First Half
The Raptors looked like they played last night and of course they did and they played no defense and it got so bad that the Cavilers were leading 34-19 and the Cavilers made the Raptors pay by sinking 3-ball after 3-ball as they started 4 for 4. The biggest point of the game for the Raptors was with 2:17 when the Raptors called a time-out and Julian Wright was brought in and brought a lot of energy to the team which started with the defense and the Cavilers went into the second quarter with a 38-26 lead (up by 12). Wright with his energy helped Bargnani as his assists helped Bargnani who had 14 points in the quarter and Barbosa was also helping the Raptors in the quarter but it looked like the only way to get the ball out of his hands is with a crowbar as he took thee most shots in the half with 10. The Raptors with this energy from Wright went from being down 15 to have a 3 point lead at half (66-63) with Julian Wright (11 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, and a +18 when he was on the court), Barbosa ((a block, a steal, and an assist) and Bargnani (2 boards) both had 14 points while Jose Calderon (10 points, 8 assists, 2 steals and boards) having a great first half especially in the second quarter. The Cavilers were lead by Antawn Jaminson (19 points, 2 boards, and a steal), Ramon Sessions (10 points, 4 boards, and 2 assists), and Daniel Gibson (9 points, 6 assists, 2 boards and steals) especially with 3-balls (5 for 7) along with free throws (9-11). Also Anderson Varejao had 5 boards to lead them and the Cavilers went 8 of 12 with 3's and 11 of 14 from the free throw line to keep them in the game and more importantly taking the 15 point lead in the first quarter while the Raptors were 5 of 7 with 3's and 7 of 9 from the line in the first half.
Second Half
The Raptors and Cavilers were both taken a lot of jumpers in the quarter and it was a very even quarter with the Raptors winning it 24-21 and taken a 6 point (90-84) lead into the fourth quarter with Calderon with 7 points in the quarter and 10 points, 9 assists, and a rebound in the second half with Bargnani had 4 points in the third quarter and 7 points in the fourth to lead the team. Wright kept strong in the second half with 4 points, 4 boards, and an assist while Barbosa had 8 points with an assists and 2 steals in the second half. The four quarter was the DeMar DeRozan show as the Raptors figured a good way to win the game is to continue to score and it started with him going to the basket hard and then being taken down hard by a Caviler without a foul where he hits his head and is knocked for a loop and lies on the floor for quite a few minutes and then is helped to him feet. Then the rest of the quarter DeRozan goes hard to the basket and scores 9 of his 13 points in the quarter as the Raptors win the quarter 30-21 and win the game 120-105. The Cavilers were 2 of 7 from 3 in the second half and 16 of 19 from the line as they Antawn Jamison with 13 points (2 boards, 2 steals, and an assist), Ramon Sessions with 6 points (1 board and 2 assists), and Christian Eyenga 7 points (a board) as they could not care to play defense and just could not match the Raptors after the first quarter (96 - 69 in the last three quarters).
Final Thoughts
Both teams passed the ball well (cavs 28 assists and raps 35 assists) and the Raptors out rebounded the Cavilers (39-30) thanks in large part from Bargnani (8), Ed Davis (7), and Julian Wright (9). The Raptors really can not play this fall behind huge and try to come back to win because most nights it has not or will ever be a successful way to win games and if it was not for Julian Wright coming off the bench and lite a firecracker under the team they would of been imbrassed by one of the worst teams in the league even though the attendance does not show it as the Cavilers had an announced attendance of 20,562 which is a lot for any team. Jose Calderon was on fire passing the ball (17 assists) and the Raptors will need a lot of ball movement on Friday as they play the Celtics in Boston and will need a 48-minute defensive effort to keep the game close and if they want to have a chance to win they will did players like Bargnani and DeRozan to be going to the hoop and and to line and making the shoots while Boston can not make as many jumpers as they did this past Sunday night.
Thanks for reading this
Tom Mehegan
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