4th Quarter Jazz Music Has Raps Singing The Blues

Reggie is dressed and it the building for the Raptors. No Bargnani for the Raptors with the London Flu and Jazz have no AK-47 or Millsap. Net result advantage Raptors. Jazz got smashed in New York it was so bad Andy Rautins got to see the floor. He is already half way to Leo's told minutes on the floor in NBA. That is just an estimate but not far off.

Raps drew first blood and it was a 4-4 start with both teams shooting terrible to start. James Johnson comet like rise to Raptor popularity fizzled in London but early in this one a drive and foul for old fashion 3 point play and Raptors led 9-6 and it sparked a run. Raps get buckets from Davis and Amit Johnson for a 7-0 run and a 13-6 lead. Jazz clawed back into it and on a Devin Harris 3 the game was tied at 15. Amir Johnson who has been a warrior all year came down on Ed Davis foot and turned his ankle badly with score 17-17. Amir limps back to the Locker Room. Reggie Checks in for the injured Amir in an ironic twist of an ankle and fate. Al Jefferson went to work in the paint and Jazz had built a 5 point lead since Amir hit the locker room with score 26-21 Jazz with under 2 to play. Reggie Evans in the books with a basket and a couple of boards but Raptors were up against it down 31-26 after 1.

Raptors thanks to the Blur would get it to within 1 getting the first 4 points of the 2nd. Sonny Weems in full I am pissed mode comes in the game and give the Raptors the lead. If Sonny is selfish and looks to pad his stats the rest of this year, I am down with that because this team has made their choice. Ed Davis got the start and has been doing some nice things and a score by him gave the Raptors a 41-37 lead. Demar could not put a basket down in the paint and Jazz had closed to within 3 thanks to some Raptor sloppy play. Raptors lead was evaporating like the boilling water in my (Not Primo) pasta on the stove. By time I returned the Jazz were up 4. Raptor had 9 turnovers which would not go well with my spaghetti. Ed Davis had 12 at the half with no meatballs and Raptors trailed 52-50.

So as I finished up my bowl of pasta the Jazz went to work on the Raptors starting the half on a 8-2 run. Al Jefferson doing some of the damage and had 22 on the night to this point with Jazz winning 60-52. A DeRozan throw down got the Raptors on a roll and it got Raps back to down just 64-60. No Bargs, No Amir, No problem as DeRozan was not done finishing off the comeback with a basket and a foul that he made at the line 69-68 Raptors. Raptor from their would build their own lead at 76-70. Raptors would add 2 more before time expired in 3rd and led 78-70 after 3 in the books.

Sonny Weems started the 4th quarter making a bucket to kick things off. Raptors went on an 8-2 run to start the quarter with bookend Weems hoops as part of that run. The Raptors were looking good up 86-72 with 8:21 to go. But this is the Raptors and as we have seen all year long no lead is truly safe until the final buzzer goes. The Jazz would answer that Raptor run with a 10-2 run of their own with a couple three balls coming from Watson and Harris as part of the run. Raptors 14 point lead had been trimmed to 88-82. A couple free throws for Weems who had 16 off the bench. But then back to back threes for Miles and the Jazz all of the sudden were down just 2 with 3:24 to play. Calderon missed a couple threes and while Harris scored to close to within just 1. Jefferson would get back to back baskets and the 14 point lead was history and The Jazz with a 17 point turnaround led 94-91 with just a minute to play. The Raptors would get a huge three from Barbosa who just had 7 on the night but the game was tied at 94. The Jazz on the final possession were able to get away with an apparent travel by Devin Harris and a Jefferson tap back at the buzzer. Count the basket give him 34 points on the night and the Jazz a 96-94 win at the Buzzer.

Miles and Harris had 23 and Jefferson the aforementioned 34 that adds up to 80 of the Jazz 96 points. DeRozan had 17 and 8 rebounds with no Bargnani in the line-up. Reggie Evans in his return had a classic Reggie line with just 2 points and 11 boards. Amir Johnson did not return in this game. He would later tweet post game he was ok and thanked people for all their well wishes. Amir has been closest thing to Alvin Williams we have seen on this team. He is always going to say he is good but if he can go Friday will see. We know he will want to go. It will be just a question of can he go. As for the Bargnani flu....who knows. A sad and familiar script for Raptor fans.

Rasho To The Rescue

Some folks were worried with no Chris Bosh would the Raptors be in trouble even though they were facing the awful New Jersey Nets. But never fear Raptor fans cause Rasho is here. He would replace Bosh in the starting line up and Andrea Bargnani would shift over to Bosh's normal spot at the 4 spot. Rasho had an amazing night of 16 points 7 rebounds and 4 assists. There was a time after the first quarter would where Rasho was on pace to have a triple double. Jarrett Jack also had a major bounce back to lead the Raptors with 18 points and he and Rasho were part of 7 players that reached double figures in a 106-89 win over the Nets.

It wouldn't be the Raptors if they did not give fans a scare. Devin Harris lead a charge that would get the Nets back to with in 6 points. He had 19 in the game and it was Brook Lopez with 22 points and was the games high scorer. The Raptors are back at it tonight with a game vs the Wizards who come in riding high off a win over Denver. Al Thornton one of the players that came in the Wizards fire sale at the deadline proved to be effective off the bench with 21 points.

Chris Bosh looks to be doubtful for basketball night in Canada as he missed the trip to New Jersey with a bad left ankle. However CB4 would still make an impact. Not on the floor but on Twitter. He tweeted #LetsGoRaptors and asked his twitter army of Raptor fans to do the same. Well they did and in huge numbers so much so that #LetsGoRaptors became a trending topic in Canada. That would not happen playing for the Knicks or the Heat. In a small way this king of demonstrates the power the Bosh has in terms of being the Franchise guy on the Raptors. He would just be the top guy in a city in the U.S. But here in Canada he not only gets Toronto but the pockets of basketball fans across this country. That is something unique that only the Raptors offer. That along with the extra 30 million that the Raptors can pay him.

So Bosh may just be in a suit helpless watching like all of us for tonight's game vs the Wizards. The Raptors will need more of what they got from New Jersey game. The Wizards are a step up the ladder from the 5 win Nets. They are not a major step up but a step none the less. Raptors without Bosh have a much smaller margin of error and need to get production from guys like Bargnani and Turkoglu who combined for 27 in the Nets game. Not great but with the complete team effort it was good enough.

So CB4 or not it is Basketball Night In Canada....Are You Ready? More importantly are the Raptors ready? I am liveblogging it for The Score so we can find out together. Link to come later today.