Raptors played role of Rocky Balboa as they faced the thunder who had 19 fourth quarter free throw

Raptors played role of Rocky Balboa as they faced the thunder who had 19 fourth quarter free throw

The Thunder started out leading 18-10 but then the Raptors went on a 15-4 run to end the quarter and basically showed us that they will be serious about the game as they lead 25-22 and then went back and forth with the Raptors leading at half time 48-44. The Raptors started the second half on a 10-4 run to take a 10 point lead @ 58-48 and went back and forth the rest of the quarter and the Raptors still have a 10 point lead 76-66 and the Raptors had a solid defense of performance especially Kevin Durant who was 4 for 6 in the first quarter but then went 2 for 15 from the floor the rest of the game. So in the fourth quarter the Raptors bent but did not break as the Thunder would chip into the lead with mostly free throws as they had 19 free throws in the quarter and they made 15 of them but instead of letting the refs get into their head and lose control of the game they would come back with a basket of their own to stretch the lead again. With 5 minutes left in the game the Raptors were up 2 points and they went back and forth until the 91 second mark of the fourth quarter when Kevin Durant hit 2 free throws to make it 93-90 Thunder and then when Barbosa hit a 3-ball to tie it up with 38 seconds left and it is like the Raptors only need a single defensive stop and they would get a chance to win the game so Russell Westbrook misses a short jumper and DeMar gets the rebound. The Raptors set-up for last shot with 23 seconds left with Barbosa setting up to go one-on-one towards the basket but wait the screen happens and Barbosa pass the ball (it true, it true Barbosa actually passed) to Amir Johnson who hit a short jumper for the lead and then it came down to Kevin Durant who missed the mid-range jumper and a Raptor had to be pulled of the court floor at the end of the game like at the end of prize fight.

It is quite silly to have players acting up at the end of the game but they did show tonight that they can play through their issues for the first time in quite a while. O' wait a second talking waiting a long while it was the first win on the road in 15 games and it is the first time since December 1St and December 3Rd when they last won back-to-back games.

The Stars of the game for the Raptors were was Reggie Evens with his shooting 4 for 6 from the floor (if Raptors ever decide to try to set him up for a bucket that is way silly) and more impressive stat was 5 for 6 from the line (someone must of hypnotized him) which gave him 13 points and 9 boards in 23 minutes while Leandro Barbosa did take 10 shoots and made 7 in his 14 minutes on the court but it is that one assist that was awesome. Andrea Bargnani lived at the line with 10 free throws and making 7 and his shooting from the floor was a little off as he was 7 for 18 but he still had 23 points with 5 boards while DeMar DeRozan was second behind Reggie with 8 boards and probably the most important one of the game to go with his 16 points. While the thunder were led by Russell Westbrook who had 22 points with 6 boards and 4 assists along with Kevin Durant had 20 points (7 for 8 from the line) and 5 boards but these two went 13 for 40 from the floor and the rest of the team was 17 for 35 from the floor but Kendrick Perkins was really solid with 12 boards.

Two in a row and heading for Denver and it is all about the air

Tom Mehegan