3/5/13

Raptors Get California Crushed In Fourth Quarter

Toronto Raptors struggles continued last night despite having Rudy Gay back in the line-up and a vintage performance from Andrea Bargnani when he could play basketball. They also had a great performance from Amir Johnson that was wasted based on their lack of ability to stop the Warriors.

The Raptors for three quarters seemed to find a way to score fairly consistently and easily but they would draw blanks in the final quarter. Andrea Bargnani had 26 points on the night but went 0 for 5 in crunch time in the fourth quarter. This nugget of a stat came from the Warriors PR staff the Raptors were 0-8 when Andrea Bargnani scores 20+ points this season. The stat went to 0-9 as the Warriors out scored the Raptors 42-28 to erase the Raptors 7 point lead heading into the final quarter. The Warriors had 3 players scoring 20+ with David Lee leading the way with 29 as they stormed to a 125-118 victory.

Raptors also had 3 players go for 20+ with Bargnani and Gay each getting 26 and Amir Johnson off the bench with 23. Johnson was a perfect 10-10 from the field and had a career his 12 offensive rebounds of his 15 overall on the glass.

Both of the Raptors rookies struggled as Jonas was 1-7 from the field with just 3 points and 5 rebounds in a shade less than 16 minutes. He also got an education on the defensive side of things as he was not that effective in his time on the floor. While Terrence Ross was only able to get just over 8 minutes of action and was 0-4 from the field. He continues to have a hard time cracking the line-up and producing once he does since his slam dunk contest win.

Quincy Acy was sent down to the Jam of the D-League earlier in the day. This is the second or third time this year he has been assigned there. He was sent down the last time the Raptors hit the west coast and California. Save a little money on travel expenses I guess. It would be nice if the Raptors could find a D-League affiliate at least in the same time zone.

While were on the subject of rookies Harrison Barnes looked good scoring 12 points and going 4-6 in 22 minutes for the Warriors. He was the guy the Raptors would likely have selected if not losing a coin flip to Golden State last season. As time marches on it will be interesting to see how he develops in comparison to Ross.

Steph Curry use to make jumpers on the Raptors practice floor while his dad Dell was busy playing for the Raptors in the main arena at the ACC. Curry had 26 points and 12 assists and when he can stay healthy is rapidly becoming an NBA star. It must be amazing for all the folks connected with the Raptors both now and then to see him doing all of this.

In any case the Raptors travel to Phoenix desperately looking to find a way to get back in the win column now losers of five straight games.

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