3/30/11

Back On Familiar Grounds

After heading out on a 5 game round trip in which they finished 1-4, the Raptors return to the ACC for a Wednesday night showdown against the Bucks. With the Bucks potentially playing for a shot at that 8th seed, in which they are only 3 games back of the Pacers, the Raptor have a chance to play spoiler and give the Bucks a much difficult chance of gaining ground on the 8th seed. The Bucks are looking to put an end to a 2-game losing skid while the Raptors are looking to end a 4-games losing streak, all of which were lost on the trip out West.

The Basics: Toronto 20-53 (12-31 vs East), Milwaukee 29-43 (3-3 in last 6 games)

When Last We Saw Them: The Raptors last played quite a while ago on Saturday when they lost to the Clippers. After leading for most of that game, the Raptors once again suffered from their patented late game collapse and lost 94-90. Blake Griffin who was pretty quite for most of the game came alive in the 4th quarter and help lead the Clippers rally for the victory. Ed Davis continued his great play as of late finishing the game with 21 points and 11 boards, while DeMar Derozan struggled to find his shot and finished the game with only 7 points on 3-15 shooting.

Key Match-Ups: Andrew Bogut vs the Raptors bigs. Bogut may not be the most offensively skilled center out there, but he's a force on the boards and a huge defensive presence. Ed Davis, Amir Johnson and Andrea Bargnani, if he does play tonight, will have their hands full trying to post him up in the paint and battling for the boards. Bogut can also go off offensively if there is little to no defensive pressure, so the Raptors may have to step it up defensively as well.

Other Things of Note:
  • Ed Davis has surpassed his career high in points in the last two games
  • Each of the Raptors remaining games are against Eastern conference teams
  • The Raptors finished 8-22 against the Western team this season
Injury Report:
  • Reggie Evans is listed as day-to-day with a sore right foot
  • Andrea Bargnani is also listed as day-to-day with a sore right ankle
  • Ersan Ilyasova is out for the Bucks after suffering a concussion a few weeks ago
Where It Is On: TSN 2

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