5
It's been a while since I've tried a liveish blog, Raptors v. Real Madrid, to be specific. Raptors didn't handle the pressure too well that night, let's see how they do this time around. Stakes are higher. Here we go:
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Pre-game: Herbie is rocking an AP jersey. I've not noticed this before. Does it make other guys jealous? AP's not the only guy he goes to pre-game chapel with you know. Look for Moon to be bitter.
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[amp]nbsp;Pretty good energy in the building, I have to say, TTC strike or no. Spontaneous ‘Let's Go Raptors' and everything. Let's face it, this is big: Lose this and Thursday night was kind of a mirage. Win and you're serious about winning this series.
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First Quarter:
8:37: Wow, what a start. It has to be fun to play in this environment. How many people have, in the whole world, ever? 10,000? 100,000 thousand? It's pretty rare, that's for sure.[amp]nbsp;
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Bargnani drills his first three – the first basket of the game -- then misses his next two shots: Even when he's hot, he's cold.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Howard and Bosh are matched up and locked in – Bosh has two steals already; Howard has a couple of dunks and blocks. I'm predicting some serious numbers from these guys
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; What is Howard's ceiling? In the last minute he just found a cutting Maurice Evans for a dunk while being triple-teamed and then hit a left-handed jump hook while being fouled. Add a solid face-up 15 footer and 70-per-cent foul shooting and he will have a chance to be on the very, very, short list of best centres ever. Anyone care to argue?
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2:40:
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Home court works much better when you're making shots as the crowd really gets to cheer.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; On this not, the Raptors shot selection is pretty week. Bargnani has taken three questionable ones and missed them all; Parker tries a fadeaway off a curl and that was about a 9 on the no chance scale. Meanwhile Bosh, who can get what he wants against Howard, has had only five attempts, Raps down five on merit
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Kapono subs in crowd cheers, as they should. He then scores on his first touch and gets smacked in the mug again, for like the fifth time this series, including the time T.J. hit him in the face with the ball in Orlando.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Living and dying with Moon: Keith Bogans drills a three because Moon forgot to rotate to him; Sam goes crazy; Moon tries to dunk over Howard, no luck and is kind of slow to get up. But he runs back down court in time to nearly block Rashard Lewis. Lewis pumps and goes, but then Moon picks of his pass and finishes the ‘And-one' at the other end and then makes a steal to start another break.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Raptors have a foul to give at the end of the quarter, don't use it and Dooling scores a layup. If they lose by two, this could be why.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Magic lead 31-26
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Second quarter:
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Weird sub: Bosh starts the quarter and is being covered by Martin Gortat. On his first touch Bosh settles for a jumper and misses, and Sam subs for Rasho. My guess is he saw Chris take the ‘easy' way and figured he needed a blow.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Rashard Lewis doesn't look that strong, but he just over-powered Moon in the post; it wasn't even close. Next trip the Raptors had to double, get mixed up on a rotation and Lewis ends up with a wide-open jumper, which he misses. If this guy ever gets Kapono (new word for hot), the series is done.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Kapono is ….ridiculous. He's like the Greg Maddox of the NBA: he actually appears quick sometimes because people have to react to his fakes because there's a good chance he'll take it and make it if you don't. Imagine if he had a dose of explosive ability? Or if Bargnani had a little of his savvy?
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Nice sub: after Lewis has his way on a couple of post-ups, Sam comes back with Bosh.
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5:31
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Bosh is now on the line for his second-straight ‘and-one'. I swear he's not even warmed up. I think he's going to have a big afternoon.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; This ‘Howard, Howard' stuff is working: He's now missed three straight free throws.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Howard just got called for three seconds, in part because Kapono got a hand on the entry pass. Deflections and the number of loose balls that get chased down are stats that some teams (probably all) keep internally and are likely highly correlative to a winning effort. In my mind's eye, the Raptors are winning this category. It also explains why Toronto has nine fast break point to nada by Orlando.
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2:40, 47-40 Raptors
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; That four-and-a-basket in transition by Ford was big as the Raptors had taken and missed some very tough shots to that point, creating a bit of a drought.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; That said: the Raptors had missed five free throws in three games and after Ford's miss have now missed four in one half. That combined with 1-of-6 three-point shooting does not bode positively
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; How good was that rebound and finish by Bosh to end the half? He's got Howard 21-12 for the first two quarters.
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Third Quarter: Okay, up five at the half in your own building with a chance to tie the series. If this doesn't happen this is officially peeing on your shoes.
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·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Big shot: Bosh hits a jumper over Howard after two misses. He's been fighting his shot a little and he needs it if he's really going to take advantage of Superman.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Moon just slipped on a fast break and has been holding his groin ever since …at least until he grabs a rebound at the square and starts a fastbreak that leads to a Bosh dunk to push the Raptors lead to seven. If they sit him now he's done for the game though, once something like that gets tight you're finished; might be done for the series too. The Raps p.r. guys are saying the official word is he's available to return. I say it's not their groin.
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6:59, 63-56 Raptors:
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·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Either the Dance Pak has tightened their rotation for the post-season or some of the regulars couldn't get in because of the TTC strike. You'd think they could get a ride….
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; As of now the Raptors have got nine points total from their starting two guard and starting small forward.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Howard gets called for his second three-second violation of the game. I guessing the Raptors have been on the refs about this.
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2:59, 71-67
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Van Gundy's rotation is pretty tight right now. He's got six guys who have played 20 minutes so far. Only eight players have seen the floor, with the bottom two in for seven and six minutes. Sam has nine players with at least 10 minutes of floor time so far.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Howard just clobbered Bosh going for an offensive rebound and got the foul. He looked so disappointed. In this sense he's like that Big Red Dog http://pbskids.org/clifford/index-brd-flash.html, Clifford. You're that big, sometimes things are just going to get in the way.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; The Raptors have been doing a good job of making Howard turn to his right shoulder and fouling him hard enough that he can't finish. That's about all you can do.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Howard is now 1-of-6 from the line; the crowd deserves some serious props for this.
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Fourth Quarter, 74-73
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·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Always good to start the fourth quarter by forcing a 30-footer as the shot-clock expires.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; When Howard isn't on the floor, the Magic don't look like a team that could have lost 52 games this year; no offence to Martin Gortat.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Calderon gets his first bucket at the nine minute mark after over-dribbling but finally making the lay-up sort of like…never mind.
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8:19, 78-78
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·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Turkoglu looks like he wants to take over, maybe.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Is there a bad Kapono, good Kapono? Bad Kapono: catches the ball, is kind of open, but pump fakes and tries to finish at the rim over (under?) Howard. Yes, that ended up in a blocked shot. I mean, you don't get points for trying in this league, okay? The play continues and the ball finds Kapono again and he drills his 12th three in his last 19 attempts.
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5:32, 85-83 Magic
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·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Sam comes back with T.J and I agree. He's been pretty good today and Raptors need some easy baskets. Just as I type this he chases down a loose ball, goes the length of the floor and gets Parker an easy hoop in transition for his 12th assist, Raps down by one.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; We haven't seen this much in this series: Calderon comes in for Delfino after Carlos fouls out. Chris Black is so excited right now.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Don't look now, but Nelson is hitting three and Turkoglu is breaking guys down of the dribble, and the Magic are in bonus now (3:11 to play). This is not good, considering the Raptors are stuck five.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Great play by Ford: dribble penetration and lay-up for Bosh; 92-90 Magic, 258
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; The Magic are basically going at Kapono every chance they get.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Turkogly pushes off. A lot. But he just made a three and the Raptors are stuck five again.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Lewis drains a wide-open three after Nelson makes the paint on a high-screen and roll. the Raptors are down eight with 1:31 to play and Orlando's thinking that $118-million wasn't such a bad spend in the end.
1:24, 102-92 Magic
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·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; The Magic's formula all year has been to let Howard get them to the fourth quarter and let everyone else take them home. He hasn't scored in the quarter yet, but Lewis has 10; Nelson had 10 and Turkoglu has 10. Oh, and the Magic lead by 10.
Well. That's about it.[amp]nbsp; Raptors waste a huge effort by Bosh -- 39 and 15 won't taste very good in defeat. Someone forgot to tell Calderon, Bargnani and Delfino to show up, and the Magic realized that no matter how well Kapono shoots, if you attack him enough on the other end the worst you should do is break even. The Raptors are now 0-2 in From Deep Live(ish) blog games, and trail this series 3-1 with Game 5 on Monday night. I'm not feeling their chances for sweeping the last three, including two games on the road. Orlando in Five?
A few post-game notes:
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·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Three-point shooting is such a game changing factor. You don't win games likes this shooting 2-of-15 as the Raptors did.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Fourth quarter only stats: Turkoglu, Lewis and Nelson combine for 32 of the Magic's 33 points on 9-of-12 shooting including five-of-six from three and nine-of-13 from the line.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Talked to Moon after the game. He said he figured his slipped on a wet spot and pulled his groin, or so they tell him: “I didn't hear a ‘pop',” he said. “I just strained it, it's sore. I wish I could tell you what the doctors said, but it was doctor talk. [but] I'm not sitting out [Game 5].”
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Sam: “The focus is to go into Orlando and win a basketball game and try to get back home. I mean, it's just that simple. There is nothing brilliant I can tell you, other than we have got to focus and remember that we came within a shot of winning down there in Game Two, so we know we're capable of playing down there. We have got to fight like dickens. We've got to go out kicking and screaming, so everything we've go we got to put into it.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Trade Jose.
·[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Kidding.
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