10 Things On Last Night, Tonight and Beyond

So it is late in the season. I am tired and need to combine a re-cap and a preview into one. Thanks to folks at St Louis Wings for hosting me for the night for the game with the Thunder. I learned that the Easter Bunny is bigger than the Dino Blogger in two ways. Still, the folks at St Louis Wings have always been great to me and it is a great place to catch a game. Any restaurant/bar that puts basketball first in Canada is a rare gem to find. That said back to business, here are 10 thoughts on what we saw last night and what to expect tonight against the Pacers and beyond.

1. The Result Was Obvious- There was not a doubt in my mind last night's Raptor game would end up with the result it did. The Thunder were in bad need of a win coming in and the Raptors provided that perfect springboard to do just that. OKC had sat a top the Western Conference for the majority of this season and getting passed by the Spurs made losing to the Raptors not an option.

2. Thunder Fans- There is a lesson to be learned for Raptor fans from the people in the stands in OKC. It has become the best home court advantage in the NBA. Be it crazy fat guys with bunnies painted on them with masks or just your average OKC Fan they all get it. I am pretty confident they are never worried if they are treated to a slice of pizza. I am also confident that even when they sucked, which wasn't that long ago, they were not rooting for their team to lose (Tank). They are people that are just passionate to have the NBA in their city. That passion has died down in Toronto. While Raptor fans are a loyal group they also have become jaded and divided at times. I understand why that is, but still when you watch a game in OKC you see what being a fan by it's true definition is all about. They are more than just the example of how to build a team they are an example of how to build a fanbase. I miss the days when Raptors fans were like this.

3. Bargnani Tough?- I really am starting to have serious doubts about the future of Andrea Bargnani. Again this calf injury becomes an issue and he sits the 2nd half. No the Raptors were not tanking, as I mentioned earlier this result was an obvious one. I am left to question what kind of pain threshold Bargnani truly has. This is aside from the debate on if he has truly turned the corner as player. Even if I am to believe that, which I remain unconvinced, it becomes a moot point if he is not healthy in the long term. I don't mean to diminish a calf injury but this has become rather ridiculous on some level.

4. James Johnson Saga- I have no idea what James Johnson did. I don't care what he did to be blunt. I do support what Casey has done in sending a message. That said enough already. It was pretty hilarious watching the Raptors try and guard Kevin Durant with James Johnson on the bench. Matching the potential MVP of league on a 10 day contract player is not just punishing Johnson, it is punishing the team as a whole. Casey was quick to get him in there. Let's all move on now though and give Johnson his spot back. Credit to both Casey and Johnson, along with team for keeping whatever happened on the down low. Sure we all would like to know what happened but honestly we really don't need to know.

5. Jaamal's Impact- If I hear one more time this year about the impact of Jaamal Magloire, I swear that I am going to puke. Tell me has there ever been a player in the history of this team praised for doing so little? I mean seriously. I guess it is a situation not unlike the one with Jay Triano, in which because he is Canadian people are wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt. Here is what he has been in reality. A trash talking tough guy that still knows how to commit a foul in the NBA and can occasionally show you he use to be a good to great player 10 years ago. That is all. He likely isn't coming back and I would seriously wonder if the Raptors had not come along, if he is even in the league at all. Sadly this is the guy that will go in the history books as the first ever Canadian Raptor. It makes me sad for all the young up and coming talent we have in this country that could have been that. The only old Canadian I would want to have that honour played basketball for his country and is a two time NBA MVP.

6. Barbosa Is Back- If you are not at least a little happy for Leandro Barbosa getting a chance to play for a playoff team you may have no soul. This is a guy that game here and never once complained and went out and did his job for the past couple seasons. Given this crazy NBA Sked, I confess I have not seen much of Barbosa since leaving. But based on the boxscores and random comments I see on Twitter he is doing what he does in Indiana and I am happy for him.

7. Roy Hibbert- I have said this consistently for awhile, it pains me to watch this guy play and know he will go down as a draft pick of the Toronto Raptors. Now it should be noted if not for the trade with the Pacers he would have never been picked by the Raptors. They felt he was too slow for their up tempo style of basketball at the time. That said, I at the time thought he was a great answer for the Raptors at center. He is never going to blow you away but he does all the things that you would hope that a center would do. On top of that having met him once he is a pretty great young man. Georgetown has not produced to many stiffs at the Center position over the years. It is one of the safest bets in the NBA draft when you take a center out of Georgetown. When you look back on that trade that brought J.O to Toronto the biggest loss in it was Roy Hibbert.

8. Raptors Can Be Spoilers- When you look at the Schedule remaining the Raptors could have a impact on the playoff race. Starting tonight with Pacers two games ahead of Boston for 3rd in the East, followed with games vs Sixers, Celtics, Hawks twice, Heat and Bucks. It gives you some motivation to go out there and try and win games. It is also the reason that people hate tanking in general. Tanking has an impact on the teams that are actually in the playoff race. This is why David Stern needs to step in and do something dramatic to the NBA Lottery System. It was designed to prevent this sort of thing. Still if you look around the league it isn't working. The concept of tanking is talked about far more than it ever was back in 1985 when there was legit concern teams would tank to land Patrick Ewing one of those Georgetown centers we mentioned earlier. I say this with all due respect to Anthony Davis, if he has half the career the Patrick Ewing had, he would be a fortunate young man. However, with all the hype surrounding him you would think he was better than that and going to project to be the next superstar of the NBA. I would venture to say that is vastly optimistic. He could turn into a fine NBA player and likely should. That said is he going to be better than a hall of famer or some great recent top picks? I don't see that. Don't believe me it is ok. I will rest easy knowing that I also never was impressed with this guy named Greg Oden and said Kevin Durant would be better. I am sure that I was laughed at for that and I will use the obvious line of who is laughing now?

9. Reality Math- What we knew before this season even started is now fact. The Raptors based on their loss in OKC and some other things last night have officially been eliminated from the playoffs. Still with nine games left which for fans feel pretty pointless, it is still important for some folks on this team. No matter what happens in these final games it will not change the fact this summer is going to be a huge off-season for the Raptors. What guys do down the stretch of the season may help shape/decide if they are going to be a part of this team moving forward. If for no other reason than that, this is ultimately why the concept of tanking is stupid. Players fighting for jobs and their place in the food chain are not going out to try and lose or even think of losing. Especially when you look at guys on 10 day contracts. They are fighting for their very NBA lives every night and day they step on the floor.

10. Time Flies Even When Your Losing- At some points this season has been very painful to endure. The losing combined with this crazy schedule can make your head spin. At least it has seemed to go by fairly quickly and the fact this NBA Season was only 66 games and not 82 games was a blessing given the state of this franchise. There has been so much blind hope for the future this year, it has bordered on the insane. While I do think the Raptors are heading in the right direction, the speed in which some think things will change is likely not going to be the reality. As bad as this season has been the Raptors ultimately did improve as hard as that is to believe at times. It speaks to how bad they were last season and how much it was needed to make a coaching change. I was one of the few that had been saying that long before it was cool. Funny how the people that weren't in favour all love Dwane Casey now and the change in direction of this franchise. I think one of the things I find most frustrating is how people change with the wind and are never truly brought to task for it. Yet when I go out of the box of and say something that ends up being right, I take abuse at the time for it and no one other than me says that I was right. Maybe people just have got use to the fact that I will tell them that I was. Whatever the case, I am proud of my track record on things and do take comfort in the fact that it must mean I know what the hell I am talking about at the end of the day. That is in many ways it's own reward.

So I decided to do this instead of a preview and it ends up being twice as long. Oh well the off-season and a bit of a break will be here soon enough. Happy Monday all and hope you had a pleasant holiday weekend.

No Bargnani Likely Means No Hope.

The Raptors with a healthy Andrea Bargnani scoring 21 points were not able to beat the Pacers in their home opener losing 90-85. Now After Dwane Casey has proclaimed Andrea is unlikely to go and is listed as day to day the chances of a Raptor win tonight seem bleak. It is also a safe bet you will have a much smaller crowd than you did on opening night. Demar DeRozan did actually lead the Raptors scoring in that game with a flurry late in the 4th quarter. But as we discussed in an interview with Jack Armstrong last night here on the blog Demar has been struggling. The fact he will become the number one scoring option and even more of a focus of the defence is not likely to help that.

The Raptors will have Linas Kleiza who was not around for the first game. Given the lack of production they have had from the small forward position that can only help. In that game with the Pacers it was a typical night of failure on offence for Butler and Johnson combining to go 4-11 with just 9 points. Where the Raptors can make up the 22 points that Andrea Bargnani averages will be the major problem for how ever long he is out. Barry Davis a reporter for Sportsnet speculated that Andrea missed 4 games with a similar injury last year. Bargnani did go for an MRI yesterday on the injured calf. Strange as it sounds the Raptors will miss Bargnani's presence on the defence as well. The Raptors defence without Bargnani in the 4th vs the Kings was clearly not the same.

3 Keys To Game

By George You Better Stop Him- Paul George is one of the most unique covers at his position in the NBA. After all there are not to many giant shooting guards in the league. Listed at 6 foot 8 but likely is closer to 6 foot 9 or 10 the guy is a match up headache. He was a big factor is the Pacers win on opening night with 18 points. Demar DeRozan will not only have to try to find the hoop more on offence he will have to try to stop this guy on defence.

Center of Attention- We often joke in the DNB and call him a former Raptor. Which technically Roy Hibbert is. But the loss of Bargnani gives the Raptors one less big in the rotation that is already missing Aaron Gray. Could be a big night for the former Georgetown star in the place that he should have called home.

Point Guard Battle- Last time around Darren Collison owned this match-up doubling up Calderon in assists and being the straw the stirred the drink for the Pacers. Tonight Calderon like some others may feel more pressure to score and depending on his shooting could do just that. But on that defensive side of things, Collison is the prototype of the new, young and fast point guard entering into the league that have exposed Jose Calderon.

Let's face facts if Bargnani can't play tonight or tomorrow in Chicago it is very unlikely we see anything but 2 more losses added to the tally. This once .500 surprising team would be a not so surprising 4-9 if that were to take place. So as the snow finally falls in Southern Ontario so to do the Raptors. One is just a lot prettier than the other.

Can The Raptors Keep Up The Pace In The Home Opener?

It is the Home Opener a little later than originally advertised:



Kardinal Offishall will be in the house for halftime as well. Not to mention prior to the game there is going to be a tail gate party that is free for everyone tickets to the game or not at Maple Leaf Square. All this because the Raptors are of course 1-0. Well not exactly but once all the hype that goes with the home opener is finished the Raptors have a tougher task in front of them than they did in Ohio.

See the Pacers actually signed good players instead of punchlines for a TNT Segment with Charles Barkley and Shaq. On a side note Shaq is going to be huge hit on TNT. But between the trade the Pacers made with Spurs and signing David West it has made them a sexy pick to be one of the improved teams in the East.

While the Raptors were making short work of the Cavs, The Pacers were doing much the same to one of the East's other bottom feeders in Detroit. Roy Hibbert the Raptors draft choice for the Pacers as part of the J.O deal got off to a nice start to the year with 16 points and 14 rebounds. He will be a load to deal with for the Raptors tonight. Pacers had 3 players with double doubles in that win and 5 were in double figures as they beat Detroit 91-79.

Key Match-Up: Could go with Roy Hibbert vs Amir Johnson but instead let's go with Paul George and Demar DeRozan. Two young rising stars in the league doing battle at the shooting guard. DeRozan did not look his best in Cleveland till near the end of the game. Tonight he will have a legit test on both ends of the floor.

Other Things of Note: Pacers got to the line 25 times vs Detroit making 20 of those. They also shot 46.7% from beyond the 3 point line. They also feature a deadly duo of point guards with Darren Collison and George Hill. Lou formally Louis Amundson was also added to the Pacers and did not play in the opener.

Raptors are 10-6 in home openers last year snapping a streak of 4 straight wins in their home opener with a loss to the Knicks. It is hard to find any stat in Raptor history where they have a winning record but this is one of them. It is just the rest of the season that has been the problem. Those other 81 games or in the case of this season 65.

So the atmosphere should be off the hook to start. Will it be by the time this one is over becomes the big question. If the Raptors can hang with Pacers that would open a lot more eyes than beating the Cavs. But it will not be easy. Pacers look to have a very talented team that I predicted in this blog should be one of the 8 teams left standing for the playoffs in the East. Early Start time for this game of 6pm? Why that is I have no clue. But it is on once again as basketball officially has returned to Toronto.

You've Lost That Winning Feeling

Pacers have a new coach and the Raptors...yup Jay Triano is still here. Pacers new coach faces the Raptors tonight and the Cavs next. If he goes 0-2 during that he should be fired too. But in terms of the Raptors we could sure use a win. I am honestly forgetting what it is like to write about a win. Pacers smoked the Raptors in the teams only meeting this year as I mentioned this morning in our preview of this one. Weems remains in the starting line-up. All those e-mails Tom Liston sent did not work apparently.

Collison blows right by Jose after Pacers won the tap not a great early sign. But Andrea with a score plus an and one free throw was a good sign. DeRozan after some failed possession by both team got a score and it was early 5-2 lead. Collison again with a blow by and an easy bucket for former Raptor for a few weeks Roy Hibbert. Seems the new coach is well aware of the Raptors weak points on defence. But the Pacers D had it's own issues letting the Raptors come back and take a 13-10 lead. A bit of a worry as Demar DeRozan had a bit of a nasty landing but he was ok. Demar is not "some fake tough guy" he is the real deal playing ever game this year for the Raptors. But what was not ok was Mike Dunleavy then Collison connecting on 3's. Pacers built a 20-15 lead and it was time to call a time out for Jay Triano. Whatever Jay said didn't work because Pacers were up 27-17 not that long after. After 1 the Raptor D had been lit up for 32 points and Pacers lead was 11 with the score 32-21.

Tyler Hansbrough gets a put back dunk and the Pacer lead had grown to 14 and another time out from Jay Triano. The first one worked so well I am sure this one will be just as good.The second quarter is turning into a haze of terrible choices on offence and no defence at all. That combination has lead to a 43-26 Pacers lead. Raps had not yet bottomed out though as the Pacer lead would grow to 48-28 before the Raptors showed they indeed had a pulse. Raptors would get on a 7-0 run that was the good news. Bad news was that still left them down 13 points. Raptors kept rolling and were on a 13-0 run and now you were seeing why the Pacers had lost 7 of 8. Ed Davis was a big part of that run on both ends of the floor. Raptors clawed back to down 51-45 at the half.

The second half begins with a Bargnani missed jumper and Ed Davis sitting on the bench. But the Raptor roll continued with the Young Onez Amir then Sonny with buckets. Finally for the Young Onez trifector Derozan gets fouled and heads to the line with a chance to tie it at the line. But the tie would be short lived at 51-51 and soon the Pacers would have a 62-57 lead and Pacers had a bullseye on Andrea Bargnani and were exposing him on D. Finally Triano decided to place Bargnani's butt on the bench where it belonged in favour of Ed Davis. But it might have been to late will see. Amir Johnson is down and he has been battling through a lot, and you hope it is something he can battle through. Not since Alvin Williams have we seen the kind of toughness Amir Johnson has shown this season. Andrea Bargnani is back in with Amir out for the moment with a twisted ankle by the looks of it. Bargnani finally was showing signs off life on offence but the D was still non existent. Bayless with a how the heck did the go in drive and score. Raptors were down 5 when the smoke cleared after 3.

The Bargnani suck feast would continue stepping on the end line and turning it over. Good news was Amir Johnson returned back to the floor late in the 3rd. But Raptors were down 77-70 in early going of the 4th. Andrea would take a well earned seat as Bayless would score draw a foul and make the and 1 to make the lead 5 once again. Raptors just could not seem to get back to with in shouting distance. I have said this many times in this blog. But when you dig a big hole like the Raptors did in this game, getting it back to level is only half the battle. Raptors seemed to have not enough in the tank to pull off the other half. Pacers had a 84-76 lead with 8:30 to play. Nuce play by Demar to hook-up Sonny for a jumper but, the train wreck that is Andrea on D would take those good vibes away. Turnovers after that and Pacers lead thanks to 6-0 run was 93-82 with only 5:01 to play. In the end the Raptors had nothing left for the Pacers and it would be a 104-93 Pacers win. The Raptors have lost 12 straight and that has not happened since 2003 which is before many of us even knew who Chris Bosh was.

Jay Triano was made by a late 3 taken by the Pacers when they could have dribbled it out pretty much. But screw being made about that be made at your supposed star player that can't play defence. Be mad at yourself for playing him far more than he deserved. Also be embarrassed by the fact this team over has been a joke on the defensive side of floor.

Pacers Starting Fresh With The Raptors

The Indiana Pacers decided they had enough of their coach Jim O'Brien. It would appear the choice to send him packing was made by ownership according to the Indy Star. O'Brien was fired Sunday after posting a 121-169 in his 3 years plus. He has been around close to the same amount of time as Jay Triano so let's compare shall we? We Shall, Triano is 78-117 in his 3 years with the Raptors. O'Brien had a .417 winning percentage while Triano's works out to be .400 winning percentage. People make the excuse that Triano has not had a lot of talent to work with. Well did Jim O'Brien have a ton of talent? The Pacers best player was who Danny Granger? I know he is not "Mr Popular" these days but Chris Bosh was more talented than him. You can make the argument that the situations are fairly similar. Pacers have had there share of injuries over the last 3 years. Frank Vogel Pacers assistant becomes there interim coach. P.J has more head coaching experience than him. Just stating the facts. Raptors will try not to see there losing streak climb to a dozen. While the new era for the Pacers begins.

The Basics: Toronto 13-35 (4-11 on Road vs East) Pacers 17-27 (Lost 7 of 8)

When Last We Saw Them: The Raptors were in Minny and got utterly embarrassed by the T-Wolves. The less we say about this game the better so we will say no more other than it was the Raptors 11th straight loss. But you already knew that.

Key Match-Ups: Well it will be interesting to see what Frank Vogel does in his debut. One of the reasons for O'Brein's demise was said to be how he handled young players and specifically Roy Hibbert. Our former Raptor for a few weeks. Also on a couple of my fantasy teams not that anyone cares about that. Andrea Bargnani will have his hands full with Roy in the paint. It would not seem likely that the Pacers would play Hibbert on Bargnani on defence. Darren Collison has not exactly taken the Pacers by storm as many felt he might. He has 13.7 points a slight improvement on his numbers with the Hornets but his assists have dipped from 5.4 to 4.8 assists through 41 games played for the Pacers. You also have T.J Ford who is always motivated to play against Jose Calderon, and sometimes that is good news for the Raptors, and other times it is good news for T.J. Calderon and Bayless will need to be better than Collison and Ford for the Raptors to have a chance to win. But the biggest issue will be on the glass once again where the Pacers should have an advantage. They average 43.2 rebounds per game to the Raptors 40.7.

Other Things Of Note: The Pacers demolished the Raptors in their only meeting this season that was also in Indy winning the game going away 124-100, and it is on a growing list of games where the Raptors were embarrassed badly. In case you missed it, I wrote a piece yesterday taking a look at where this is all going for the Raptors in terms of the future. But nothing that I wrote can top what Kevin Durant had to say about our good old buddy Chris Bosh. Seems a good time to mention our event coming up in Toronto for the Bosh return on Feb 16th.

The (Un) Welcome Back Bosh Party @ St.Louis Wings

• Location: 595 Bay St (North of Dundas)
• When: Feb 16th 2011
• Time: Come early if you like. But will have game on with Heat and Raptors that tips @ 7PM
• Details: Were working on them but you can expect a good time, some giveaways and the best place to watch the game outside of the ACC itself. We are even going to try to set up a speakers corner where you can share your thoughts on Chris Bosh and his return. It is going to be a great time so if you can't get tickets for this game this is going to be the next best thing.

The guys at St. Louis Wings had been asking me to come and be a part of a Raptor game for awhile and I said if we are going to do this let's do it big. Looking forward to hosting this event and hope to see many DNB readers come out to have some fun. It is always a treat for me to meet the people that read the blog and Raptor fans in general so I am looking forward to this.

Where Is It On? Sportsnet ( The Rumours they tried to cancel covering this game for a Post All-Star Game Breakdown show are 100% false....Honest...No Really)

Raps Give Up A Blizard Of 3's In Indiana

Raptors on the road for a 2nd half of a back to back and are coming off a pretty terrible performance against the Knicks. The Pacers are returning from a visit out west and they have lost the last 2 on that trip. Still at .500 though and maybe one of the early surprises of this NBA season. The Raptors are a bit of a surprise as well at 8-12 they were predicted by many to be one of the worst teams in the NBA. But they have been better than that and even have people considering the playoffs could be possible. Both the Pacers and Raptors have been spectators for the playoffs the past few seasons. One team will take a small step towards towards that goal tonight.

1st Quarter

Both teams struggle to find the hoop early. Collison got a break away score and Amir answered to make it 2-2 but it took a 1:40 to get points on the board. I mentioned in the preview Danny Granger can make 3's and he hits one here to make the game 11-6 Pacers early. But buckets by Calderon and Amir cut the lead down to just 1. But a Pacers 7-0 run capped off by a Rush three pointer would make it 18-10. Another Granger three ball and the perimeter defence is once again brutal at least early on. Pacers have built a 25-15 lead with 2:35 to play in 1st. Pacers were shooting 50% and Raps were giving up many open looks. T.J Ford was going get some extra playing time as Collison picked up 2 fouls. But Pacers were not slowing down as they had a 31-18 lead after 1.

2nd Quarter

A James Poesy open look at three off a Raptor turnover....It is raining 3's in Indiana as Dunleavy nails another 3. Just brutal effort on defence and Rush hits another 3. Jay Triano calls a time out with the score 42-21....Little Late Jay. A Barbosa 3 was like a bee bee gun going up against a machine gun at this point. Pacers were 9-13 from beyond the arc and this was getting embrassing with the score 51-29. It just wasn't getting much better. Raptors may well have lost this game already they have dug a huge hole for themselves to dig out of to the tune of 60-37. A Calderon 3 would make the lead 20. Pacers have 62 points with still 2 minutes to play. Remember what the Raptors did to the Wizards...this was the same with Raps playing the role of the Wizards. Bargnani got his first made FG with less then a minute to play in the half. Raptors were getting spanked to the tune of 68-44 at the half.

3rd Quarter

Going through the motions might be the best way to describe the Raptors effort coming out for the 2nd half. Pacers were a team that looked desperate to win and it was showing in all aspects of this game. Pacer were maintaining a 24 point advantage with the score 78-54 with 6 to play. Roy Hibbert slam made me shed a tear. He is going to be a solid big man in this league for the next 10 years barring injuries and he could have been our guy. Pacers were not playing as well had some turnovers but the Raptors were not cashing in on them but they had cut the lead to 16 on an Ed Davis bucket. Love the way this kid hits the offensive glass. Raptors still down big 78-62 but Pacers call a time out before it gets out of hand. Raptors did get a 10-1 run thrown together but even with that they were still down 15. But Pacers made their own push back run capped off with a Posey 3-ball. It was a 22 point lead heading to the 4th. 89-67 for the Pacers.

4th Quarter.

Really not a lot to say by this point the Raptor mad some small dents into the enormous lead but 102-81 with 6:43 to go it seems clear this one was done...In fact it was very clear a lot sooner than that. Brandon Rush was 6/8 from 3 point range and I believe Danielle mentioned him in Behind Enemy Lines. A good call by her. As for the Raptors nothing good about this night and they lose in huge way 124-100 as a team the Pacers were 13/26 from behind the arc.

Raptors heading into this season I had stated that the Raptors had to have effort to beat anyone in this league. The level of talent makes it a requirement. When the effort is not there you get nights like tonight. The Raptors showed little to no effort on defence and it made keeping pace on offence was next to impossible.

Raptors Visit The New and Improved Pacers.

The Pacers are a .500 basketball team which might be a surprise to a lot of folks. They made some changes in the off-season and it seems to at least early worked out. They also have former Raptor for about a couple weeks in Roy Hibbert. I was a huge fan of Roy Hibbert and actually endorsed the Raptors drafting him. They did of course draft him but were picking for the Pacers as part of the ill-fated J.O trade that saw T.J Ford and Hibbert go the other way along with Rasho Nesterovic. I don't think anyone would realize perhaps the worst part of that trade was Hibbert going to the Pacers. Nathan Jawai the 2nd round pick the Raptors got in the deal is no longer in the league. While Roy was become one of the better young centers in the league. The Georgetown product is averaging 15.6 points per game and 8.8 rebounds along with 3 assists at the Center position. In his third year in the NBA he has improved his numbers ever year just like he did at Georgetown. As you watch the Raptors and Pacers tonight you might be like me and wonder what might have been.

The Basics: Pacers 9-9 (4-5 at Home) Raptors 8-12 (2-7 on Road)

When Last We Saw Them: Raptors defence was getting taken to school in a major way. It was a disappointing start and it never really got much better the rest of the day. The closest the Raptors would get was to within 5 points of the Knicks only to watch them pull back away. Great efforts from Amir Johnson and Jerryd Bayless were wasted. The Raptors looked like the road team that stayed out way to late and could not answer the bell.

Key Match-ups: Danny Granger will likely match-up with Sonny Weems who was not great vs New York and draws a tougher assignment today against Granger. Some Raptor fans wanted to take Danny Granger back in the day instead of Joey Graham. Retrospect is a beautiful thing isn't it. At the time knee concerns made a lot of teams back away from Granger as a result. While he has had his share of injuries he has become the leader of this Pacers club. While Graham is now on his 3rd NBA team. Granger can take and make the 3 if you do not respect him shooting 39.3% from 3 on the season. The biggest piece the Pacers added in the off-season was Darren Collison acquired in a 4 team deal in the off-season. In 15 games with the Pacers his scoring and 3 point % is up slightly and his FG% and assists have taken a slight dip in comparison to his numbers in New Orleans. Jose Calderon was ill prior to the game yesterday vs New York. Not sure how he is feeling today but he has a tough match-up to deal with in Collison. Oh yeah T.J Ford is still a Pacer as well and if those two hook up it will be on. Finally we mentioned him off the top Roy Hibbert is a force to be dealt with. If the Raptors stick Bargnani on him that could be ugly. If they don't and use Amir that would be a big size advantage for Roy. On the offensive side of things, Bargnani should have no problems with Hibbert if he takes him away from the basket. Unless the Pacers decide to try what New York did, with an unconventional match-up against him.

Other Things of Note: The Raptors are 7-21 in Indiana all time and have lost 4 straight @ Indiana. The last win came in February of 2008. Pacers average 6.7 blocks per game in comparison to the Raptors just 3.2. The Raptors average 12.6 offensive rebounds per game on the season. You are saying but wait a second that was with Reggie Evans in there. But in the 4 games since Raptors have averaged 12 rebounds on the offensive glass including 14 in the loss to the Knicks. Pacers average just under 10 with 9.8 rebounds on the offensive glass. Pacers are returning home from a trip out west in which they dropped the last 2 games of the trip to the Jazz and Suns. How you start is important if your the Raptors. If they lead after opening quarter they are 5-1 and when they trail after 1 they are 3-11.

Battle is On For DNB & The Raptors

The Battle has begun for the Dino Blogger in the Pro vs Joes contest on Whotheman.com. I am debating in favour of Jarrett Jack remaining as the starting point guard. I know this will shock no one. But he has been good you have to admit. So please if you can go check it out and vote for me that would be great. Help me make it all the way to finals. You may have to register on the site to vote but please take the time to do so and support myself and the Dino Nation Blog in the process. That also lead to a nice transition to today's game where Jack takes on his former team in the Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers and Raptors have split a pair of games this season. I was in the house covering the game when the Raptors won 123-112 in November. Danny Granger had 36 points in that loss. Jack was on fire and was perfect from the field coming of the bench at the time scoring 18 and Calderon was good as well with 21 as the stater. CB4 had an awful shooting night going 5-19 from the field and had 16 points and 12 boards. But the Raptors walked away with the win despite that.

Earlier this month the Raptors would travel to Indy and not be so lucky. Bosh was better with 27 points but the team around him was not. The Pacers meanwhile has a full team effort and had 6 players in double digits on the score sheet and it was enough to hold off the Raptors 105-101. Granger in that game lead the Pacers with 23. This hopefully will serve as a reminder to not take the Pacers lightly as Toronto will face them in the next 2 games starting with an early evening tilt with Pacers at the ACC tonight and travel to Indy for the re-match on Tuesday.

It has been a tough season overall for the Pacers. T.J Ford has fallen out of favour and can't get minutes behind Watson and rookie Guard from UConn A.J Price. Who in that game earlier this month Price had 16 and was one of those 6 players in double digits. In Addition Danny Granger has not looked like the franchise guy that Indy was hoping he was on the path to becoming. The one positive in Indy is Roy Hibbert who came to them via the J.O deal with the Raps. Hibbert the former Hoyas standout is doing the school's legacy of big men in the NBA proud and has really started to crank it up in his second season in the NBA

The Raptors have been lights out at home of late but have failed to answer the bell for the opening quarter in the past couple. Indy can shoot the 3 ball and Raptors will need to have solid perimeter defense if they hope not to have a mis-step on their home floor. No word on if Demar suits up today and Andrea Bargnani has been has some issues as well. However even if the Raptors were short handed today there would be no acceptable excuse to dropping another game to the Pacers.

In fact when you look towards the sked heading into the All-Star Break Raps have many of those "winnable" games in front of them. However if they do not start coming out and falling behind the odds eventually are going to catch up with them. No one loves a good rally more than the Dino Blogger but for my personal sanity and that of the Raptors fans like you that I care about, I think we can agree we can do with out the drama.

Raptor if they can do what you would expect and beat the Pacers twice that would put them 5 games over .500 and facing the 4-41 Nets on Wednesday. Raptors can really start to make some distance from .500 and the back in the East. Miami lost last night and the Bobcats were winners. Oh and coming from around the outside and passing the Heat is Chuck Swirsky and the Chicago Bulls. Raptors enter today just 1/2 game in front of Charlotte and a full game in front of Miami and Chicago.

So the margin for error for the Raptors is slim at the moment. Lose a couple you are suppose to win and you could be in 8th from 5th in the blink of an eye...Just ask the Heat.