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SAN ANTONIO, TEX. — The Toronto Raptors have built themselves a nice little résumé recently.
They have the big Atlantic Division lead. They're nicely over the .500 mark. They're terrors at home and increasingly respectable on the road.
And while it wasn't, you could almost imagine their 107-91 trouncing last night at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs as a job interview of sorts.
Are the Raptors on the verge of being a factor in the man's world of the National Basketball Association? Or are they pretenders, still learning the ways of that world?
Toronto Raptors' T.J. Ford tries to get past San Antonio's Robert Horry. (Doug Sehres/AP)
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Based on Monday night's evidence, you would have to say they're still learning. In fact, you would have to ask, is it legal to spank job applicants in Texas? Because the Spurs looked at the young guy in his new suit, smiled, and said, thanks for coming, but don't let the door hit your backside on the way out.
It's hard to say when, for sure, the Spurs made the Raptors say uncle, but we'll settle for the second quarter, when San Antonio outpaced Toronto 35-16, effectively rubbing their playoff-earned pedigree in the Raptors' snouts.
"We got it handed to us," Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell said. "We got beat by a good basketball team on their home court. Hopefully we learn something from it."
Trailing by 30 points late in the third quarter, the Raptors did make a run at respectability, cutting the Spurs' lead to 15 with five minutes left. But the interview was over, their application crumpled on the floor by that point.
On the bright side, newcomer Juan Dixon scored nine points, his first as a Raptor, and former Raptor Matt Bonner got some playing time against his old team, though he didn't score.
Unhappily, the Raptors' Jorge Garbajosa left the game in the third quarter favouring his right knee after a collision with Manu Ginobili. Already missing from the lineup was Anthony Parker, who sprained his ankle in the second quarter and didn't return.
Andrea Bargnani led the Raptors with 17 points, as Toronto shot 42.0 per cent from the floor, a number it padded in garbage time. The Spurs were led by Tony Parker's 27 points and shot 53.2 per cent. The Spurs led 27-22 after the first quarter and were never threatened, looking every inch like a championship team hitting its stride.
Heading into the game, the Raptors' 18-7 record since Jan. 1 trailed only Phoenix (22-5) and Dallas (22-2), but it's the Spurs who seem ready to make some noise in the Western Conference.
San Antonio has now won six in a row, all blowouts or near blowouts. The Spurs will play 14 of their last 25 games at home and have kept their core to short minutes all year.
With a big and experienced front-court, the Spurs stayed home with Chris Bosh, first with Francisco Elson, then with Robert Horry and later Fabricio Oberto. The different looks seemed to bother Bosh as he settled for jump shots early, seethed when he couldn't get his post game going later, and finished with 14 points on 6-of-16 shooting.
With Bosh out of the picture, the rest of the Raptors struggled as well, with one-pass possessions the norm. They counted only eight assists for the first half.
"We started off moving the basketball well, we were moving the ball great," said Mitchell, whose team led the Spurs 13-8 midway through the first quarter before San Antonio went on a 15-4 run that never seemed to end. "But then we had a stretch where we just didn't move the basketball and that plays right into San Antonio's strengths defensively, because they pressure the ball and make you drive into the heart of the defence, where they have length and guys who know how to play."
One of the few bright spots was the play of former Spur Rasho Nesterovic, who had a season-high 16 points and nine rebounds against his old team.
"They're one of the best teams in the NBA," Nesterovic said. "So if you're going to beat them, you have to give your best game and we didn't do that tonight."
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