Good Game, Terrible Finish

Well I did this game for The Score and after the Raptors had been crushed by the Hawks 96-78 the last time they hooked up. I don't think if I was being completely honest I expected a competitive game that would come down to the final minute. But that is what we got last night at the ACC. Here is how it went down live as it happened on The Score Live Blog last night.

The Raptors would hang around the entire night it was a slow and sloppy start for both teams starting shooting just 1 for 4 from the field. The bad shooting would continue for the first half of the first quarter as the Hawks had a 10-8 lead and were 5-13 from the field while the Raptors were 4-12. Raptors would get out on break and Calderon would hook up DeRozan for the slam tied at 12. Calderon would nail a 3 after the Hawks answered with 2 and Raps had a 15-14 lead. Jamal Crawford noted Raptor killer would come of the bench and nail a 3 ball. Hawks had a 19-18 lead with 2:33 to play in 1st Quarter. Raptors would regain the lead only to have Crawford strike again with another 3 ball and the Hawks led 22-20. Crawford would later get a basket and 1 to make it 9 points in just 3 minutes of the bench. He would add two more before the Quarter ended and he had 11 points and DeRozan lead the Raptors with 9. On the Scoreboard it was 27-21 Hawks with one in the books at the ACC.

The Hawks would maintain the lead and build on it slightly to 35-27. Raps would get things rolling and would go on a 7-0 run to close the gap and force the Hawks into a time out still leading 35-34. This was after back to back turnovers that the Raptors turned into points. Both teams were having trouble and neither could play any kind of consistent defence. Bargnani would emerge and DeRozan would fade in this quarter. Raptors were hanging around as a result of the effort now being led by Bargnani trailing 45-42 with five and change to play. Raptors were also getting a good performance by Barbosa off the bench and had a rare slam dunk off steal would light up the crowd and the Raptors were back to down just 1 with score 49-48. But as good as Barbosa was Crawford was better and he was hitting almost everything he shot. He had yet another 3 pointer and gave the Hawks a 56-50 lead. By the time the half was over he had 25 points and the Hawks had a 60-55 lead at the half. DeRozan was shut out in the 2nd quarter stuck on 9 points. Bargnani had 15 to lead the Raps and Barbosa had 13 off the bench.

The Raptors came out in the 2nd half and to their credit shut down Crawford in the 3rd Quarter where they would shut him out. It was a sloppy start to the 3rd quarter much like it was to start the game. But if one Raptor killer was finally being shut down it was ok because the Hawks had another. Mike Bibby hit a three pointer and the lead was 67-61 Hawks. The Raptors had been playing a lot of zone that was making the 3 point shot available to the Hawks. Risky business but it was working to a degree as the Raptors were still being able to hang around. They would do more than that in fact as they would take the lead 74-72 late in the 3rd. It was their first lead since 18-17 in the first quarter. Barbosa was driving the bus to lead the Raptors charge back and they would hang on to lead 79-77 entering the 4th quarter.

The Raptors would fight and scrap to keep their lead and would hold it till the score was 91-88 and a Joe Johnson three pointer would tie it at 91 with 4:20 left to play. Raptors a few times in this game broke a fundamental rule of defence in basketball fouling a 3 point shooter. Crawford was fouled went to the line and dropped all 3 to give the Hawks a 99-98 lead with under a minute to play. Raptors would respond, with an Amir Johnson basket plus a foul, and he would make that extra free throw too and Raptors led 101-99. Crawford missed a corner 3 to take the lead the Raps got the rebound and it looked like they were going to pull of the upset. But a moving screen on Amit Johnson who seconds earlier had appeared to ice the game. Cue Mike Bibby and he would fire it up from 3 and nail it but he did not wait till the buzzer leaving the Raptors some time for an answer. Out of a Triano time out the Raps would run a pick and roll with Amir and Jose and Calderon drove to the basket with Horford on him. There was not one moment that Jose looked like he had a chance to make the shot. He would not and it was blocked and after a video review overturned the call on the floor and it was Hawks ball with just two seconds left. Some may say Calderon was fouled but in my view he was clearly playing to be fouled and not to make the shot. You can debate about if Horford fouled him or not. But the fact was based on the play Calderon had zero chance to score, and why was the play not for Barbosa who had been on fire. Hawks would get fouled make two free throws that left Raptors a single second. Bargnani actually got a look at a 3 to tie but it only caught rim. The Hawks fly out of Toronto with a 104-101 win.

A tough way to lose but the Raptors just did not execute down the stretch. But this is what happens when you are a young team with a losing record down the stretch some times. Hopefully the Raptors can store away how they felt after this one and the next time they remember that feeling and play hard to avoid it.

Raptors March Madness Like Win

March Madness is starting today but for Raptors fans it got rolling last night. The Raptors took fans on a roller coaster ride all night. It start off badly as the Hawks came out and went on a 7-0 run causing Jay Triano to burn an early time out. The Raptors would battle back and build a lead only to see the Hawks go on another run and make it close. When the music stopped after the first quarter the Raptors had a 30-25 lead. But some of the same issues from this 5 game losing streak would still be there through out the night. Jose Calderon looked decent overall in his return to the starting line-up. Chris Bosh on the other hand was having a rough night at the office. After a strong start to the 2nd quarter the Raptors would close the quarter in trouble. The reason things were getting out of hand late was lack of defense guarding the 3 point line. The Hawks were shooting 75% from behind the 3 point line after a half of play. The Raptors were fortunate to have a 59-56 lead at the half.

Demar DeRozan was great in that first half in terms of offense as he had 14 point and was slamming and making his way to the free throw line on a regular basis. But as good as the rookie might have been for Raptors, Jamal Crawford was killing it for the Hawks. Crawford once scored 50 points vs the Raptors as a Bull. He had 22 points in the first half and the Raptors seemed to have no answer to stopping him. Along with him Bibby and Evans were hitting from distance as well. When you fast forward to the 3rd quarter the Raptors lead was short lived. Once again this team failed to answer the bell in the 3rd quarter. The absolute rock bottom moment for Raptors fans like was when the Hawks hit 3 straight 3 pointers in 3 possessions. In doing the live blog for The Score the mood was an ugly one. All signs were pointing to a 6th straight loss and people were more then happy to share how they felt about that. The mood would change by the end of this one. By the time the music stopped in the 3rd quarter the Hawks had outscored the Raptors 30-16 and had an 11 point lead entering the 4th. Hope seemed lost for Toronto.

But the Raptors would come out in the 4th and cause the Hawks to become a turnover machine. The Raptors actually were playing defense all of the sudden and had found their groove an offense again. But down 11 you still felt it might have been to little to late. But Andrea Bargnani who at times got abused by Al Horford did end up with 22 points and more importantly 11 rebounds. But in the end this game would come down to a bizarre set of circumstances involving both Hedo Turkoglu and Chris Bosh.

The Hawks once 11 point lead had bee chopped to just 2 points. Raptors call a time out and they inbound the ball to HeDO or HeDON'T that was the question. He would be fouled with 15 seconds left and have a chance to tie game at the line. HeDO on the first shot and HeDidn't on the second and the Hawks rebounded the miss and it seemed over. However Al Horford stepped out of bounds. Raptors would now have a chance to win the game. The ball would go to Chris Bosh who was (5-18) at the time. Bosh would take a jumper instead of drive and he would make it when it mattered most. Earlier in the night Chris passed 10,000 points in his career but the 2 points he got at the end of this one might have been 2 of the most important of his time with the Raptors. Hawks would have 2.1 seconds left thought. They would get a shot off from Crawford I believe it was and he missed it. Relief, Joy and Excitement were all emotions for both fans and the Raptors. They escape with a 106-105 win snapping a 5 game losing streak.

On the out of town scoreboard the Bobcats win and the Bulls lose. The Raps are now 2 and half games clear of the Bulls for that final playoff spot. They gain a half game on Miami who will play tonight vs Orlando. It was not pretty and the Raptors for a lot of reasons likely deserved to lose this game but when the chips were down they played defense and got it done. Bosh after a brutal night found a way to make the big shot like the franchise play is suppose to do. Still I am not convinced Jay Triano slept much better last night. There is still a lot of issues with this team and they are some of the same ones. Raptors did get a win though and that was badly needed if for nothing else, the overall moral of this franchise from the fans to the front office. A similar challenge lies ahead in the Thunder on Friday. If the Raptors do not play better than they did in this one they will lose. While I am as happy as anyone the Raptors finally won. I am not so happy that I am blind to what went on in the 47 minutes and 38 seconds prior to the wacky conclusion. Raptors may not care nor may fans but Raptors got lucky last night. Maybe even though they are ugly, those green Raptor Jerseys have some luck in them. I will admit this team for it's own mental state needed this win badly and it could be something they can build from.

Like the title indicates this had a real March Madness feel to it. Heck of a game from an entertainment standpoint. Still lot of work to do. In terms of the line up change Jose was o.k at the end of the day. He out played Jack both need to pick it up for this team. The Raptors need better point guard play down the stretch. Simple as that. I am to the point, I honestly do not care who it comes from. 33-33 with 16 to play will see if it is a SWEET or SOUR 16 games for the Raptors.

Matt Devlin From California In The Starting 5

As I had mentioned this morning I was going to be talking with Matt Devlin. I was able to catch up with him and here is the audio portion of our interview which we call here at Dino Nation Blog " The Starting 5 ". It never has been 5 minutes in it's history but it is always worth going into extra time for our guests. Matt talks about the Raptors long road trip. Some thoughts on the Warriors and Bryan Colangelo and if the Raptors are going to make a deal and when. Matt also offers a cool story at the end that I never knew about which was pretty cool.

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Part two of the interview will be tomorrow and that will be in the written word form. So make sure to come back and check that out as we talk about J.O, Chris Bosh, Jay Triano and Jose Calderon.Tonight it will be Raptors Rewind of the game Matt will be calling on TSN with Jack Armstrong.