Raptors Doing What Raptors Do Against Miami

It is a script that the Raptors have made an all too familiar story that played out again last night against Miami.  Since the big three have come to Miami the Raptors have never beat them. That was not going to change on this night and it looked like with a resounding explanation mark.  True to being the Raptors though they would get down by 20 and go on a furious run to end the third and the effort would continue into the fourth. Toronto would get as close as two points down to the defending champs before they shut the door.

How many times can we praise this plucky “never say die attitude” of the Raptors before we realize it only matters if they win. The Raptors dig a hole and that is how they lose the game. They did the same against a Brooklyn team that is struggling to find wins. It shouldn’t take the Raptors getting embarrassed to get an effort out of them.

DeMar DeRozan seems to be the catalyst of many of these comebacks as you can see his clear frustration with his team being on the losing end. The problem is at many times especially last night he seemed like an army of one. He eventual got some help as the Raptors tried to fight back in this one.

Perhaps the craziest thing of all is the Raptors still find themselves leading the Atlantic with a 6-9 record after this one. The Division and the overall Eastern Conference has become a laughing stock of the early NBA Season. We should just forego the Eastern Playoffs and have the Heat and Pacers play an epic best of 21 series or something.

Want two stats that defined this game that made it unlikely the Raptors would beat anyone on this night let alone the Heat? Let’s start with 8-30 from three point range which is not winning you anything. Why this team is so hard headed in their belief they can make threes is beyond me. Lowry was the best of the miserable bunch going 3-8 from the three. The worst was Terrence Ross who shot all 5 of his attempts from three point range and made none of them.

Second you had the free throw line where the Raptors were 19-32 from the line. DeRozan was 3-7 and Rudy Gay 2-7 from your top two scorers on most nights that is unacceptable. The rest of the team was 14-18 which is much more acceptable. But do not fret; the Raptors will not be aware of this because Rudy Gay banned stat sheets from the locker room.

This team is very frustrating to watch if you care about the ultimate results. If you just like entertaining basketball they provide that most nights. Last time I checked the NBA was not the Sports Entertainment business that is still Vince McMahon’s thing. Maybe we should take this Rudy Gay idea to the next level and just stop keeping score altogether. It would save us all a lot of frustration. 

But if you are still caught up in this silly keeping score stuff the Raptors lost 90-83. Don't tell Rudy Gay but that link will take you to stats from this game.