pass happy Raptors rolling into 2013 on a huge roll

The Raptors after squashing the Magic in Orlando by 35 (123-88) are heading into 2013 on a huge roll winning 7 of their last 8 games and headed into the new year with a 11-20 record which is impressive after starting 4 and 19. The huge turn around is that the Raptors are sharing the ball as they had 33 assists against the Magic on 46 made field goals and it starts with the point guards moving the ball around and find the open guy as Jose Calderon had 10 assists and even Kyle Lowery had 6 assists in the game but they were not the only ones picking up dimes as the rest of the team picked up 17 which is one less than the Magics team who had a total of 18. The passing of the ball was so contagious that 10 of the Raptors 12 players who found floor time and it lead to 56% shooting from the floor and over 55% from beyond the arc as they took 27 threes and made 15 because they found the open shot so they got a lot of clean threes which are the right three attempts in my books. With the Raps happy on offensive as everyone is sharing the rock right now they have taken that positive and taken it to their defensive possessions so that they are willing to take one for the team and make it as hard as possible for the opponents to score. They kept the Magic under 44% and they have shrink points allowed a game to almost 100 points and their defensive play have taken the second worst points (29) against to 21st in the league. It also helps to have only 9 turnovers compared to 33 assists and it is a style of game that will keep the Raptors on the right track as long as they fell it is important to stay with the Dwayne Casey program as this is the style of game Casey has been trying to get the Raps to play in their first 97 games with him as head coach. DeMar DeRozen has decided to go back to taken the ball to the hoop and he went to the line 8 times against the Magic after going to the line 11 times against the Hornets and he ended up leading the team in points with 24. Ed Davis put up 18 points and took down 7 of the Raps 44 boards which was second to Landry Fields who had 9 boards to go with a 3 for 3 night from the floor and 6 points. Terrence Ross had 16 points and went 6 of 10 from the floor and 4 of 5 from beyond the arc and the point guards also put up points as Lowery went 6 of 12 from the floor with 2 threes and 2 free throws for 16 points while Jose Calderon went 6 of 10 from the floor with 2 threes and a free throw for 15 points. Canadian Andrew Nicholson lead the Magic with 22 points and second on the team with 8 boards and was the shining star for the lost Magic Tom Mehegan

Jose Calderon is amazing but it is to let him go

Jose Calderon in the Raptors now 5 game win streak has done everything the team has needed and is very smart with his decision making as he takes what tyhe opponents give him. As when he has a passing lane to an open Raptor he makes the pass like at least 14 assists in 3 of the last Raptors 6 games including the short-handed with 8 players against Brooklyn and coming up short and when opponents cut off his passing lanes he takes high % shots and make them like 23 against the Cavs shooting 10 of 15 from the floor. This nothing new for Calderon as he has been a point guard slayer in Toronto with the likes of T.J. Ford, Jerryd Jack, Jerryd Bayless, and now Kyle Lowery all guys in one shape or form was supposed to the point of the future and Lowery is learning like all the rest that Calderon is Pitbull when it comes to his time on the court. So I would love to keep him and he is right now the best thing for the Dwayne Casey system and has shown that without Lowery and Andrei Bargnani and their sticky fingers that do not want any other Raptor getting touches it still is time for Calderon to be traded once agsin for the future of the team. As he has been a good soldier for the team and paid very well (10 mil this season) but every time he turns around the Raps bring in someone they believe is better than him and as a free agent after this season he would likely rather walk than stick around. So if they wait too long it will it may turn a Carter/Bosh situation where at the end of the day they get nothing for him and if they could pair him up with Bargnani it would be the best for the team going forward. This is because Bargnani tried Casey's system last season and was pretty successful with only one problem he got hurt over and over again and he now refuses to take it to the basket for easy points and getting to the line and if he was not scared of getting hurt I would love him and keep him. So with him going back to to the jumper and not getting the job done at all I do not have the time patience for that kind of game from any Raptor player. Finally with the ball moving around and getting open uncontested shots that are falling into the basket and one for all love fest going on it is also helping the D which is stronger and is able to put up a wall while the Raps take some silly shots when there not focused. When Lowery comes back next week he will need to get with the program and help the bench as that is where he will be getting his minutes for the time being Tom Mehegan

The NBA can have the Raptors franchise back

The NBA has treated the city of Toronto and those dinosaurs that the city calls a basketball team and it all started after the first season when the Raptors won the lottery and should of had their chance at A.I. (Alvin Iverison) just like the Orlando Magic did when they came in to the league in 1989 and before their fifth season when they had Shaq fall into their laps. The Raptors were only allowed to pick second best and got Marcus Camby instead and even though I would not want him we could of gotten something for him if they could had him. Then there has been the Chris Bosh situation when they let his contract run out and got nothing for him just like the Cavs did with Lebron James but at least the Cavs got the first overall draft pick which happened with a lottery ball they got from the LA Clippers and ended up with the first and fourth draft picks the year after he departed. Then the next season New Orleans Hornets traded Chris Paul and then jumped 6 spots and jumped the Raptors and got the first overall draft pick and now the Orlando Magic traded away their next superstar Dwayne Howard and will probably get the first overall draft pick even though they will not be the worst team. Then it looks like the Washington Wizards are the worst team in the league and will get the most balls in the lottery and will be No.2 and with the Raptors only able to protect a lottery pick (first three picks in the draft) so they can only likely get the third pick and will have a one in 12 chance to get the pick and if they do not get the third pick the pick goes to the New Orleans Peacocks who will likely get the fourth overall pick as the NBA wants to be nice with the New Orleans Saints owner who now owns the Hornets who will soon be called the peacocks. So if the NBA wants to continue to make fun of the Raptors and not allow them to be abale to play on a fair playing field they should take the team and put it somewhere else where they wants to succeed like Seattle and not let the Raptor franchise die the slow death that has begun at the ticket window. I'm Out Tom Mehegan

Andrea Bargnani was solid but was invisible late

Andrea Bargnani put up 34 in the game but the Raptors lost 90-89 to the Pistons as he did not get a touch in the second last passion for the Raptors in the game as Kyle Lowery took a jumper with less than 17 seconds left in the game. With the Raps up 1 89-88 with the clock running down Brandon Knight slipped through the Raps D for a lay up with 8 seconds left and Kyle Lowery went down and missed another jumper without getting the ball into the Bargnani hot hand and the Raps go 0 and 3 on a winnable road trip and are now 3 and 10 on the season and it looks like the season may already be over. Andrea Bargnani had 17 of the Raptors 20 first quarter points and they trailed by 1 21-20 and had 9 fourth quarters for a pretty good offensive game and did get a couple of defensive stops as well and had 5 boards and 4 assists. Kyle Lowery had 4 points at half and then came out in the third quarter and wiped away a 13-point Pistons lead 63-50 with 12 of his 19 points in the quarter and helped the Raps with a 14-3 run to cut the lead to 4 at the end of three 72-68. Jonas Valanciunas got kicked by Terence Ross in the third quarter and twisted his ankle and was slowed down by the injury afnd after being taken off the court for a few minutes but still was hurt. DeMar DeRozan has begun to not go to the basket and struggled shooting as he shot 2 of 9 and had only 5 points in the game in 34 minutes. Their shooting was down to almost 41% because they had only 20 assists on their 32 made field goals but did do very well from the line as they went 20 of 25 with the exception being Lowery missing the two of three free throws early the fourth quarter. The Pistons got double-doubles from Greg Monroe with 19 points and 11 boards and Andre Drummond came off the bench and got 13 boards to lead the Pistons who had a 47--37 on the boards and added 13 points in half a game. Tayshaun Prince had an efficient night shooting 8 of 11 from the floor and had 16 points and helped the Pistons shot 46% in the game while they got a lot of points in the paint as in the third quarter they had a 40-20 lead in the category. Raptors face Spurs on Grey Cup Sunday and I do not know how low this season is going to get Tom Mehegan

Raptors come up short against the Bobcats

The Raptors had 28 seconds down one to the one to the Bobcats and they got three different chances to get to the line or make a basket with DeMar DeRozan having a layup which missed it and did not get the call and then got the rebound and went back up with it and it was blocked out of bounds by Bismack Biyombo. The second chance was with just under 10 seconds and it got messy on the floor and it ended up in Jose Calderon's hand and he put up a 3-ball and he got his own rebound and got it and the Raps called a timeout with 3.6 seconds. Their last chance was with a Lowery jumper that was blocked and it got into Andrea Bargnani's hands and he took a long jumper and his shot was changed as he shot it and it came up short as he may have been hit on his arm with no foul and the Bobcats pulled out a 98-97 victory. The difference in the game was DeMar DeRozan who missed his third of the game which all came in the fourth quarter and with the Raps up 1 97-96 and Ramon Sessions made a jumper to put the Cats by one. The fourth quarter started with the Cats going on a 11-2 run to open the game up wisde open 86-76 and the Raptors fought back with a 17-4 run to go open 3 with 3:23 left in the game. The Raptors got a huge push by Jonas Valanciunas put up another double-double in back-to-back games with 16 points and 10 boards in 35 minutes and he was hustling down the floor. DeMar was a fourth quarter player as he 6 of his 14 points in the quarter and only had his three free throws in the quarter which gowa away from the positive game he has been playing most of the season. Andrea Bargnani had 25 points in the game and was 9 of 17 from the floor and 5 of 5 from the line and Kyle Lowery had 21 points but as the starter only had 8 assists in the game and the Raps were only able to have an assist on 23 of 37 made field goals and shot 46.2% from the floor. The bench was hugely soft as Terrence Ross had 11 of the bench's 20 points while Jose Calderon had 7 points and 4 assists. The Bobcats got Kemba Walker had 19 points while Kidd-Gilchrist had 14 points and Byron Mullens lead the team with 8 boards and 10 points and Bismack Biyombo had 11 points with 8 points and Ramon Sessions had 14 points off the bench. Detroit up next Tom Mehegan

Raptors hurt by smaller 3-point shooting Sixers

The Raptors were able to get a hot start going up 11-1 but the Sixers inched back by using a late second quarter rally of 13-2 and ended up going to recess tied @ 51. In the second half behind DeMar DeRozan who had 8 points in the third quarter after having only 6 all the first half and with the Sixers up 1 65-64 with 5 and a half minutes to go in the third quarter the Raps came back with 11 straight points to take a 75-65 lead and took a 80-73 lead after three. Kyle Lowery who made his long waited return put up 8 points in the third quarter and ended the game with 13 points and 7 assists in 30 minutes. The Raptors had the Sixers in the penalty with 9 minutes left in the game and were up 87-80 but went to the line 7 times rest of the way and only made 2 of them and the Sixers went on a 26-11 to end the game ans pulled away with a 106-98 victory. The Sixers used the 3-ball as they hit 3 of 8 the rest of the way including back-to-back threes by Nick Young erasing a 6 point lead with 5 and a half left in the game and Nick Young had 10 of his 23 points and 10 of the Sixers 33 points in the fourth quarter while Thaddeus Young had 10 points as well and finished with 18. Jrue Holiday had 21 points and Jason Richardson had 19 in the game and they lived behind the 3-point arc going 9 of 24 from 3 while only taken 19 free throws but did make 17 of them compared to 20 of 29 for the Raps and just under 67% from the line. Andrea Bargnani had 22 points and he did not drop off in the second half 10 in the first and 12 in the second half while Jose Calderon had all of his 13 points in the first half and had 12 assists in the game for a double-double. DeMar DeRozan had 18 second half points and ended with 24 including 7 of 8 from the line and Jonas Valanciunas had a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards but Kyle Lowery struggled from the line going 3 of 8 and finished with 13 points. Raptors get Lowery back and soon his legs will come back Tom Mehegan

Raptors open and shut the game well against the Magic

behind a fourth quarter performances of Amar Johnson (14 points) and Kleiza (10) who had 24 of the Raptors 30 point Raps fourth quarter to close out the Magic 97-86 to pick their third victory of the season all on the second half of the back-to-back. The Raps took control of the game in the first quarter with a 13-point lead with a minute left in the quarter on 11 points of DeMar DeRozan who was back to the driven DeRozan as he picked up 3 of his 9 points the rest of the game from the line as he finished with 20 points and fell a board short (9) of a double-double. While Andrea Bargnani had 9 of his 17 points in the first quarter and the Raps took a 32-22 lead into the second quarter. The Raps took it easy in the second and the third quarter as they only scored 35 points and when they went into the fourth quarter they were looking up at the magic 69-67 and then went on a run of 23-9 which cemented by a 5-on-1 run out by the Raps that was finished off by ally oop jam and after a Magic timeout Kleiza finished the run with a 3-ball to put the Raps up 92-78 and cruised to a 97-86 victory. The Raps were lead by Amar with 15 points and Kleiza with 12 points and had 27 of the Raps 34 bench points and only 10 before the final quarter while Jose Calderon put up 18 of the Raps 22 assists on 38 field goals and he had 9 points. Jonas Valanciunas had a 23 and a half minute performance and had 6 points and 7 boards in the game. The Raps free throwing this continued to struggled this weekend as they went 14 of 24 from the line as they shot just over 60% and if it was not the Magic and their 40% shooting the Raps would of been destroyed by most of the rest of the league. Canadian Andrew Nicholson had a 8 point and 3 boards in 15 minutes and he struggled on the floor shooting 2 of 7 from the floor. Then they were lead by Glenn Big Baby Davis had a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards and really helped the Magic getting back into the game and off the bench E'Twaun Moore had 16 points and Arron Afflalo helped Baby in the starting lineup with 15 points. Raptors are on the road to Charlotte and Detroit which could be a winnable road trip Tom Mehegan

Raptors dry up late against the Celtics

Raptors fell behind a huge boulder going into the second quarter as the Celtics lead 30-17 into the second quarter as the D was locker in the locker room as the Celtics went 14 of 19 from the floor in the quarter (73.6%). The Raptors got their jack hammers out and chipped the C's lead to down to 4 and went down 8 going into the third quarter and behind 11 of Andrea Bargnani's 15 points in the third quarter the Raptors had chipped that boulder down to a two-point thin smooth rock at 63-61 with 3 and a half minutes that they were ready to throw a cross a calm river but then in the last 3 and a half minutes of the third quarter the C's torched the Raptors to the tune of 16-3 as the Raptors only made three free throws to end the quarter and when Terrence Ross hit a 3 ball with 9 minutes left to cut the lead to 85-67 the Raps first round draft pick in this past draft ended a 6 and half minute drought and stopped a 24-4 run over that span. The C's cruised to a 107-89 victory behind 20 assists from Rajon Rondo which was 2 less than the Raptors had as a team and the C's ended up with 37 on 43 made field goals and shot 56.6% (43 for 76) from the floor. The C's rested their players late as Kevin Garnett only played 17 minutes while 7 players played 24 and 32 minutes and were lead by Jason Terry who had 20 points while Garnett had an efficient game going 6 of 7 from the floor and 3 of 4 from the line and had 15 points and 5 boards. Paul Pierce had 19 points and 6 boards and Jared Sullinger had a double-double of 12 points and 11 boards. The Raps hurt themselves at the line as they came in with the third best free throw% with a over 80% in their first 8 games and then went out and shot 21 of 31 today from the line (67.7%) with DeMar DeRozan a top 10 free throw attempt guy not getting to the line oncefor the first time since the first game of the season.Andrea Bargnani had 15 points to lead the team with John Lucas III and DeRozan went 5 of 10 from the floor and had only 10 points in the game. Heading into tomorrow's against the Orlando Magic the Raptors will be well rested as nobody movre than Andrea who played 26 minutes and are looking for their third win in the second game of a back-to-back as they have only won a game when they had played the night before. Valanciunas had a tough day as he fouled in only 19 minutes against Garnett and had only had 3 points and 2 boards while Ed Davis had 9 boards in the game in 20 and half to go with 7 points Tom Mehegan

Jose Calderon gets triple-double and Raps win ugly

Jose Calderon put it all together tonight as he was the strong shooting the ball going 5 of 10 (50) when the team as a whole went 26 for 72 (36%) in the game while leading the team in defensive boards with 9 of their 37 defensive boards and 10 in the game to lead the team who had 45. He had 10 assists and did have of Raps 12 turnovers as they did protect the ball but so did the Pacers and Jose Calderon became the 11 Raptor to pick up a triple-double. The Raptors won their second game of the season as they went into Indiana and sneaked out with a 74-72 victory which is the first road victory and they won the first three quarters but it was not easy. This is because Dwayne Casey had to a timeout 2 minutes and 15 seconds into the game and the Raptors were down 9-2 but the Raptors went on a 27-12 run in the last 9:45 of the first quarter to take a 29-21 and a 8 point lead. The Raptors added a two-pointer in the second quarter and had a 46-36 lead at half and added a free throw in the third quarter to make it 69-58 going into the fourth quarter and they tried to just milk the clock down and take a late shot in the final quarter and it did not work as they went 1 for 15 from the floor with the only field goal was at the 9:26 point of the quarter. Kleiza got the only basket of the quarter and in the last 9:26 of the game the Raptors only scored 3 free throws and if it was not for the defensive rebounds the Raps would of been killed again in the quarter and the Pacers only scored 14 points in the quarter and shot only 32% from the floor (24 of 72). The Raptors only shot 16 of 19 from the free throw line but was 3 of 4 in the fourth quarter and they could of done much better down the stretch from the line as they should of been driving to the basket. DeRozan continued going to the basket and getting to the line as he had 5 of 6 from the line and 5 of 13 from the floor after playing a hour the night before and still lead the Raps with 15 points. Kleiza went 2 of 9 from the floor but went 6 of 6 from the line and had 10 points and Jonas Valanciunas played 22 minutes which is the highest amount in a long time and pulled down 7 defensive boards (8) and was 4 of 8 from the floor and was 1 of 2 from the line. In the end for the Raptors who played 6 players over 20 minutes it end up being Andrea Bargnani who was falling flat in huge minutes as he played 30 minutes and went 3 of 13 from the floor and instead of getting closer to the basket to shot as he was struggling (no free throws) he moved further out (2 of 6 from beyond the arc). The Pacers big guy of Paul George (3 of 14 and 4 of 4 from the line and David West (3 of 12 and 5 of 8 from the line) were a combined of 6 of 26 from the floor but 9 of 12 from the line. George Hill went 8 of 20 from the floor and 2 of 2 from the line and 18 points and the Pacers had 49 boards and had 4 boards more than the Raps and Paul George and Roy Hibbert both had 9 boards and 3 offensive boards each of the 14 offensive boards in the game. DeMar DeRozan will be sleeping a lot over the next few days until Saturday afternoon when they play the Celtics Tom Mehegan

DeMar DeRozan works a lot of overtime but same result

DeMar DeRozan played a hour of basketball and he played the tough kind of basketball he has been playing since game two of the season but the Raps still fell 140-133 in triple overtime to the Utah Jazz who won their first road game of the season. So DeMar put together a game of 37 points (a career high) along with 8 boards and 6 assists and he was driving towards the basket and put his body on the line but not getting benefit of the whistle and the best part of his game was not arguing about the non calls. He shot a pretty good 16 of 33 from the floor and did get to the line 7 times where his fatigue showed only hitting 4 of them. Also for the Raps they got some other very good performance as Dwayne Casey used a rotation of 6 players lead by Jose Calderon who was a passing machine as he had 17 assists which is two of his career high and put up 20 points and off the bench he used Amar Johnson and Kleiza who both played 30 plus minutes and were the two players in the game to foul out for the Raps and Kleiza came in in the second quarter and put up 17 of his 20 points in the quarter and added 7 boards in the game while Amar Johnson had 13 boards and 11 points in the game. While Andrea had 10 of his 19 points in the first half of the first quarter while Dominic McGuire played 5 points and 3 boards in 32 minutes and then there was Jonas Valanciunas had 8 of 10 points in the first quarter and played 16 minutes. The Raptors had control of the game until the last minute of the game when Al Jefferson hit a late three-pointer and he had hit only hit one of his last 25 three attempts to tie the game at 104-194 and sent the game to overtime as the Jazz outscored the Raps 18-7 in the last 7 minutes of the fourth quarter. It was the down fall to the Raps as they were not able to put together enough defensive stops to close out the game and in overtime there was no D as the Raps allowed the Jazz to score at will as they scored 36 points in 15 minutes of overtime. The Jazz were lead by Paul Millsap who came up with huge shots in overtime and put 34 points and hit 3 of the Jazz 14 threes in 26 attempts and 9 of 10 from the line as the Jazz got 43 free throws and made 34 of them. Al Jefferson put up 24 points and 17 boards while Mo Williams had 17 points and 14 assists and it was the free throws in the third quarter as they went 15 of 17 after going 6 of 8 from the line in the first half and it was half of their 30 points in the quarter and the Raptors had 30 points in the quarter as well. The Raps had 13 less attempts and were fouled as much in the game and now the Raps head to Indiana for the second half of a back-to-back Tom Mehegan

Raptors instead of pounding the Rock get pounded

The Raptors focused on the first quarter defense and it worked for the first quarter as they took a 6 point lead on the Sixers 26-20 after a quarter as the Sixers who beat Celtics in B town last night shot under 30% from the floor. That is where the D ends and on top of that the Raps forget to move the ball and pound the rock is like a foreign language that nobody other than DeMar DeRozan does not understand at all. In the second quarter the Raps looked like the team that was playing a back-to-back and they settled for jumpers and were smoked by the Sixers and 72.2% (13 of 18)shooting from the floor as they outscored the Raptors 32-7 and the Raptors were booed off the floor at halftime 52-33 as shot 10% from the floor in the second quarter (2 of 20). In the quarter the Sixers were lead by Nick Young who came off the bench and put up 11 very quick points in just over 5 minutes and lead the Sixers on a 16-3 run and by the end of the quarter Spencer Hawes had 5 points and the two of them off the bench help the bench out scored the Raptors bench 38-12 with 28 points (Young - 16 & Hawes 12). In the second half the Raptors out out and tried to climb back from 20 point deficit in the third quarter after Dorell Wright hit a three ball and they did very well as DeMar DeRozan hit a free throw to cut the lead to 6 for the Sixers @ 69-63 behind an eight point quarter by Andrea Bargnani. The Raptors passed the ball and found open threes which are the only threes I accept and assists on 9 of 11 shots they made from the floor in the quarter and the quarter on a huge high as Amar Johnson had a monster jam at the buzzer that blow the roof of the place but it could of been much closer as DeMar and Alan Anderson both had a turnover after getting into no man land lost the ball instead of calling a timeout. The Sixers took the game with a 17-6 after DeMar free throw on their way to salting the game away with a 98-88 victory behind a balanced offence of 5 players in double figures lead by starters Thaddeus Young and Jrue Holiday who both had 16 to with Nick Young 16 and Spencer Hawes 12 points along with Dorell Wright who had 15 points. Evan Turner had 12 boards and Spencer Hawes had 11 as they helped the Sixers out rebound the Raps 46-35. Raptors had 20 assists on 30 field goals and they shot 38% and really looked like the team that was playing back-to-back not the Sixers and the Raps were lead by DeMAr DeRozan who had half the Raptors 16 free throws and was 6 of 8 and continued to drive the basket and did lose his cool late got T'd when he felt he fouled and ended up with 19 points and 6 boards. While Andrea Bargnani lead the team with 23 points and Jose Calderon was the only player with a double-double for the Raps with 14 points and 11 assists but they were also responsible for half of the Raps 26 threes attempted which can stop anytime now please. Jonas had 8 points and 8 boards which lead the team and he played 20 good minutes for a rookie still finding his feet in the league. Bryan Colangelo should watch his back as he is responsible for this garbage on the court Tom Mehegan

Raptors heartless in Dallas

I do no not know who this Raptors team and I do not like it at all as the Raptors shelled in the first half as they got their lunched handed to them as Dallas had 31 boards and the Raptors had the backwards 31 which is 13 and trailed by 11 61-50 going into halftime. It was the first quarter that put the Raps climbing up the mountain of a deficit of 12 as they trailed 36-24 after a quarter and then they started to make their climb as they won the second quarter 26-25, the third quarter 34-21, and the fourth quarter 30-27 but lost 109-104 where the Mavs kept them at 11 or higher most of the rest of the game. The Raps would get it down to 8 or 9 and then forget a defensive assignment and it would be 11 and then 13 before the Raps would make another run and they only got to a two score game with 81 seconds left at 105-99 so the Raptors were never in the game as Darren Collison would mysteriously sneak behind the Raps D for a slam or someone would have an open three shot and drain or even Andrea Bargnani would forget to block out his defender and the Mavs would get the rebound. Raps did out board the Mavs in the second half 25-16 and made it a lot closer 47-38 Mavs at the end of the game but Andrea Bargnani 25 (points) and 9 (rebounds) night was a complete fraud as the game was a real ball yard game with lots of three attempted as the Raps shot 22 and made 5 while the Mavs attempted 21 and hit 8. The did one thing right and that was getting to the line as they had 31 free throw attempts and hit 27 of them as Andrea went 7 for 7 and DeMar DeRozan went 8 of 19 from the line to help the Raptors with 24 points and 6 boards while getting 7 of the Raptors 21 assists. Jonas Valanciunas had a very short night of 10 minutes because he picked up 5 quick fouls and Amar Johnson had a double-double with 18 points and 11 boards and took full advantage of his 29 minutes on the floor. For the Mavs Vince Carter was the original Vince with the dunks and the threes and ended up with 17 points and it was just like old times for him while Chris Kaman and O.J. Mayo lead them with 22 a piece while Darren Collison put up 15 points as he made 5 field goals and got 5 from the line as the Mavs went 23 for 35 from the line. I really want the 2011-12 Raptors back not this jump happy who cares about the D team Tom Mehegan

Vince Carter last day as a Raptor

Today I learned some very interesting program on Sportsnet Radio 590 the Fan in Toronto as on the Tim and Sid show. The whole shooting match began very innocently enough with former head coach of the Raptors being booked on the show to basically to tell him that VC who last night show agreed that Jalen Rose is lying for his teeth about a story Jalen told in the past that Vince basically attacked his head coach Sam in the trainers room on a road trip and both Vince and Sam have now stated that it was all a joke and Vince simply put his arms around him and leaned on him. In the end when Sam came on to talk he listened to the part of VC agreeing with him and then laid a bombshell on everybody listening as he said that Vince the night before he was traded for a bunch of garbage said to Sam that he did not want to be traded and that he wanted to stay because he had seen what was happen out there and did not like it. Sam then went to GM Rob Babcock and told him that Vince did not want to be traded and Sam who was in his first season as head coach left it at that and now wished he had spoken to owner Larry Tanenbaum instead and things would maybe worked out better for the Raps and they would of been a playoff team with Bosh joining them that season. Then at the final segment of Tim and Sid's three hour show they were able toget Babcock now assistant GM in Minnesota on the phone to see his side of the story and he agreed that Sam did tell him but that the trade to the Nets for the Williams boyz had been verbally agreed to and he could not go back on his word and he really did not know in the long term if he could trust Vince. So he knew at the time he was not getting full value for Vince but still would not change a thing he did. I believe that Vince is a No. 2 and he was no good for the team with his rolling on the floor so often that is act was up in Toronto and would become another superstar in T.O. that was not so Super when they left and Babcock was in a no win situation and if he kept Vince he might of been screwed and he was screwed the Nets in the trade but to not take a day or two and feel the situation and where everything was at would of been the best decision. If U want the interviews Sportsnet radio 590 and look under podcasts for Tim and Sid and November 6 and the second (2) hour for Vince it is the final segment 27-28 minutes into the hour podcast. For Sam Mitchell it is November 7 and the beginning of the second hour and Babcock is at the end of the third hour of November 7. Tom Mehegan

Kyle Lowery left injured in horrible first half

Very late in a 57-38 first half as the Thunders took the Raptors to the cleaners as the Raptors went into OKC to face an embarrassing 1 and 2 record and then Kyle Lowery got his feet tied up with Valanciunas and in the end he went down with right ankle sprain. Lowery left the game and will not return in the second half of a complete blowout and it will be interesting to see if he will be able to play in the second half of a back-to-back in Dallas tomorrow. The Raptors came into the game and decided to go from beyond the arc as they took 16 threes and only made 4 of them and Andrea Bargnani had 11 points in the half and 5 boards which does not do well for his image of only shown up in lost games to pad his stats. DeMar DeRozan had 6 points and Calderon who will be playing a lot in the second half had 5 points but in the end the Raps need to stop the jumper game and get to the basket and the line as it is easier to score the closer to the basket they are. Brain Westbrook had 13 points, Ibaka had 8 points, Kevin Durant had 10 points, and K-Mart also had 8 points as they were very well balanced scoring for the Thunder who are extremely good. Kyle Lowery injury will be scary if it last a long time or is lingering but at least DeRozan is still getting to the basket Tom Mehegan

Raptors take care of wounded Wolves

Behind another performance by the back court of Kyle Lowery (22) and DeMar DeRozan (22) who had 44 of the Raptors 105 points and they took apart the wounded Wolves piece by piece by taken advantage of 24 Wolves turnovers. The Wolves had 16 of their turnovers in the first half and the Raptors got 27 of their 56 points off the turnovers and lead 56-47 at halftime while Wolves lost J.J. Barea in the first half to a concussion after being hit in the head by a teammate's knee as he lay on the floor and this was after they went into the game without teo of their top players Kevin Love or Ricky Rubio in the lineup. In the second half the Wolves got the raptors in foul trouble and chipped away at the lead as they outscored the Raptors 26-23 in the quarter as the Wolves went 11 of 12 from the line in the third quarter but were down 79-73 going into the final quarter. In the fourth quarter the Raptors finished the game by outscoring the Wolves 26-13 behind the scoring of Alan Anderson off the bench with 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter as the bench put up 18 of their 40 points in the last quarter. The bench was needed in a big way in a back-to-back as Landry Fields is still finding himself in the system as he went 2 for 4 from the floor and 1 for 1 from the line for 5 points while the starting front court of Andrea Bargnani (4 of 16, 10 points) and Jonas Valanciunas (2 for 8 and 4 points) had 14 points on 6 of 24 from the floor. The Wolves had over 53% shooting from the floor in the first half and in the second half the Raptors clamped down on them as they shot around 40% and ended the game shooting 45.3% for the game. They were lead by Andrei Kirilenko (17 points) and Nikola Pekovic (15 points) and Derrick Williams lead everyone with 8 boards. The Raptors out boarded the Wolves 39-36 as Kyle Lowery, DeMar DeRozan, Ed Davis all had 7 boards and Lowery added 5 assisrs as both teams had 18 assists in the game. Kyle Lowrie and DeMAr DeRozan are on fire for the Raps with 97 combined points over the last two games Tom Mehegan

Raptors back court comes up huge but unable to erase huge deficit

The Raptors starting back court of Kyle Lowery (27 points) and DeMar DeRosen (25 points) came up with 52 of the Raptors 100 points but they still fell to the Brooklyn Nets 107-100 in the first major sport game since 1957. The Raptors came out with a very good game plan and it worked extremely well for hem in the first quarter and it was the Nets who were looking up the mountain at a 10 point deficit (35-25) before cutting the lead to 8 on a Deron Williams field goal with 33 left in the quarter. They had a ratio of 12 assists and 1 turnover and in the second quarter it was the complete opposite as they had 8 turnovers and only 1 assist in the quarter and were doubled up by the Nets 33-17 as they took the 8-point lead to halftime at 60-52 with a C.J. Watson three at the buzzer at the half to push the lead to 8. In the second half the Nets continued their domination of the Raptors as they came out of the looker room in the second half on a 13-6 run to open the half and take a 73-69 point lead. Then the Raptors went on a huge run to end the third quarter 19-11 and scored the first 5 points of the fourth quarter all by Ed Davis to cut the Nets lead to 1 (84-83) with 8:46 left in the game. Brook Lopez had 7 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and Deron Williams had 5 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Nets outscored the Raptors 23-17 down the stretch to win their first game as the Brooklyn Nets. Lowery had 8 of the Raptors 37 boards and had 8 of the Raptors 23 assists in the game as they lost that aspect of the game as they had 12 in the first quarter and 11 the rest of the game. Once again the bench has failed them as they got only 2 points from the bench not named Amar Johnson before the fourth quarter who had 11 points and four boards and in the fourth quarter Ed Davis had 11 of the Raptors 17 fourth quarter points and narrowed the bench advantage for the Nets 32-30. The Nets got 15 off the bench from C.J. Watson and former Raptors Reggie Evans did what he has done best by collecting 13 boards in the game for the Nets. Jonas Valanciunas had a rookie game and only play 12 minutes as he got 3 fouls very quickly and had two points and four boards while Landry Fields still has not found himself in the starting rotation as he is starting but is a non-factor with two points, 5 boards, and four assists in 22 minutes of action. The bench will need to come through huge tomorrow against the TimberWovles in a back-to-back Tom Mehegan

Bargnani misses a buzzer beater to open the season

The Raptors let a 10 point lead at home to a Indiana Pacers team without Danny Granger and allowed them to take home home with them a nice and warm 90-88 victory on the Raptors home court. It came down to Andrea Bargnani with a buzzer beater that he missed and the Pacers who were down three when Kyle Lowery hit two free throws with 2:15 left in the game and then the Pacers went on a 5-0 run to end the game as the Raptors went 0 for 4 after the free throws and missed their last 6 shots from the floor. The big question mark coming into the season was who was going to be the shutdown guy and the Raptor that would turn the lights out on the opponents and with their lowest points in a quarter being the fourth quarter with 17 that question is still a mystery and it did not help that the Pacers put up their biggest scoring quarter in the fourth with 27 behind David West who had 14 of the Pacers last 20 points and finished with 25 to lead everybody. The Raptors got 14 of their 17 fourth quarter points from the back court of Jose Calderon and Kyle Lowery as Bargnani who had 11 of his 16 points in the first quarter and started 3 for 3 from the floor ended the game going 1 for 12 from the floor. The point guards ended up with 36 of the Raptors 88 points and had 15 in the second quarter so to end the half/game they had 29 of their 36 points. DeMar DeRozan who was skipping to the bank collecting his 4/40 million dollar extension that came out of nowhere was almost nowhere as he started the game 0 for 5 and in the second/third quarter hit 5 straight shots and then finished 0 for 4 from the floor with 10 points and no free throe attempts. Rookie JONAS VALANCIUNAS did what very rookie does and he did it all in one game he was hot scoring 6 points and 4 boards in the first quarter and he also was a spark plug in the third quarter with 6 points to help the Raptors go on a 12-0 run in the early third quarter to erase a 1 point deficit at 53-52 and help give the Raptors a 64-53 lead with 7 minutes left in the quarter. At this point with 19 minutes left in the game he had 12 points and 10 rebounds and he did not do anything the rest of the game and at times he took frustration fouls because he did not get the calls but he did not foul out so all-in-all a pretty good first game except the end result. The highly credited bench without even stepping on the floor did not really back up the exception of them because u take away Calderon's night u are left with a 6 of 18 from the floor and 0 for 3 from beyond the arc and only had 14 total points and did not pull their weight as the Pacers bench had 21 points and players had to moved around because their # 1 player Granger was not in the lineup. Casey has some work to do Tom Mehegan

Raptors sign Landry Fields to an offer sheet to get to Nash

So the Raptors will be signing Landry Fields of the New York Knicks to a 3 year /19 million dollar deal and it is an extremely gusty move by Raptors GM Brain Colangelo as it a move that is served with the Knicks hopefully now not being able to do a sign and trade with the Phoenix Suns to get the prize of the Raptors summer Steve Nash. So it is not guarantee that Fields will be in a Raptors uniform next season as the Knicks can sign Fields to the deal and he stays in the Big Apple but then they are unable to trade him in a package to Phoenix for Nash which basically takes them out of the running for him. It is huge to the Raptors as the Raps have the best deal on the table at 3 year / 36 million dollars which is a factor to Nash but it may not be the biggest factor as he is still looking around for someone who can given him close to the same many while giving him a much better chance to win a NBA championship than the Raptors right now can give him. The Big Apple of Nash's eye as he lives in New York during the off season where his ex lives and his three kids live and with the Nets now most likely to resigning Darion Williams it looks like New York is out of the question. His other options are the Dallas Mavericks who are looking like they are unwilling to give Nash the third year and the Heat who would truly be unable to given much more than the Veteran minimum with all their cap money looked into the three kings and then there is Phoenix itself who will maybe will able to give him the money but maybe even worth of getting to the finals than the Raptors but he is closer to his family in Phoenix and diffidently western guy at heart and if the Vancouver Grilles still in the league. With everything said right now the Raptors are totally in the lead and Nash is hoping that the rest of the league comes up with a better offers so he could jump at it but the Raptors still would look really good with Nash feeding Jonas Valančiūnas and Andrea Bargnani the ball in pick and roll scenarios. IF Nash comes to T.O. he will be a 41 at the end of contract but the best Raptors point guard to this point Tom Mehegan

Ben Uzoh had a triple-double in the Raptors season finale

The Raptors finished their 2011-12 season and ended it in style with 22 wins and it was a very easy game for the Raptors as it was like a playground game as the Nets did not show up for the game as they were shooting 29% through three quarters and in the third quarter the Raptors doubled the Nets in points as they lead 71-35 with 3:42 left in the quarter. In the 98-67 Raptors victory Dwayne Casey choose to play 7 players and really only played 5 players who all played over 40 minutes with Ben Uzoh who had the Raptors first triple-double in 11 years since Alvin Williams did it in 2001 and tonight Uzoh had 16 points, 12 assists, and 11 boards. Then Ed Davis put up a career high 24-points in the game to go with 12 boards while Solomon Alabi had 19 boards in the game with no Resistance from the Nets. Alan Anderson got 17 points in the game and Gary Forbes had 23 points and 6 boards as the only two other players to play were Jamaal Magloire who got a token start after taken the mic before the game and thanked the fans for their support and then James Johnson played 20 minutes. The Nets looked to get more lottery balls in the lottery as both teams came into the game with 22 wins and with the win the Raptors have dropped behind the Nets and the Raptors out rebounded the Nets 45-23 through three quarters and 58-39 in the game. It was positive season fot the Raptors Tom Mehegan

Raptors start strong but the Bucks find their D and win in the second half

The Raptors came out firing and really could not miss a shot as they abused the Bucks Interior defense in the first half as they outscoring them 24-6 at half time and shot over 50% in both the first and second quarter (first quarter 58% and the second quarter 50%) while shooting 54% at the half and lead by 5 (48-43). It continued in the third quarter as they hit their first 54 shots of the quarter and lead 61-47 with a 13-4 run and then something snapped in the Bucks as they just destroyed the Raptors as they ended the third quarter on a 15-6 run to close it to 67-62 and in the fourth Ersan Ilyasova took over for the Bucks he scored 13 of his 19 points in the last 6 minutes of regulation that went well with 15 boards in the gameand all his points in the second half as the Bucks outscored the Raptors 30-19 in the fourth quarter and strangely enough what might of lite a fire under their butts was that the Sixers had just won to eliminate them from the playoff picture with a win by destroying the Nets. The Raptors ended the game shooting 44.7% from the floor as the Bucks made it much harder in the paint after they were down 14 and they also got scoring from Brandon Jennings who had 25 points while Monta Ellis at the line going 8 of 9 and ending with 17 points. The Raptors were lead by James Johnson who had 22 points and 13 boards in the game and is the first really good full game he has played since being bench for two games for team issues while Amir Johnson who really has been a shell of anything since bring benched in Cali eariler this season and had another so-so game even though he got to start 7 points and 4 boards and is looking like a guy that may have a different address for displaying his talents next season. Ed Davis pulled down another 11 boards and if he could get more offensive boards and jam them home offensive boards he would be a keeper and if he brings more of the effort he has been shown recently he will be a great addition to the Raptors. Gary Forbes got 15 points while Kleiza (6 of 13 and 15 points) and Anderson (3 of 13 but 5 of 5 from the line for 11 points) both had 13 shots as DeRozan playing 15 minutes and putting up 5 shots (4 points and 3 boards). James and Ed had 24 of the Raptors 49 boards while the Bucks had 43 while it was a team effort to get the 26 assists (10 more than the Bucks( on 34 made field goals but it was there 21 turnovers that killed them as it was almost double the Bucks 11 in the game. Season finale Thursday Vs the Nets Tom Mehegan

Raptors lost a bowling shoe ugly game to the Pistons

The first half of the game was the lowest scoring first half in the 2011-12 NBA season as there was a combined 63 points (Raps 34-29) and the Raptors shot 13 of 38 in the first half (32.4%) while the Pistons were 10 of 36 (27.7%) but then in the third quarter the Pistons went 10 of 19 from the floor and scored 24 points in the quarter while the Raptors were 7 of 17 and they scored 16 points and the Pistons took a 53-50 lead and it was the march to 75 as the first to 75 was believed to win the game and the Raptors were 4 of 16 down the stretch and the Pistons would live on the line down the stretch and win the game 76-73. The Raptors had Alan Anderson take a three-ball with just under 9 seconds left in the game and the ball was loose for 2 seconds before Ben Gordon picked it and he was fouled and hit the first of two free throws and missed the second Solomon Alabi got the board which was his tenth of the game and Kleiza took the last second three which missed. The Raptors in this ugly game who shot 37.7% in the game were lead by DeMar DeRozan who was 7 of 15 from the floor with 16 points while the rest of the team were 15 of 52 and shot 28.8% from the floor. Kleiza was 4 of 10 from the floor and ended up with 12 points while Gray (7) and Davis (8) helped Alabi (10) with out rebounding the Pistons (45-40) in the game while there were 21 assists on only 29 made field goals in the game so the Raptors will diffidently figure out who will be the next true point guard after Calderon (assist first, score second). The Pistons got a good rebounding game from Greg Monroe who had 17 boards in the game but it was Brandon Knight (7 of 17 and 19 points) and Ben Gordon (6 of 11 and 19 points) did more than half their scoring while the rest of the team shot 13 of 43 from the floor and shooting 30.9%. The Piston lived at the line as they took a third of their shots from there (35 of 106) and still made only 22 of them (62.9%) while the Raptors only took 16 and made 11 (68.8%). It was a bowl shoe ugly game Tom Mehegan

Heat sweep Raptors as Raps melt in the second quarter

So with 5 and a half minutes left in the second quarter the Raptors were leading 39-32 and the Heat were without Bosh or Wade in the lineup so it looked like the Raps were going to play hard and keep it close and maybe even win the game but then the Heat heated up and took the Raptors to LBJ school as James had 9 points to end the quarter as the Heat went on a 17-6 run to take a 49-45 lead. The Raptors tied the game up with 2 and half seconds @ 49 but James sneaked past the Raptors and put up a tip-in @ the buzzer and the Heat took a two-point lead and LBJ scored more than the Raptors as he had 12 of the Heat 23 points and the Raptors had only 11 points in the quarter and the Heat without LBJ in the fourth quarter as he sat the fourth quarter and it did not matter as they still poured the hot water all over the Raptors as they outscored the Raps 22-12 and walked home with a 96-72 victory while the Raptors had only 23 points in the second half. The Raptors got a hot start from Alan Anderson who had 10 of the Raps 24 first quarter points and ended the game with 15 points and o for 8 from beyond the arc while James Johnson had 18 points and 6 boards to lead the team in both categories even though Solomon Alabi had 6 boards in 10 minutes. DeMar DeRozan had a very poor shooting night with 5 of 14 (just over 1 of 3) and ended up with 12 points while the rest of the team shot 43%. The Heat got help for James (12 of 15 for 28 points) from Mike Miller who was 3 of 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and ended the game with 13 points while Udonis Haslem had 7 boards as the Heat were plus 10 (41-31) on the glass and added 10 points in the game. So it was a tough almost 30 minutes of basketball and will need to learn from these tough lessons Tom Mehegan

Solomon Alabi had an audition as the Hawks return the favor

Solomon Alabi played almost 22 minutes which is 2 minutes longer than he had played in the other 9 games he has played in this season and he looked like a guy who has not played serious minutes against the opponents starters in a 109-87 Hawks blow out win. He should that he not aware of where he was late in the third quarter and he was in the restricted area and stood there and had a chance to move forward and take the charge but instead he stood in the restricted area and wait for Joe Johnson to come to the hoop and when he did Johnson put his knees into Alabi's chest and slammed home a dunk and then went to the line for a free throw which he did not make. He also had teammates reminding him to keep his arms up on defense to make it tougher for the Hawks to put up points and he still put up 8 points and 9 boards and after this game it was nice that he got a chance to show what he can do but I still think it is extremely unlikely that he will be on the Raptors next season or even in the NBA because if he had shown anything he would of gotten more of a rub or the last two seasons. The Raptors were still in the game @ halftime even though they had 11 turnovers and the Hawks had 13 points of those turnovers but they were only down 3 @ 54-51 but the Hawks took another 8 turnovers leading to another 7 points and they outscored the Raptors 55-36 in the second half. The Hawks only turnover the ball 10 times but the Raptors scored 17 points of those turnovers and the Hawks put up 28 fast break points which is the most the Raptors have given up this season to an opponent and they shot 48.8% and made 25 free throws while the Raptors shot over 55% @ half and ended up shooting 44.3% and only made 13 free throws as the Hawks hade 20 more free throw attempts (36-16). The Hawks were lead Jeff Teague who had 18 points, 10 assists, and 6 boards in the game and Joe Johnson after a 2 for 12 game last night was 6 of 13 from the floor and had 18 points. They also were lead by Ivan Johnson in points with 21 points and also 6 boards which was one less than Josh Smith who had and added 15 points as well and the Hawks had 28 assists which was 8 more than the Raptors. The Raptors who only had 5 fast break points where lead by DeRozan who had 21 points while James Johnson had 18 points but it was Ben Uzoh could find his shot as he 2 of 12 from the floor and instead he getting boards (10) and assists (8). The Raptors actually out rebounded the Hawks for the second night in a row by collecting 46 boards which was four more than the Hawks 42 in the game. It was interesting to see Solomon Alabi get heavy minutes Tom Mehegan

The Raptors clip the Hawks' wings in the first of a tradition home and home series

In the first night of a traditional home and home series the Raptors went wire to wire with the lead and when the Hawks made a run like in the first quarter with 4 minutes left they were up 21-11 and the Raptors were only leading by 2 @ 25-23 and then the Raptors were leading @ half by 14 points (53-39). In the third quarter the Hawks cut the lead to 9 after three quarters (73-64) and then the Raptors took control of the game in the fourth and got it up to 24 points before garbage time and still won 102-86. The Raptors were lead by DeMar DeRozan with 23 points and went to the line 11 times and had 4 b 4 boards (all boards in the first half) and Alan Anderson had 14 points in the first half and ended up with 16 points. Kleiza and Gray lead the team in boards with 7 each as the Raps were plus 4 on the glass while James Johnson did not take a shot in the first three quarters and then went 6 of 8 in the final quarter and had 15 points in the quarter. The Raptors shot the lights out with 55% (41 of 74) shooting after shooting 58% in the first half and the Hawks shot 40% in the game (29 of 72) but were shooting 34% at the half. The Hawks had one shining light who was Josh Smith was 11 of 20 and had 26 of the Hawks points and the rest of the team went 18 of 52 which under 35% including Joe Johnson who was 2 of 12 and 6 points after averaging over 20 in his career against the Raptors. The Raptors broke another long losing streak as they won their first game in 7 against the Hawks and have not won in Atlanta in years including the famous clock issue that won a game for the Hawks and in exchange they are losing more lottery balls. I feel changing the culture is better than getting another top pick and be back at the beginning like they were with VC and CB4 and they could of kept Traino and gotten a lot of lottery balls but then they would have Mike D'Antino instead of Dwayne Casey as the Raps were not the only team looking at him. Raptors and Hawks again tomorrow Tom Mehegan

Raptors hold on to beat the Celtics in a big comeback

The Raptors did not start very well as they only 13 points in the first and 30 points in the first half and shot only 23% in the first half and were only down 36-30 @ halftime. Then in the third quarter the Raptors just owned the Celtics outscoring them 27-11 (tied for the least amount of points in a quarter by an opponent this season) and they shot 8 of 15 from the floor as DeRozan had 13 of his game high 22 in the quarter. The fourth quarter was easy early for the Raps outscored them 15-10 if the first half of the final quarter and then the Celtics D got very tough as the Celtics outscored the Raptors 18-4 and they could not breath on offense with both of their point guards on 10 day contracts and it was 76-75 Raptors and then DeRozan hit four from the line in the last 27 seconds of the game as he was 13 of 13 from the line in the game. Kleiza salted away the game with four free throws in the last 13 seconds of the game as apart of his 17 points as the Raptors were 11 of 11 from the line in the fourth and 27 of 31 in the game on their way to a 84-79 victory as they split the season series since the creation of the big three. The Raptors out rebounded the Celtics 50-37 behind 5 players with at least 8 boards and were lead by Ed Davis who had 12 boards. Paul Pierce had a Celtic high of 18 points and Avery Bradley had 15 points while Kevin Garrnet quietly got a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards. The Raptors will be without Andrea Bargnani for the rest of the season as he will be sidelined with his calf muscle injury in what was a great season when he was healthy and lets hope he can rest his Calf in the off0season and be ready for a normal 82 games season next season. Tom Mehegan

The Sixers painted the Raptors black and blue

The Sixers pounded yhr paint like there was no tomorrow as they went into the time after time for easy and it was easiest in the fourth quarter where they shot well over 50% in great parts to getting 20 of their 58 points in the paint in the fourth quarter and they used the easy baskets to drive up their shooting% to 53.2% after shooting% like 47% going into the fourth quarter. The Sixers had 41 made buckets from the floor and 29 of them were in the paint so it looks like when a team decides to inside on the Raptors it is like easy pickings and the Raptors need to get tougher inside and the Sixers were sharing the rock sd they had 27 assists on those 31 buckets which is 67% of the time as they painted the Raptors black and blue to the tune of 73-75 and pulled away in the fourth with a 30-20 advantage. The Sixers did not dominate the boards (as both teams had 42 in the game) or even on the offensive glass (as the Raptors had a 8-4 advantage). They were lead by Thaddeus Young who had 17 points (8 of 12 from the floor and a made free throw) and 5 boards along with Nikola Vucevic who had 12 points, 5 boards, 3 assists. Elton Brand had 11 points and 6 boards while Jrue Holiday had 8 points, 7 boards, 7 assists and the Sixers had 9 of their 10 players they used were at or over 20 minutes so it was a great group effort from a team that diffidently needed a whole team effort as they had lost 10 of 14 before beating the Nets and have now won two in a row. Talking about being black and blue that was Jose Calderon who took another hit and had to get more stitches and had 7 points and 4 assists in 22 minutes while Kleiza went down hard with an injury. DeRozan had his second straight game under 15 points and only took 9 shots and went to the line one times and had only 11 points but it was Ed Davis who had another big game on the glass with 13 boards and tied Alan Anderson for most points with 13 and it would be nice if he was more consistent on a game to game basis. Four loses in a row and the Celtics on Friday with Bargnani insight Tom Mehegan

Andrea Bargnani rests as the Raps are thunder stuck

Til was going to be a very messy at the best of times tonight for the Raptors as the Thunder came in with a three game losing streak and are percentage points behind the Spurs but when Jose Calderon who has a nasty black under his right eye is the only Raptor shooting well as he was 8 of 12 (19 points) from the floor while the rest of the team was 21 of 66 from the floor (31.8) and they were 15 of 59 (25%) before going 6 of 7 down the stretch to finish the game. So in the game DeMar DeRozan was 6 of 22 from the floor (16 points) and only 1 for 8 from the floor in the second half and this after Andrea Bargnani left the game with a tight calf with 4 minutes left in the first half with 1 of 3 from the floor and 5 of 6 from the line for 7 points and took a seat for the just of the game and maybe diffidently a question mark going into tomorrow's game against the Indiana Pacers and Barbosa. The Thunder who were lead by Kevin Durant with 22 points, James Harden had 17 points, and Russell Westbrook had 15 points along with 6 boards & assists gave the Raptors a chance to stay in the game as they 6 of their 16 turnovers in the first quarter and the Thunder went on a 12-4 run to open the second quarter and take a 13 point lead and the Raptors found their shooting legs late in the quarter as they finished the quarter on 6-2 run to close to 50-43 @ half. The third started well for the Raptors as they outscored the Thunder 12-8 in the first half of the quarter but then the wheels came completely off as they were 0 for 8 from the floor and 0 for 3 from beyond the arc and got outscored 12-0. It continued into the fourth quarter where they were 0 for 1 from the floor and 0 for 2 from the line until DeRozan scored a bucker with just over 9 minutes left in the game and the Thunder scored the first 12 points in the fourth quarter and in just under 9 minutes the Thunder scored 24 unanswered points and took a 82-55 lead on their way to a 91-75 victory. This game really showed if a couple of scoring parts are missing in Bargnani and DeRozan it can be a tough night at the office and when the Raps offense goes dry then it really can go dry as they allowed the Heat to score 20 unanswered points as well and with Alan Anderson and Gary Forbes were third on the team in scoring with 8 points each it really says who weak can be. Also having 14 assists on 29 made fields is not good enough and more than 20% of your shoots are from beyond the arc (16 of 78) it is not a winning formula and that to go with the Thunder shooting lights out themselves as they hit 10 threes on 23 shots and the Raps hit 6 on 16 shots. The Raps will come out with a much better effort tomorrow against the Pacers and James Johnson finally after two games got out of coach Casey's dog house and was 2 of 11 from the floor Tom Mehegan

Raptors come up empty in the fourth

With Jose Calderon's eye swollen shut yesterday and unable to play tonight and Gary Forbes injured the Raptors are going with two point guards who are both on 10 day contracts in starter Ben Uzoh and off the bench they have a brand new 10 dayer Justin dentmon. It was working ubtil the fourth quarter when it showed that the the two player offense died a horrible death as the Raptors were outscored to start the fourth quarter 24-5 lead by the Raptors fourth overall draft pick in 1998 just before he was traded for VC, Antawn Jamison who had 15 of the Cavs first 19 points in the fourth quarter as he had 16 of the Cavs 33 fourth quarter points and also had 5 of 8 boards in the fourth as well. Lester Hudson had 8 of his 23 in the fourth quarter and was truly the only Cav on the floor that could shot from the line as he was 11 of 13 from the line while the rest of the Caves were 18 of 27 and the Raptors were an even worse 15 of 24 and 7 of 8 from DeRozan made a real different as the rest of the team were 50% from the line. In the 84-80 Cavs win that stopped the Raps three game win streak and winning 4 of their last 5 was looking like Wednesday Sixers game as the Raps took a 42-39 lead into half time with Bargnani having 13 of his 19 in the first quarter and in the third quarter when the Raps took a 63-50 lead into the fourth DeRozan had 11 which was the same as the Cavs in the quarter as the Raptors outscored them 21-11 and he ended up with 19 of his 28 points in the second half while Bargnani who started hot hitting first 6 shots then only made of his final 16.Not having a real third option or Jose Calderon hurt them in the final quarter with Ozoh next with 9 points and it also did not help only having 13 assists on 31 made field goals in the game. The Raptors out rebound the Cavs by 10 (49-39) and it was a group effort as Justin dentmon was the only Raps player without 4 boards and 4 of the other 8 had at least 7 boards and Kleiza lead the team with 8. So it maybe a bad day for the Raptors on Easter Sunday in OKC *just saying) Tom Mehegan

Jose Calderon is Rocky as the Raps are rolling

Jose Calderon took a shot in the middle of the second quarter and had to head to the Sixers locker room to get stitched up and he returned and was gone for the rest of the first half and then returned at the beginning of the third quarter with stitches over his eye and added to his 7 points and assists in the first with 5 points and 6 assists in the second half. DeMar DeRozan left the game late when he stepped on a Sixers foot and fell awkwardly and left the game and may be sidelined for a couple of games and he still had 18 points, 5 assists, and 3 boards. The game against the Sixers was a real track race with little to no resistance for either teams offense as the Sixers shot 58% from the floor and Jrue Holiday was 8 of 8 from the floor and one was from beyond the arc and had 17 of his 20 points while Elton Brand added 14 of his 20 points in the first half. The Raptors were shooting 52% with Bargnani having 13 of his 24 points and DeRozan had 11 of his 18 while in his first start in six years Alan Anderson had 10 of his 13 points in the first half as the Sixers took a 56-55 lead into the second half. The Second half was a complete disaster for the Sixers as they were outscored 44-22 in the hal and were booed a number of times during the fourth quarter where they shot 3 of 20 from the floor as they scored only 7 points and when they scored late in the game they got a bronks cheer. They shot 6 of 16 in the quarter and shot 25% in the second half after shooting 25 of 43 in the first half and the Raptors out rebounded the Sixers 15-6 in the fourth quarter as they really out worked the Sixers as their fans told everyone and Ed Davis had 14 of the Raps 46 boards as they out rebounded them by 15 as they only had 29. The Raptors and the Sixers are headed in different directions as the Raptors who have no chance of the playoffs have won 4 of 5 and have 20 wins while the Sixers who have been in third spot in the conference as the division leader have now lost 8 of 12 and are holding onto seventh in the Eastern conference with a 29-25 record. Win environment is a good thing hope it continues next season Tom Mehegan

Bargnani and DeRozan help the Raps finally beat the Bobcats

The Raptors were shooting over 52% at half and was leading 53-46 and the Bobcats were shooting 39% and got 14 of their 46 from the line but the Raptors were lead off the bench by Kleiza who was 5 of 8 from the floor and 4 of them from beyond the arc to give him 14 points and Andrea Bargnani had 15 points in the first half and they hit 6 threes too. In the third quarter the Raps shooting went south and so did the Bobcats as the Bobcats shot under 33% in the quarter and the the Raps shot just over 40% and both teams got 18 points and if it was not for DeMar DeRozan the Raps would been of buried deep going into the final quarter as he 10 of the Raps 18 points in the quarter and Bargnani had 4 more points in the quarter. In the fourth the Raps kept them at bay until the Bobcats went on a 8-2 to get within two points @ 81-79 with 2:44 left and got within a point @ 88-87 with 40.9 seconds left but Bargnani got 4 of his 11 fourth quarter points in the last 30 seconds of the game to help give the Raptors their first win in over two years against the Bobcats and the first back-to-back wins in 2012 as they won 92-87. The Raptors got 30 points from Andrea Bargnani, 20 from DeMar DeRozan, and 18 from Kleiza while Calseron had only a tech foul point but had 11 of the Raps 25 assists on 35 made baskets. The Raps beat on the boards by 8 (46-38) as the Cats got 14 from Byron Mullens who also lead them in points (20) as well but the Raps still got 9 from Arron Grey and 7 from Ed Davis. The Cats also made one less free throw (21) than the Raptors attempted (22 and made 15). In the end it was nice to see the Raptors break another long losing streak to a team this time to the woeful Bobcats who had won 6 games in a row against the dinos and winning back-to-back games @ the ACC since winning 5 of 6 @ the end of 2010 and every bad trend the Raptors can end going into the 2012-13 season is a great thing to change the losing stagnant that the Raptors have had since winning 47 games and 30 @ the ACC in the 2006-07 season. I hope a winning culture gets the team into the playoffs next season Tom Mehegan

Raptors out classed by Heat in the fourth

The first three quarters were a lot of up and down scoring a lot with the game tied @ 83 and the Raptors were shooting 59% and the Heat were shooting 57% and the Raptors really came out and played in the third quarter as they outscored the Heat 32-24. In the fourth quarter the Heat brought the D so did the raptors early in the quarter and the Raptors stood with the Heat with a James Johnson 3-ball and a Bargnani 3-ball and @ the 8:33 point the game was tied @ 89. This is where the wheels came off for the Raptors as Calderon decided to take a charge against D-Wade so it started with Wade trying to post him up and Calderon shuffled the feet getting ready before the Wade move or more like a shoulder block to Calderon chest and Wade heads to the line as Calderon is charged with the shooting foul and then because Calderon has never fouled anyone in his pro career he complains to the Refs and gets a tech so the Heat and Wade are on the line for 3 shots and make them all and never look back. The Heat started a 8-0 run and a 16-4 run to put the game away which including an offensive charge by Amir Johnson who went one-on-one with D-Wade and Wade did the same things as Calderon and then Wade got right into Johnson space and Johnson got his arms up to drive or pass and Wade took a forearm to the face and a Raptors turnover which they had 16 in the game. This situations really rattled the Raptors and the offensive never recovered and the Heat D was air tight and they took advantage of the Raptors putting their heads down and the Heats went into the heart of the paint and slammed home slams. The Heat won the game 113-101 with D-Wade (6 assists/boards) and Bosh (8 boards) both 30 points in the game and LBJ had 26 points and 9 assists in the game as they had 86 points and the rest of the team had 27 points and this is after all three were held under 20 points against the defending champs @ home in a 21 point win for the Heat 106-85. The Raptors got another great game from Bargnani who had 27 points and DeRozan had 28 points and was 10 of 10 from the line while Calderon had 16 assists to go with 9 points and then the Raptors were lead in boards by Amir Johnson with 12 as each team had 30 boards in the game. So in the end the Raptors were unable to recover from the Heat maybe getting calls but the reality is that the Heat are a very good team and gets the calls and if the Raptors can win more of their games and make teams pay at the the ACC they will start getting the calls that the elite teams receive. Tom Mehegan

DeRozan returns as the Raptors end a long losing streak to the Nuggets

Just as much as the Raps did not come out in the Orlando Magic to start the game tonight they did the opposite and came out and played as they were up 9 (15-6) early in the first quarter and even though they took a lot from the Denver Nuggets who coming into the game were riding a personal 9 game win streak and with some of those games in the mile high state it was very personal for the Raptors and they would fight back every time the Nuggets made a run. The Raptors went into the second half up 2 points (55-53) and in most cases an opponent run of 21-11 and have the opponents up 5 with 4 and a half minutes left in the third quarter would of berried the Raptors and sent the game into garbage time but instead the Raptors fought back and getting a steal by Ed Davis and a layup from newest Raptor Ben Uzoh who tied up the game @ 85. Then in the fourth quarter when the Raptors go into the dumps and lose close games especially at the ACC tonight brought their "D"fence in the fourth quarter held the Nuggets to 3 of 19 from the floor in the final quarter as the Nuggets missed their last 14 shots in the game and the Raptors put up 20 points in the final quarter to win a game at home 105-96. Andrea Bargnani liked his primo pasta as he shot 50% from the floor (7 of 14) and almost had as many free throws as shots attempted with 12 and making 10 of them and had two of the Raps 12 threes in the game and ended with 26 points to go along with his 5 boards. DeMar DeRozan returned after missing his first two games since the end of the 2009-10 season and put up 17 points and 5 boards, and 5 assists in the game while Kleiza had his best game since the trade day deal sending Barbosa to the Pacers as he had 3 threes and 15 points and made 3 threes as well as he had a double-double with 10 points/assists while Gary Forbes lead the team with 10 boards as he also had 3 threes and 11 points while Davis along with Amir Johnson both had 8 boards. The Nuggets in their first lose to the Raptors in 10 games or five seasons where lead by Ty Lawson with 26 points and 9 assists while Wilson Chandler had 8 boards to lead the team to go with his 13 points in the game. Bosh is returning as the Heat is up next for the Raptors Tom Mehegan

The Raptors need to make a commitment to Dwayne Casey to pick his third year option

Dwayne Casey should be the franchise coach of the Raptors with players coming and going but Casey and his defense system staying long term just like Utah had Jerry Solon, the Spars have Gregg Popovich, and the Houston Rockets had Rudy Tomjanovich. So if the Raptors pickup his option for the third season then in the off-season when the Raptors have the most money to spend on free agents than they can say that Casey will be around longer than one season and he can attract the right players and continue to turn around the Raptors and create the team work that brings winning environment and allows to the team to keep their better players in the fold longer because players are happier when their winning than when they are losing.

So it begins and ends with Casey who can mold the right players into much better team players than they would be as individual players and they will in the end make more money with more success so it is a win-win scenario for both the team and the player. Casey is the right guy for the job now and for a very very long time and the team can not fool around with Casey because he could get up and walk away after not season and the Raptors would be at the bottom again with the likes of the Wizards/Bullets, Warriors, Kings, and until recently the Clippers.

Dewayne Casey is the future of the Raptors

Tom Mehegan

Dewayne Casey was not impressed with the Raptors" D "

Dewayne Casey in the halftime interview with TSN was not impressed with the Raptors effort on "D" fence in the first half as he said that "they needed to come out ready to play" and that "they needed Defense toughness". This was after the Raptors were down 10-0 to start the game and allowed a staggering 61 points in the first half to the Orlando Magic and shooting of 53.5% including almost 50% from beyond the arc (9 of 19). In the third quarter he did not see what he wanted to see as the Magic came out in the beginning of the second half and quickly had the lead up to 20 and by the end of the third quarter the Raptors had given up 93 points for a team that usually gives up an average of just less than 95 points in a full game and the Magic went 4 of 7 from beyond the arc and shot over 57% in the quarter from the floor and were shooting over 55% in the game after three quarters. The Magic after fourth quarter garbage time were still shooting 54.3% from the floor and ended the game 15 of 34 from beyond the arc in a 117-101 wipe washing of the Raptors where Ryan Anderson took 13 of his 15 shots from beyond the arc and 8 of 9 baskets from there too and ended up with 28 points and 6 boards in 35 minutes while Dwight Howard and a strange game as he shot better from the line (7 of 10) than from the floor (8 of 14) and sit came down with 10 boards in 36 and a half minutes to go with his 23 points. Jameer Nelson added 18 points and 7 assists which was on behind team leader Hedo Turkoglu with 8 assists and the Magic had 36 boards and 18 assists which was one better than the Raptors in each aspects of the game.

The Raptors were lead by Gary Forbes with 21 points and Kleiza with 18 points and Jose Calderon had 11 assists but it was Jamaal Magloire who was the most impressive in just less than 11 minutes he lead the team with 7 boards and was an amazing plus 28 on the court which means that the Raptors were outscored by 44 points when he was not on the court. Jerryd Bayless had 6 points, 4 assists, and 2 boards in his return to action and because it was a lose cause in the second half he only played 11 and a half minutes.

It was a bad game after some great efforts in the past few weeks

Tom Mehegan

The short-handed Raptors take the Bulls to overtime for the first time all season

The short-handed Raptors gave the Bulls everything they could handle and more as they came out and took a 10-point lead into the second quarter and then the Bulls started to chip away at it but with the Bulls 3 of 23 from beyond the arc the Raptors were able to take the Bulls to overtime which was the first time the Bulls were taken to extra time this season. The Bulls were without Derek Rose and Joakim Noah being tossed from the game after commiting a shooting foul and then got two techs ans hit the showers with 88 seconds left in the first half while Raptors who are still without Jerryd Bayless played the game without DeMar DeRozan who sat out his first game since the end of the 2009-10 season. Gary Forbes started in his place and was a beast on the boards with 13 to go with his 12 points as he was one of the three Raptors players who played 45 or more minutes and lead the team playing 47:05 but he also was able to almost salt the game away 6.4 seconds left on the clock in overtime as he was on the line shooting two with the Raptors up 101-100 but he missed both. This after James Johnson had a key block of a Luoi Deng shot that ended up in Forbes hands so it came down to a C.J. Watson shot that was redirected by Johnson again but fell into the hand of Luoi Deng who with his game sense immediately went up with the ball and received just in time to put up the winning basket in a 102-101 Bulls win from a foot away from the basket and the Bulls win their 40th game of the season and are 14-4 without Rose in the lineup.

James Johnson play 47:04 and lead the Raps with 20 points along with Jose Calderon to go with 4 blocks in the game and was one of the four Raptors with 8 or more boards with his 8 along with Arron Gray and Amir Johnson who shared time and both had 8 of the Raptors 58 boards to out rebound the Bulls by 14 and 36 on the defensive end where the Bulls had only 23 on the defensive end. Jose Calderon played 45 minutes and added 6 boards and 10 of the Raptors 19 assists in the game while Andrea still struggled with his shoot as he was 4 of 18 from the floor but is making it count from the line 8 of 10 and added 7 boards in 36 minutes so he still being a very big factor in the change in the Raptors style of playing and keeping it close.

The Bulls who shot 39% from the floor still got all around games from Luoi Deng who had 23 points and Carlos Boozer who had 24 points while both collected 10 boards along 4 assists and then C.J. Wilson added another 23 points for good measure.

Late in the game Dwayne Casey was not a happy camper as James Johnson had a fast break and Casey felt he was fouled as he moved to the basket without a call in the dying seconds of regulation and felt that Jose Calderon with pushed out of boards before Taj Gibson had a stick back jam. Then in overtime Andrea Bargnani was called for a double dribble with 3 minutes left and gave Courtney Kirkland a piece of his mind and the Raptors assistants had to escort Kirkland away from the Raps huddle and at the end of the game Casey and Kirkland got into before the Raptors headed to the locker room.

Casey is making the Raps into the best team in toronto

Tom Mehegan

Demar DeRozan hurt as the Raptors hands Woodson his first lose as Knicks Jead Coach

DeMar DeRozan had 30 points as he was 11 of 17 from the floor and 8 of 9 from the line but his 131 consecutive starts which is a game off of the Raptors record of 132 which has been held by Alvin Williams just before he destroyed his legs and never to play again on a regular bases he been put in jeopardy when he flied and landed on Jose Calderon and got up and hopped to the lock room with 3 minutes left in a 96-79 Raptors victory. DeRozan will at best will be a game time decision tomorrow night against the Bulls in the windy city and that is best case scenario and the Raptors also got a great performance from Andrea Bargnani wgo had 21 points and 7 boards while Jose Calderon did not make any of his 10 shot attempts from the floor and still did have 10 assists in the game.

It was very hard game as the Refs let a lot of contact in the game without a lot of fouls as the Raps had 21 fouls and the Knicks had 20 of them and the Raptors had a 5 minute slump in the second quarter as they had a 31-19 and the Knicks as they went on a 10-2 run but the Raptors took control in the third quarter and outscored the Knicks 17-2 after the Knicks cut the lead to one @ 43-42. They ended up outscoring the Knicks 31-17 in the quarter and put the game away in the fourth with the help of Gary Forbes who was 7 of 7 from the floor in the fourth and had 14 of his 19 points in the final quarter. The Raptors out bodied the Knicks as they were a plus 7 on the boards (46-39) which is a lot better than they did on Tuesday Night at MSG.

The Knicks lost their first game under Mike Woodson who was 5-0 before tonight and is in position for a playoff spot but Carmelo was 6 of 15 from the floor and 12 points and 9 boards while Amar'e Stoudemire was 6 of 12 from the floor and 5 of 11 from the line and ended up with 17 points but only had 6 boards which is like half of his boards he had on Tuesday. Steve Novak hit 5 3-balls in the game and ended up with 15 points and Baron Davis lead the Knicks with 8 assists while Jeremy Lin who added a new Raptors broadcast team that did the game in Mandarin for the first time in Raptors history and he ended the game with 6 points, 4 assists, and 3 turnovers in the game.

The Rajai Butler Raptors days have ended as he was waived today

Tom Mehegan

Raptors could not hit a shot as the Bulls had 20 unanswered points to clinch win

After the Chicago Bulls lead 27-23 after the first quarter and then the Raptors outscored the Bulls 49-37 to take a 72-64 8 point lead 90 seconds into the fourth quarter but then the Bulls scored 20 straight points to flex their muscle and take a 84-72 lead as the Raptors did not score a point in 7 minutes and did not make a basket from the floor in 7 and a half on their way to a 94-82 win. Kyle Korver scored half (10) of the unanswered points (20) after not having a point in the first three quarter and John Lucas had all of his 13 points in the fourth quarter while Taj Gibson scored 5 of his 8 points in the fourth quarter.

The Raptors were lead by DeMar DeRozan who had 23 points while former Bull James Johnson had 16 points and 7 boards while Andrea Bargnani in a back-to-back game situation did not shot the ball well as he was 2 of 10 from the floor and was 4 of 4 from the line but he did help out in different ways as he had 5 boards and 6 assists. The Raptors were perfect from the line but they only had 11 attempts but at least they only put up 8 threes and it was the jump shot that killed them in the fourth quarter as they went away from going to the basket and settling for jumpers that did not drop and they went away from passing the ball as they had 15 assists in the first half and shot 48% and in the second half they had 8 assists and shot like less than 35% in the half and ended up shooting 41% in the game. Kleiza and Arron Grey both had 8 boards but the Raptors were minus 8 on the boards (49-41).

The Bulls who were without Derek Rose were lead by Luol Deng who had 17 points and 8 boards while C.J. Watson had 15 points Gibson had 6 boards as the Bulls are now 39-10 this season.

Jerryd Bayless tried to play but was unable to stay on the court as he played 89 seconds and left

Tom Mehegan

Jose Calderon returns and meets a very different Knicks club

Jose Calderon returned to the lineup and played 35 minutes and was 5 of 9 from the floor and made his only free throw and ended the game with 11 points and 9 boards while the Raptors got a nit of a scare when Jerryd Bayless came down with a rebound at the end of the third quarter and Amar'e Stoudemire fouled him hard and he fell on his hip and was in and out of the lineup in the fourth quarter and will likely be a game time decision against the Bulls tomorrow night.

So the Knicks under Mike D'Antoni they shot 20 plus threes and take lots of jumpers but under Mike Woodson the Knicks won their fourth game under his reign and are going hard to the basket as they 48 of their 106 points from lay-ups and dunks in a 106-87 victory and took twice as many free throws (33) to three-balls (16) and U put their points from free throws (23) and that gives them 71 points and two-thirds of their points the easy way. They shot 48.1% from the floor but when they missed they came down with 16 of the 42 boards on their offensive end (38%) which helped them with second chance points mostly put back jams and they out rebounded the Raptors 46-30. It was the Amar'e Stoudemire with 22 points and 12 boards but the rest of the Knicks shared the points equally as Carmelo (8 broads) and Tyson Chandler had 17 points while Jeremy Lin had 18 points and 10 of the Knicks 23 assists on 39 made baskets.

The Raptors were lead by DeMar (17) and Andrea (15) and Ed Davis had 9 points and 9 boards while Arron Grey played very little in the game (7:30) as had very early foul trouble in the first quarter and in the third quarter he was trying to protect his turf with Tyson Chandler and was charged with his third foul as both players had each others arms tied up and he went off and kicked the ball and was T'd up and then was tossed from the game for saying something and was gone @ the 7:47 point of the third quarter.

So the Raptors come home for Military night tomorrow night against Derek Rose and the Chicago Bulls

Tom Mehegan

Raptors finally get out of Memphis this afternoon just in time to get to the Arena in Charlotte

So the Raptors after finishing the game @ 11 PM east and a hour later they were on a tar mat to get to Charlotte but instead the plane did not cooperate with them so they checked into a Memphis hotel for the night and were back at the airport @ 3 PM eastern to finally get a plane that got them out of Memphis. The problems did not end there as when they finally get to Charlotte and headed straight to the Arena and at just after 5:30 (a hour and a half before tip) a fire alarm was pulled and instead of being able to have their shoot around they had to evacuate the arena.

After all this the Raptors did have a great first half shooting 59% and leading at half by 10 53-43 with the Raptors having three players in double figures @ half including Bayless (11 points), Kleiza (11 points), and Derozan (10 points) but the Raptors really had a hard time keeping the ball as they had 11 turnovers in the half and the Bobcats shot 42%.

Then in the second half their heavy legs caught up to them as they were not strong enough to fight through the mental fatigue as the Cats shot well in the half especially the third quarter where they outscored the Raptors 38 (only 43 in the first half) - 14 as they took a 14 point lead 81-67 going into the fourth quarter as the Raptors had 10 turnover in the quarter. They were lead by D.J. Augustin had 11 points after having 9 in the first half while Corey Maggette had 10 points in the quarter after have 7 in the first half while had 7 points in the quarter.

The Raptors were able to get into reach of the lead in the fourth as the Bobcats had 15 point lead with less than 3 and a half minutes left in the game and the Raptors went on a 18-5 run late to get it to two points as Bayless had 6 of his 29 points in the last 3:30 before fouling out again while DeRozan had 4 of his 20 points during this run too. The Bobcats put their 6 straight victory in a row against the Raptors away with two free throws from D.J. Augustin who finished with 23 points.

The Raptors were given fouls like they were pieces of candy as they were given 36 fouls (bobcats 21) in the game as the Cats were hitting the floor every chance they got and it was more than the Raps rebounds which were 35 (+7) and ended up with 24 turnovers in the game.

The Raptors got a good performance from Jerryd Bayless who had 6 assists an 4 turnovers/steals (only one at half) while Andrea in 28 minutes had 11 points (9 in the first half) and 7 turnovers so he is still getting his game senses back and Ed Davis had 12 rebounds. The Bobcats who now have two of their 7 victories against the Raps got 14 of 14 from Corey Maggette from the line (20 points in the game) while Augestin had 11 assists and Gerald Henderson had 24 points in the game.

DeRozan got to the line 12 times and made 8 which is a good sign

Tom Mehegan

Raptors win a crazy one in Memphis against the Grizzles

Point guards ruled the game for the Raptors as they scored 48 points and 11 assists and 10 boards in an overtime win 114-110 win in overtime against the Memphis Grizzles in which overtime took over 30 minutes to play 5 overtime. This was the first win against the Grizzles in 7 games. Jarryd Bayless had a monster game with Calderon still injured and Barbosa now a Indiana Pacer as he went off for 28 points, 6 boards, and 9 assists before fouling out in overtime and Gary Forbes finished off the game with 20 points, 5 boards, and 2 assists. The Grizzles had three players with at least 20 points who were Rudy Gay who had 26 points and 11 boards who fouled out in overtime and he had only 3 before 3:17 left in regulation and had 5 before overtime while Zach Randolph had 25 points and 9 boards in only 24 and a half minutes in his first game back from injury and Marc Gasol had 28 points and 8 boards.

This game was actually a low scoring game going into the fourth quarter 72-69 and then everything went haywire in the fourth with the Grizzles outscoring the Raptors 34-31 with the Raptors took 13 free throws in the quarter while the Grizzles were 12 of 19 and James Johnson had three fouls before the 1:30 minute point and fouled out with 14 points and 7 boards with 5.7 seconds left in regulation. It looked like with 13.7 seconds left and the Raptors up 100-96 it looked like it was over but Rudy Gay hit two 3's in the last 7.4 seconds and when with .9 seconds left to tie it up @ 103 it looked like it was heading to overtime but Andrea Bargnani almost ended with a buzzer beater 30 footer that almost hit and he would end up with 18 points and in overtime the Raptors salted away the game with 112-109 Raptors up and Mike Conley at the line for three throws to tie up the game but after hitting the first he then missed the second and missed the third hoping that a Grizzle would get it and put it back to tie the game but instead it went out of bounds off the Grizzles. Then the Raptors tried to get the ball in but called a timeout when they could not get it in and then DeMar was fouled with the ball coming in and he hit both free throws to give him 18 points and the Raps the four point victory.

Andrea Bargnani played 39 minutes and may be given the night off against the Bobcats tomorrow which is four game and five nights for Andrea

Tom Mehegan

Nets work harder than the Raptors in the second half especially Humphries

Going into the second half the Raptors were iin good control of the game with the Nets shooting the ball well @ 47% from the floor but had turned the ball over 11 leading to 20 Raptors points and the Raptors had made 5 more free throws and even though the Raptors were shooting 41% they were leading 46-41.

The second half was a different story as the Nets came out and wanted the game way more than the Raptors and it started in the third quarter were the Nets shot well over 50% from the floor while the Raptors turned into a jump shooting team and shot under 25% and they outscored the Raptors 27-15. The Raptors tried to get back into the game but the Nets kept them at arms length but the Nets pulled away in the late fourth quarter as they outscored the Raptors 30-23 and they walked away with a 98-84 victory and beat the Raptors by 19 points in the second half. The Nets had another amazing game from Kris Humphries who had 16 points (8 in the second half) and 21 rebounds (11 in the the second half) of the Nets 48 rebounds in the game and then Gerald Green helped the Nets in the fourth quarter as he had 16 of the Nets 30 points in the third quarter and ended up with 26 points in the game. The Nets only had 6 turnovers in the second half and the Raptors had double their first half turnovers as they had 4 in the first half and 8 in the second half.

The Raptors were lead by Bayless who had 16 points and 10 assists but he had 8 of his assists in the first half and James Johnson also put up 16 points in the game while Andrea Bargnani had 10 points and 2 rebounds in 33 minutes shot 4 of 13 from the floor and just was not as strong as he was last night against the Cavilers. Then there is DeMar DeRozan who was 5 of 15 from the floor and was 2 of 4 from the line and had 12 points and 5 rebounds in the game while Amir had 9 of the 37 Raptors board and were minus 11 of the boards in the second of back-to-back game.

The Raptors are in the middle of 4 in 5 nights

Tom Mehegan

Raptors hurt the Cavs playoff chances with their third win against them this season

The Raptors played active basketball with their hands on almost every live ball in the game they went after rebounds and if they were unable to catch it they would tip the ball so that another Raptor player had a chance to get to it and more often than not the Raptors got to the rebound as they out rebounded the Cavs 45-34 in the game. it was simply about heart and effort and the Raptors brought while the Cavs who were in one of their biggest games post LBJ as they are in the thick of the playoff hunt and yes the lower seeds in the east will go into the playoffs with more losses than wins and tonight after the Raptors tightened up the D midway through the second quarter they were not putting out the effort in the game as they had 22 of their first 33 points in the paint and then 16 of their last 55 points were in the paint. The Cavs who came into the game shooting top 10 from beyond the arc were 3 of 15 from beyond the arc while the Raptors who shot 50% from the floor shot 8 of 19 from beyond the arc but this was helped by their passing (25 assist) as most threes were wide open shot with maybe Cav jumping towards them as they let their shot go. The Raptors were made it hard for the Cavs to get easy points as they contested every shot and were more willing to make them earn their points at the line with hard fouls than get a dunk and after the first quarter having 6 turnovers and two offensive charging fouls against them they ended up with only 14 turnovers in the game.

The game came down to the Raptors up 6 with 65 seconds left in the game and Jared Bayless who had 20 in the game missed a jumper and the ball goes off the front of the rim am and is bouncing on the court and Barbosa who had 17 points in the game jumps on the floor first and graps his only rebound of the game and calls timeout at the same time. Then coming out of the timeout the Raptors put the ball into the hands of Andrea Bargnani who misses a long jumper but because there are no Cavs in position to get the rebound Bargnani goes in and gets his 7th and final rebound and slams it home for his last 2 of his 19 points in the game as the Raptors win 96-88 and are 3 and 0 so far against the Cavs this season.

Kyle Irving had a tough night shooting 5 of 17 and had 5 points going into the second half and ended with 14 for the Cavs who were lead Antawn Jamison who had 20 (8 of 18 from the floor) while Ramon Sessions (6 of 9 from the floor) and Alonzo Gee (7 of 7 from the line) both had 16 points and lived in the paint and had a lot of the Cavs 38 points in the paint.

So the Raptors are a game better than last season through 42 games with 14 wins and more wins on the road

Tom Mehegan

Ersan Ilyasova torched the Raptors as the Bucks come on strong in the second and win it in the second half

The Bucks were down big with 1:51 left in the first half and they ended the half on a 7-0 run to cut a 12 point lead into a 5 point Raps lead and up to that point the Raps were playing sound team ball as they were sharing the ball as they had 10 assists in the first quarter on 13 made shots from the floor and 7 of 11 in the second quarter but only lead 56-51 going into the second half thanks to Ersan Ilyasova who had 13 in the half on his way to 31 points and Drew Gooden who had 13 as well of his 21 points. The Raptors were lead by Andrea Bargnani who played 14 minutes in the half and had 9 points along with Barbosa who had 12 in the game but the Bucks and most importantly Ersan Ilyasova took control of the game in the third quarter by taking their first lead at 2:06 left in the quarter on two made free throws made by Ersan Ilyasova and it went back and forth the rest of the quarter with the Raps ahead 79-78 going into the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter the Bucks who played only 9 players and none of them were named Andre Bogut put the Petal to the metal as Mike Dunleavy had 11 of his 19 points in the second half and 5 in the final quarter and outscored the Raps 27-20 and taken their sixth in a row from the Raps 105-99 as the Raps are 13-28 through 41 games and the Bucks are 17-24.

The Raps really only played 9 players on a back-to-back as Arron Grey only played 2 and a half minutes off the bench as Amir Johnson started 12 points and 6 boards while Bargnani had his minutes monitored closely with 30 but he used the extra rest to focus on the glass as he took down 8 boards and still is looking for his shooting legs as he was 4 of 10 from the floor and 3 of 4 from the line for 11 points. DeRozan had 8 of his team leading 21 points in the fourth quarter while Ed Davis had 10 boards in 21 and half minutes which was best on the Raptors and only trailed Ersan Ilyasova who had 12 to go with his 31 points for the Bucks.

The Raptors only had 6 assists on 16 made shots from the floor as they ended the game shooting 46.5% and the Bucks had 47.9% and the Bucks ended up with 4 more assists (26-22) and went to the line almost twice as much (35-19) and making two times more (29-15) than the Raptors but the Raptors had 7 more boards (43-36).

So more Lottery balls but I do not know if that helps

Tom Mehegan

Andrea Bargnani is back but Calderon is lost in a flat game against the Pistons

The Raptors welcomed back Andrea Bargnani on the court and did not have his shooting legs back as he had a 2 of 8 from the floor and ended up with 8 going 4 of 4 from free throw line but in the late second quarter the Raptors lost Jose Calderon to an ankle injury and will be out for a few games. This means that Jerryd Bayless will need to step it up while Calderon is sitting in a suit on the bench and will need to push the ball around and get the ball into the scorers hands so they get the points for the team and Bayless gets the assists. Then there is Gary Forbes who will need to give the Raptors good minutes so Bayless can get a breather and stay strong and Forbes will need to get the ball into the play makers hands as well.

The Raptors in the game did not come out to play and it showed as they shot very badly from the floor as they shot 39.7% (29-73) and even with no shooting touch they decided to shot from further from away as they put up 21 from beyond the arc and only made 5 of them. DeMar DeRozan had a tough night going 3 of 10 from the floor with Andrea back and at least there is a bright spot to his game tonight which was going 9 of 10 from the line and Arron Gray made 4 baskets from the floor which was tied for most on the team with Barbosa and Bayless along with Forbes.

The Pistons even though they played last night completely out worked the Raptors as they out boarded (39-33), out assisted (22-16), and because of weak Raptor D the Pistons hit 6 of 8 from beyond the arc in the first quarter and shot 61.5% in the first half and put up 61 points in the half lead by Brandon Knight who had 19 points which was all his points in the game while Rodney Stuckey had 16 of his 20 points in the half. The Pistons in the 105-86 victory outscored the Raptors in all of the first three quarters and had all their starters of Tayshaun Prince (10), Jason Maxiell (12 points), and Greg Monroe (11 points) joined Knight and Stuckey in double figures in points and even Jonas Jerebko had double digit in points with 13 points.

This Piston team is a team that Casey wants the Raps to become as they are now 11 and 6 since starting the season 4 and 20

Tom Mehegan