So the Raptors did something they had not done in their past 8 and that is to simply win a game and on their way to that victory they also did something no Raptors team has done in almost 8 years and more to the point February 2Nd, 2004 which was beat the Suns as they had lost to the Suns 14 straight games. Also until tonight they had not beaten Captain Canada since Hakeem Olajuwon was a Raptor and Tim Hardway was a Dallas Maverick which was November 2Nd, 2001.
Andrea Bargnani was back tonight and he did not start well as he was 2 of 8 from the floor in the first half and ended up with 9 points in the first half but in the third quarter he took over the game with 4 of 5 from beyond the arc and ended up with 18 of the Raps 31 third quarter points and ended up with 36 points, 6 boards, 2 steals, and a block shot in the game.
The Raps just like have been doing time and time again forgot to show up for the first quarter as they allowed the Suns to shoot 55.6% from the floor and only scored 17 points in the first quarter and allowed 27 but again in the second quarter the Raps went on a run and closed the half only down 52-48. The turning point of the game came @ the 5:02 mark of the third quarter when they tied the game up @ 69 when they were still shooting 57% from the floor and then the Suns came up empty their next 11 of 12 offensive possessions and the Raptors went on a 14-2 to open a 83-71 lead where Warrick got a dunk with 9 seconds left in the quarter and it took them til the 8:34 mark of the fourth to score their basket in the quarter. The Suns pushed back thanks to Nash with the assists and the key shots but the Raptors even though they did not get a bucket in 5:25 during the fourth quarter still got to the line with Bargnani going 2 of 2 as he went 12 of 12 from the line in the game and James Johnson went 2 of 2 from the line as well. The Raptors held onto a 99-96 victory as Bargnani put up 7 of his points in the last 4:07 of the game.
Dwayne Casey had no passions tonight for players not working their asses off as he used 12 players in the first half and Barbosa had 19 points in 31 minutes while DeRozan played 22 and a half and had 2 of 8 from the floor and no free throws while Amir played 13 minutes off the bench and Ed Davis played 3 and a half minutes in the game. While James Johnson had 18 points and 10 boards from the three position while Calderon had 11 assists and Arron Grey as the starter instead of Amir played 15 minutes and got 5 boards. The Raps were 23 of 25 from the line and 8 of 15 from beyond the arc and it was nice to have Andrea Bargnani back but he did play 42 minutes so someone needs to be able to put up points while he is on the bench.
The Suns got 17 points and 14 assists from Nash while Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 12 boards while Hakim Warrick who was torching the Raps in the first half ended up with 17 points as the Suns shot 47.6% from the floor in the game.
Raptors win yeah
Tom Mehegan
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