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Raptors Report: Week 17
Since their move from Vancouver to Memphis, the Grizzlies have been the laughing stock of the league. When a team is bad for so long, they begin to stockpile lottery draft picks, which eventually translates into a talented group of young players developing together. The Grizzlies, led by youngsters Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, Marc Gasol and OJ Mayo, along with veteran all-star Zach Randolph are finally starting to come together. They are one of the teams in the Western Conference vying for the 8th playoff seed.
On Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre, Memphis ran out to an early lead, and were in front by as many as 16 points, but Toronto answered in the second quarter and only trailed 49-47 at recess. In his second game of the season, gritty forward Reggie Evans contributed “4 minutes of fury” for the Raptors, accumulating 4 points and 4 rebounds in his limited time. By the end of the third, nothing had changed and the score was 71-69 for the Grizzlies. The Raptors seemed to be headed for victory, leading by 7 in the dying minutes, but the Grizz came back to tie it with 1.2 seconds left thanks to a driving layup by Randolph. Chris Bosh missed the buzzer beater, sending the game to overtime. In the extra period, Rudy Gay exploded and Memphis snapped Toronto’s home win streak at 8 games. The all-star break did nothing for Hedo Turkoglu’s poor play, as he only scored 1 point in the game. It was the first time the Raptors had lost when sporting their Huskies jerseys all season.
Bosh was not available for the Raptors Friday night in New Jersey because of an ankle injury, but that wasn’t a problem considering the Nets only have 5 wins on the whole season. In absence of their all-star, other Raptors picked up the slack, and 7 players finished in double-digits. Toronto outscored the hapless Nets in all but one quarter and their lead was never in serious jeopardy. It was a sloppy affair, but thanks to the outstanding play of Rasho Nesterovic, who finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, the Raptors were able to put away Devin Harris and the rest of the Nets. The game ended with a score of 106-89. No Bosh, no problem.
Entering the season, the Washington Wizards were projected to be battling for the 5th spot in the Eastern Conference. Their core of Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison, along with the new addition of Mike Miller appeared to be one of the most dangerous lineups in the conference. After a terrible start to the season, Miller went down to injury, Arenas was involved in a controversial gun altercation, Butler was traded to Dallas and Jamison was picked up by LeBron’s Cavs. In the first ever Saturday night basketball game at the Air Canada Centre, the Raptors welcomed the Wizards and looked to improve to 2-0 without CB4 in the lineup. The first quarter saw new acquisition Josh Howard (who went to Washington in the Butler trade) light up the Raptors’ awful defense. Toronto won the second quarter, shooting 64 percent en route to a 7-point lead at halftime. In the third quarter, Washington snatched the lead right back, outscoring their Canadian counterparts by ten in the frame. After trailing by as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter, the Raptors stopped settling for jump shots and attacked the basket, thanks to the impressive driving ability of Jarrett Jack, who finished with 23 points and 8 assists. The home crowd at the ACC was as loud as it has been all season and they willed their team to a 109-104 victory. Andrea Bargnani was huge defensively, especially down the stretch, swatting away 4 Wizard shot attempts. Antoine Wright was a big factor off of the bench, contributing a season high 19 points.
The coming week will be difficult for the Raptors, and they will need Bosh back in the lineup if they want to have a chance to win. On Wednesday, Brandon Roy and the Portland Trailblazers head north of the border. Friday night, Jack and company will play host to the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers, who have lost three in a row but still sit atop the Eastern Conference, and have a player by the name of LeBron James. Toronto will wrap up the week in Oklahoma City against the young and talented Thunder.