedo Turkoglu's foot and rolled his ankle. We don't know the seriousness of the injury yet, but we'll provide those details when they become available.
Kobe Bryant has won three Lakers games this season with buzzer beaters: Dec. 4th against Miami, Dec. 16th against Milwaukee and Jan. 1st against Sacramento. Last night, I was almost certain he was going to rack up his fourth when he received an in-bounds pass with just over a second to go, pivoted on the "N" in the "AIR CANADA CENTRE" logo and fired a 38-foot shot over Antoine Wright's outstretched hands. The shot ricocheted off the front of the rim, then the backboard, and then harmlessly onto the court. Game over. Raptors win. And I ran down my hallway hooting and clapping like someone who has to use plastic cutlery so he doesn't hurt himself.
Why couldn't this game be on at 12:30 like most Sundays? Because it's on at 6:00, NFL fans are going to miss the first half of the Vikings-Saints game, which kinda sucks. Still, any time the Lakers come to town is exciting, so I probably shouldn't complain.
The Lakers have a career record of 21-5 against the Raptors, which probably surprises none of you. They have the best record in the NBA at 34-10 even though they've struggled (by their standards) recently with a 5-4 record in their past nine games. Kobe Bryant has been playing through a fractured finger so his shooting accuracy is understandably a little off. Lucky for him, he's surrounded by some potent offensive weapons like Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom who are all capable of having a field day against the Raptors' tissue-soft defence. In comparison, the Lakers have the second-best defence in the NBA, allowing just 101.6 points per 100 possessions. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Raptors remain dead last with 112.7 points allowed per 100 possessions.
It's tough to say what the "keys to the game" are here. The Lakers are just so bloody talented that you pretty much need them to have a serious off game for a team like the Raptors to have a chance at pulling off an upset. If Andrea Bargnani has to miss his second game in a row with a sore back, the chance of that upset happening will be reduced from slim to almost none. So uh... let's go Raptors?
Start Time: 6:00 PM ET Channel: The Score Liveblog:theScore.com with James Borbath Probable starting lineups
Toronto: Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Rasho Nesterovic Los Angeles: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant Ron Artest, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum
Five questions
1. Can the Raptors continue their recent success against Western Conference teams in the Air Canada Centre? They've won their last five.
2. Are the Raptors better off encouraging Kobe Bryant to shoot because of his broken finger? He's only made 32.4 percent from the field over his last three games.
3. Can Chris Bosh shake off his last two disappointing performances against the Lakers? He scored just 12 points in each of the two Lakers-Raptors games last season.
4. Assuming Andrea Bargnani is still out with a bad back, should Patrick O'Bryant see some serious playing time today against the quick (for a big man) Andrew Bynum?
5. If Jose Calderon has a great game today, could it be the catalyst for that trade to the Lakers I've been pushing for a while?
We just played these guys, and it's getting late, and it's Friday. Let's do this.
Start time: 7:00pm ET Channel: TSN Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani Milwaukee: Brandon Jennings, Charlie Bell, Luc Mbah a Moute, Ersan Ilyasova, Andrew Bogut
Five questions
1. Can the Raptors avoid a season sweep by... for the love of all that is holy... the freakin' Milwaukee Bucks?
2. Is Andrea Bargnani going to be extra-motivated for this rematch since Bogut said he wasn't a "real defensive center" after Wednesday's game?
3. Can the Raptors do a better job of protecting the paint than they did on Wednesday when the Bucks outscored them 52-30 in that area?
4. Will Jay Triano realize that playing Antoine Wright for 23 minutes while Sonny Weems and Marco Belinelli combine for nine minutes (as they did on Wednesday) is not a formula conducive to beating most NBA teams?
5. Could somebody please switch up Turkoglu's pregame pizza meal with something that will put a little more pep in his step? Like maybe some crystal meth?
If Chris Bosh ultimately decides to ply his trade elsewhere after this season, last night's game will be front and center in my mind among the reasons he made that decision. He was absolutely unstoppable — finishing with a career-high 44 points on 15-for-26 shooting and grabbing 12 rebounds — but the rest of his team let him down in all facets of the game and the Raptors inexplicably wasted one of the best peformances of his career.
Can somebody please solve a terminology problem I've had ever since I've been writing about sports? When two teams play back-to-back games in each other's home court, is that a "home-and-home" or a "home-and-away"? Anyway, that's the deal with the Raptors and Bucks tonight and Friday, with the first game taking place in the town famous for its beer and cannibalistic murders, Milwaukee.
The Bucks looked like an up-and-comer when they started the season 8-3 led by stud rookie point guard Brandon Jennings, but they've gone 6-20 since then — although one of those wins was a savage 117-95 beatdown of the Raptors on Dec. 9. Their defence is still pretty good (seventh in Defensive Rating) but their offence stinks (26th in Offensive Rating) as the only team with a worse field goal percentage is the Nets. The Raptors should win both games considering the way these teams are performing lately.
Start time: 8:00pm ET Channel: TSN2 Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani Milwaukee: Brandon Jennings, Charlie Bell, Luc Mbah a Moute, Ersan Ilyasova, Andrew Bogut
Five questions
1. Since Jennings has been shooting horribly since the team's hot start, should Jack and Calderon play off him tonight and dare him to shoot?
2. Will Turkoglu snap out of his funk and score 15 points or more for just the second time in his last 16 games?
3. Is Antoine Wright going to start deluding himself that he's an offensive force after tying his season-high with a whopping 12 points last night?
4. Will Chris Bosh bring the noise for the entire game after he scored just three second-half points last night?
5. When Andrew Bogut practises his free throws, does he also practise his air high-fives?
We didn't really think the Raptors were going to go into Cleveland and actually beat the Cavs, did we? Sure, you can make the case that the Raptors could have made it interesting if they hadn't missed their last five shot attempts or if Jose Calderon and Hedo Turkoglu had been a little more productive than combining for nine points on 3-for-15 shooting in 50 minutes. On the other hand, how often is LeBron James going to miss all seven three-point attempts and when is the next time we'll see Antoine Wright go five-for-eight from the field? This game turned out pretty much the way we should have expected — with the likely Eastern Conference champions holding it down at home.
It says something about the place we're currently in as Raptors fans that most of us probably aren't automatically assuming the Raptors are going to get their asses handed to them in Cleveland tonight. Yes, the Cavaliers are comfortably leading the East with a 31-11 record and they're just a game-and-a-half back of the Lakers for the best record in the league. But the Raptors are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now and they actually beat the Cavs 101-91 in the season opener in October. So, you know, anything's possible.
Of course, there's also a distinct possibility that the Raptors will get curbstomped tonight and we'll have to shut our roody-poo mouths as LeBron yells at us to know our roles. Regardless, this game should be a good indication if the Raptors' recent success is actually indicative that this team is now playing at a higher level than they have in years.
Start time: 7:00pm ET Channel: TSN Liveblog:theScore.com with Holly MacKenzie Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani Cleveland: Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, LeBron James, J.J. Hickson, Shaquille O'Neal
Five questions
1. Are the Cavs slumping a bit and ripe for an upset? They've "only" won four of their past seven games and their two recent wins over the Warriors and Clippers were by a combined four points.
2. Will Antoine Wright see some significant floor time tonight on LeBron-guarding duty? He played 18 minutes in the Raptors' previous win over the Cavs and LeBron went just 7-for-19 from the field.
3. Is Anderson Varejao going to guard Bosh or Bargnani when he's on the floor? And which of the remaining uber-pylons (Shaq, Big Z, J.J.) will get tortured by the other guy?
4. How happy is Delonte West now that Gilbert Arenas has helped most of us forget how batshit crazy he is?
Who is this man pretending to be Andrea Bargnani and what did he do with the real one? This guy who has been aggressively battling for rebounds and repeatedly taking it to the hole is not the pastry chef I've grown accustomed to.
The Dallas Mavericks are second in the Western Conference with a 26-13 record and have the second-best road record (13-6) in the NBA, so this is unquestionably a tough challenge for the Raptors. It's hard to pinpoint one particular thing to focus on with the Mavericks because they're pretty good at everything. They're well-coached, they have a savvy veteran point guard in Jason Kidd, a deadly scorer in Dirk Nowitzki, solid interior defence with Erick Dampier, athletic perimeter defence with Josh Howard and Shawn Marion and scoring punch off the bench with Jason Terry and J.J. Barea. All of those factors were put to good use in the Mavs' 129-101 win over the Raptors in November.
Start time: 12:30pm ET Channel: CBC Liveblog:theScore.com with James Borbath Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani Dallas: Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, Erick Dampier
Five questions
1. Can the Raptors break their "Mavericks curse"? They've lost three straight and 11 of their last 12 against Dallas.
2. Could the key to a Raptors upset be holding the Mavs under 100 points? The Raptors are 13-0 this season when they accomplish that this season, and the Mavericks have only scored over 100 once in their last eight games.
3. Has Andrea Bargnani finally "turned the corner" with his rebounding? He's grabbed 29 boards over his last two games.
4. Can the Raptors do a decent job contesting Dallas shots, unlike their first meeting when the Mavs shot at a 62 percent success rate?
5. Does the name "Rodrigue Beaubois" remind you of a basketball player or a luger?
After starting the season 4-15, the Knicks have gone 12-7 since then and Mike D'Antoni is doing an incredible job with a team that appears to have very little actual talent. The most surprising thing about the Knicks is that their Defensive Rating (19th in the NBA) is actually better than their Offensive Rating (20th in the NBA). Since December 6th, they've held 14 of their 18 opponents under 100 points.
Tonight is "Italian Heritage Night" at Madison Square Garden because of the presence of Andrea Bargnani, Marco Belinelli and Danilo Gallinari, but Belinelli is reportedly sick and will be a game-time decision. Oh well, more pizza for Hedo, I suppose.
Start time: 8:00pm ET Channel: TSN2 Liveblog:theScore.com with James Borbath Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani New York: Chris Duhon, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Jared Jeffries, David Lee
Five questions
1. Can the Raptors recover from blowing a 23-point lead in their Monday loss to the Pacers?
2. When you consider that Chris Bosh has averaged 14.5 points and made just 32 percent of his shots in his last two games at Madison Square Garden, is it any wonder that the Knicks aren't sure if Bosh is a significant upgrade over David Lee?
3. Can Bargnani carry over his impressive 17-rebound performance from Monday when he's competing for boards with David Lee, one of the top rebounders in the league?
4. Since he obviously loves to sing, will Gallinari serenade the MSG crowd with a rendition of "That's Amore" on Italian Heritage Night?
OK, have you calmed down yet? No? Yeah, me neither. I'm still pretty pissed off. It doesn't help that my 19-month-old daughter kept me up until 4am last night, so I'm angry and tired.
Back-to-back games are never fun, especially when you have to travel between games. Fortunately, the Raptors are in Indiana tonight to play the hapless Pacers — truly one of the worst teams in the NBA with an 11-25 record. The Pacers have only won two of their last 13 games, but those wins occurred in their last two home dates against the T-Wolves and the Magic.
Regardless, the Raptors have to win games like this. Yesterday's loss to the Celtics was a wake-up call and I expect them to jump on the Pacers early and take this one in a walk.
Start time: 7:00pm ET Channel: TSN Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani Indiana: Earl Watson, Luther Head, Danny Granger, Troy Murphy, Roy Hibbert
Five questions
1. Will Roy Hibbert start tonight even though the Pacers brought him off the bench last time these two teams met? Hibbert may not match up well with Bargnani in certain ways, but he's been one of Indiana's lone bright spots during their recent slump.
2. Is T.J. Ford the highest-paid third-string point guard in the NBA? He's making $8.5 million this season and he's currently behind Earl Watson and A.J. Price on the Pacers' depth chart.
3. Can the Raptors overcome their previous woes on the second of back-to-back games? They're 2-5 in those games this season.
The "Pythagorean expectation" is a formula which estimates how many games a team "should" have won based on the number of points scored and allowed. Comparing a team's actual and Pythagorean winning percentage can be used to evaluate how lucky (or alternatively how "clutch") that team was by examining the variation between the two winning percentages.
Some players and some teams just have your number. Such is the case with the way Rasheed Wallace and the Boston Celtics have the Raptors' number. Wallace scored a season-high 29 points on nine-for-12 shooting and the Celtics won their seventh straight game over the Raptors in a game that wasn't really as close as its 114-107 final score implied.
The one turd in the punchbowl of the Raptors' eight-wins-in-nine-games stretch was their 103-96 loss to the Boston Celtics on January 2. The Celtics pulled out the win even though Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo missed the game with injuries.
Pierce and Rondo will play today in Toronto, but Garnett continues to sit with knee problems. Like several of the top Eastern teams, the Celtics are struggling lately with only two wins in their last six games. They've lost four in a row on the road while the Raptors have won six in a row at home, so if there was ever going to be a game for the Raptors to break through against this team, this is the one.
Start time: 1:00pm ET Channel: TSN Liveblog:theScore.com with James Borbath Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani Boston: Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Rasheed Wallace, Kendrick Perkins
Five questions
1. Can the Raptors break their six-game losing streak against the Celtics?
2. Can the Raptors play tough defence against the Celtics without sending them to the foul line exessively? Boston went 25-for-31 from the line in their previous match-up — the Raptors had 18 mad free throws in comparison, making up the game's seven-point final margin.
3. Who is going to step up on the Raptors and provide some needed bench production? Earlier this month, Glen Davis scored 15 points off the bench against Toronto while Eddie House contributed 12. Nobody on the Raptors' bench scored more than six points.
4. Will Andrea Bargnani outplay his opposing center for the fourth straight game? Since losing to Kendrick Perkins, he's outplayed and beaten Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard and Samuel Dalembert.
5. If the Raptors win today, will their bandwagon need a sidecar?
So... if the Raptors can beat the Magic in Orlando, then beating the Sixers in Philly should be a piece of cake, right? Not so fast, muchachos. Philly may be 10-24 but they've won three of their last five and they've toppled some pretty good teams like the Celtics, Blazers and Nuggets within the past month.
Remember the Kapono-for-Evans trade? Philly made that trade because they had the worst three-point shooting percentage in the league last year (31.8 percent). They certainly made progress in that area because they're tied for 16th this season with a 34.2 percent success rate from beyond the arc. Unfortunately for them, they also have the highest opposing three-point shooting percentage (41.9 percent) by a wide margin. Seeing as how the Raptors are tied for fourth in the NBA (36.9 percent) from long range, Jay Triano's offensive gameplan should be obvious: BOMBS AWAY!
Start time: 7:00pm ET Channel: TSN Liveblog:theScore.com with Natasha Alibhai Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani Philadelphia: Lou Williams, Allen Iverson, Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Samuel Dalembert
Five questions
1. Are you excited to see the Raptors play Iverson in a Sixers uniform again? Don't get too excited. In his last three games, he's averaged 9.3 points and six assists.
2. With that young and athetic Sixers starting lineup, they must play a run-and-gun style, right? In fact, Philly coach Eddie Jordan has them playing at one of the slowest paces (25th in the league with 91.2 possessions per 48 minutes) in the NBA.
3. Hey, how's our old buddy Jason Kapono doing? Let's see... 14.3 MPG, 5.1 PPG, .428 FG% and .401 3P%. Yep, he still sucks. I'll gladly take the burly cheerleader named Reggie Evans over him.
4. Remember when Lou Williams absolutely torched Jose Calderon in pre-season? Well, Sweet Lou is back after missing almost a month so it will be interesting to see if Jarrett Jack can do a better job of contesting his shots and keeping him out of the paint.
5. You think Elton Brand will be sad when Gilbert Arenas' contract is voided and Brand's contract will be the worst ($51 million over the next three years) in the NBA? Actually, I'm pretty sure he won't be sad because he'll be making $51 million over the next three years.
All right, guys. This isn't funny anymore. The Toronto Raptors have now beaten the San Antonio Spurs and Orlando Magic in back-to-back games, and they've won seven of their last eight games to improve their record to .500. I'm starting to worry that this team isn't as bad as I've been proclaiming since before the season even started. In fact, I'm starting to think that this team might actually be... um, this is hard for me to say... they might actually be good.
I've been scrambling to stay on top of the Gilbert Arenas story all afternoon, so no time for a proper game thread post tonight. Talk amongst yourselves...
Start time: 7:00pm ET Channel: TSN2 Liveblog:theScore.com with Holly MacKenzie Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Antoine Wright, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani Orlando: Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter, Matt Barnes, Rashard Lewis, Dwight Howard
This is admittedly a toss-off post because I don't have time to write anything extensive today, but with Chris Bosh having a career year and becoming the Raptors' all-time scoring leader I've been wondering about his place among the elite in the NBA. Specifically, do most of you agree that Chris Bosh is now officially a "Top 10 Player"?
While reading Doug Smith's blog this morning, I was greeted with this gem: "I'm told by an impeccable source that while they were figuring out what to do with the Spurs, assistant coach Micah Nori was parsing the boxscores and saw that San Antonio seldom wins when it makes fewer than — I think it was — five three-pointers. He points this out, the coaches discuss it and a game plan is born. They decide it's best to "lean" on three-point shooters a wee bit more than usual, to give up contested twos if they must but to not let the Spurs go nuts from beyond the arc. What happens? Spurs go 4-13 from three-point range and Toronto wins."
Gregg Popovich is widely considered to be in the "Holy Trinity" of unassailable NBA coaches — the other two members are Phil Jackson and Jerry Sloan — but his decision to bring Tim Duncan off the bench yesterday for just the second time in his career was baffling, to say the least. When you choose not to start two of your three best players — those being Duncan and Manu Ginobili — you're essentially telling your opponent that you don't think their starters will build an early lead against guys like Keith Bogans and Theo Ratliff.
Last night, I was reminded of why I don't liveblog games very often. It's hard to actually follow the flow of the game when I'm typing out every scoring play and responding to commenters. But from what I could tell, the Celtics won last night because they play tougher, more disciplined defence — and because the refs gave them a lot more leeway on defence and on screens than they gave the Raps. I get that the Celtics have "earned that respect" from the refs by the physical way they play, and if you're a regular reader of this blog, then you know that I'm the last person to complain about officiating. But that's how it appeared to me.
When the Spurs and Raptors last faced each other on November 9th, San Antonio beat Toronto 131-124 even though Tim Duncan and Tony Parker were injured. Duncan, Parker and Ginobili are all healthy for this game so it doesn't look good for our boys.
Start time: 6:00pm ET Channel: The Score Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani San Antonio: Tony Parker, Keith Bogans, Richard Jefferson, DeJuan Blair, Tim Duncan
Five questions
1. Will Chris Bosh get the 15 points he needs to break Vince Carter's all-time franchise scoring record?
2. Can the Raptors prevent the Spurs from killing them on three-pointers like they did in November (14-for-28)?
3. Now that they're healthy and on a five-game winning streak, can the Raptors really do anything to stop this Spurs juggernaut?
4. Am I the only person who still thinks the Spurs will be the 2010 NBA champions?
5. Since Matt Bonner will be on the sidelines with a broken hand, where do you think he buys his suits? Does San Antonio have its own version of Moores?
The Raptors couldn't have picked a better time to roll into Boston and face the vaunted Celtics. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce will both miss this game with knee problems while Rajon Rondo will sit with a sore hamstring. That means their three best players will be in suits tonight. If the Raptors can't beat this depleted version of the Celtics then that's a pretty good sign that they don't have a chance in hell of beating a healthy Celtics squad in a playoff series.
Assuming I don't start puking like my daughter has been for the past two days, I'm going to be liveblogging this on theScore.com and Score Mobile so I invite you to join me on your InterWeb Machine or your iBerry or your BlackPhone.
Start time: 7:30pm ET Channel: TSN2 Liveblog:theScore.com with Scott Carefoot Probable starting lineups Toronto: Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Antoine Wright, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani Boston: Tony Allen, Ray Allen, J.R. Giddens, Rasheed Wallace, Kendrick Perkins
Five questions
1. Can the Raptors extend their winning streak to six games while extending the Celtics' losing streak to four games?
2. Since the Raptors are vulnerable to opposing three-point shooters, can they prevent Ray Allen and Eddie House from lighting them up from outside?
3. Is Rasheed Wallace too fat and old these days to be a "Bosh-stopper"?
4. Considering how much he hates Tony Allen, how many times will Bill Simmons throw his remote while watching this game?
