ORLANDO — The Toronto Raptors are here and expect to go home with a win.
What choice do they have? As they face elimination in the fifth game of their first-round NBA playoff series against the Orlando Magic, the Raptors are trying to ignore the odds and extend their season by one more game at least.
The odds are considerable. Of the 120 NBA playoff series in which the team leading 3-1 has played host to the fifth game, it has gone on to win 118 times.
“I keep saying this from the start, we're one shot away from the series being 2-2,” Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell said. “We're disappointed we lost at home, but six out of eight quarters down here we played pretty good basketball. So we feel pretty confident we can come in here and win a basketball game, we've got to.
“It's not over until you get beat, we've got another game to play and we're hoping to bring it back home.”
The Raptors are hoping to have small forward Jamario Moon in the lineup. After being benched in the first two games of the series, the rookie gave the Raptors a lift at home until he left the fourth game midway through the fourth quarter with a strained groin.
“He said he was a little sore, but I would expect him to play,” Mitchell said. “We need that energy and we need the intangibles that Jamario gives us.”
The Raptors were leading by seven points midway through the third quarter when Moon left the game after slipping awkwardly. Carlos Delfino soon fouled out, and the Raptors struggled as the Magic were able to attack Jason Kapono off the dribble in the fourth quarter.
“He gives us that extra body on the boards, that extra energy and that hustle,” said Raptors captain Chris Bosh, who led all scorers with a career playoff-high of 39 points on Saturday. “And he can block shots and alter shots, too. He does a lot of things that don't show up in the stat sheet very much.”
The Raptors were outplayed badly in the first quarter of the first and second games, when they were using a bigger lineup with Moon coming off the bench. Bosh hopes that having Moon on the floor earlier will help the Raptors get off to a good start.
“You definitely don't want the crowd in it early because you don't want to dig a hole and we do that by executing, getting second-chance points, maybe a dunk or two and Jamario is good at all that stuff,” he said.
Part of Mitchell's optimism is the belief that the Magic's lead in the series is mostly attributable to a few key shots – Bosh's missing a game-winner at the buzzer in the second game, and a pair of difficult three-pointers the Magic hit down the stretch in the fourth game.
“Coaches don't draw up plays for guys to shoot fade-away three-point shots,” Mitchell said. “Someone would think I'd lost my mind if I draw up a play for Anthony Parker to shoot a step-back, fade-away three. They made two tough shots. … That's when it comes down to players just making big plays. They made the big plays in that game and in Game 2.”
