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Raptors Report: Week 12
The second game of a back-to-back is never easy, especially when playing on the road. If the Raptors could take any comfort in having to play in Indiana against the Pacers on a Monday night, it would be that the last time these two teams played, Toronto scored 74 points in the first half, en route to an easy win.
The first half was the same story on this night as the Raps poured in 65 points through the first 2 quarters, dominating their counterparts from Indiana. It was the second unit for the Raptors that fueled their impressive first half with Sonny Weems, Marco Belinelli, Rasho Nesterovic and Jose Calderon all providing a scoring lift off the pine. If not for a late run to end the second quarter, Toronto would have been up by at least 20 points, but instead led by only 13 going into the break. The Pacers seemed to be seizing the momentum, but Antoine Wright’s 3-quarter court buzzer beater swung it right back.
With Jarrett Jack getting into foul trouble, the Pacers chipped away their deficit to a mere 6 points after 36 minutes of play. In the end, poor execution on both sides of the ball down the stretch cost the Raptors what should have been a win. Andrea Bargnani’s monstrous game of 12 points and 17 rebounds was wasted in defeat. Perhaps fatigue was an issue as the dying minutes trickled off the clock.
After their heartbreaking loss to the Pacers, the Raptors travelled to New York on Friday night to square off against the Knicks. So much time between a tough loss, can have both advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, teams want to get right back on the court and avenge the loss to an inferior team, but on the other, they have plenty of time to rest and make sure they take care of business in the next game.
The Raptors flew out of the gates, running out to a 14-3 lead, prompting Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni to take a time out in an attempt to get things back under control for his team. By the end of the first quarter, the lead had grown to 39-20, behind 63% shooting, highlighted by Andrea Bargnani’s 4 three-pointers in the opening 12 minutes. The second frame belonged to Jose Calderon, as he went off for 12 points in the first 6 minutes of the quarter. By half time, Toronto was up by a whopping 24 points.
If the Raps were going to avoid another game like the one in Indiana, they would have to lock-down and limit any runs for New York. That being said, the Knicks opened the 3rd quarter on a 10-0 run and trimmed the Raptor lead to 13 with 12 minutes to play. In the end, the Raps were able to walk out of Madison Square Garden with a 112-104 victory. Perhaps the most notable thing about the game was who was on the floor closing out the game. The usual suspects, Chris Bosh, Hedo Turkoglu, Andrea Bargnani, and Jose Calderon were out there, but almost all of the time, Jay Triano elects to play Jarrett Jack and run a double point guard lineup down the stretch. That changed Friday night, as rookie DeMar DeRozan joined the leaders to make sure the victory was sealed. If the USC alum is going to become one of the future stars of this team, he will have to get used to being on the court in the waning minutes.
The Raptors closed out the week at home against the Dallas Mavericks. Last time these two teams played, the Mavs came out on top in a dominating 129-101win. Both teams opened the game with horrendous shooting – Dallas shot 3/10 and the Raptors were even worse at 3/14. By the end of the first quarter, Dirk Nowitzki had led his team to a 23-20 lead. The second quarter was a different story, as Jose Calderon provided a spark for the second game in a row. The home team put up 34 points, en route to a 54-41 halftime advantage.
By the end of the third quarter, the Raptors were up by 16 on the heavyweights from the Lone Star State. In their previous two games, the Raptors suffered 4th quarter meltdowns, but that was certainly not the case, as they put the game on ice, cruising out to as large as a 25-point lead. Behind the massive scoring output of Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani, the game finished with a final score of 110-88. The end of the game marked the halfway point in the Raptors’ season, as they sit at 21-20. It is fitting that the first half finished with a win against Dallas, one of the top teams as the league, seeing as their first victory of the season came against Cleveland; another one of the NBA’s elite.
Next week is jam-packed for the Raptors as they will try and go for their second win against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, followed by a home and home against the Milwaukee Bucks. Toronto will close out the week against the top team in the Western Conference – the Los Angeles Lakers.