The secret to the Raptors ending their eight game losing streak tonight: Pasta.
Primo Pasta that is, as Andrea Bargnani came back from his calf injury to drop 36 points, 27 being in the second half to end what was a frustrating eight game losing streak. Bargnani showed his All-Star pedigree and it is apparent that the Raptors need Bargnani to even be remotely competitive this season.
Bargnani also had the help of Leandro Barbosa and James Johnson on offense, with the two of them providing 19 and 18 points respectively. If JJ starts scoring in that range consistently he is sure to be the starting small forward the Raptors desperately need.
Rasual Butler once again drew the ire of Raptors fans, throwing away a inbounds pass at the end of the game to cut the Raptors lead to two with under a minute left, luckily Bargnani drained clutch free throws to ice the game, but you have to wonder when Butler is finally going to see his minutes get drastically cut due to his boneheaded play this season.
Suns center Robin Lopez was ejected for bumping into referee Randy Mott (fun fact) after a disagreement over a foul call. Expect a fine or perhaps a suspension to come Lopez’ way in the coming days.
The Suns were coming off a five game road trip that ended with a loss to the Mavs Monday night.
Steve Nash scored 17 points and dished out 13 dimes in the loss, it is always special getting to see Nash play the Raptors even with the Suns being out of playoff contention.
Grant Hill left the game after accidentally being bloodied by a Andrea Bargnani elbow while fouling him in the closing moments of the fourth quarter.
The Raptors travel to Utah to continue their Western Conference road trip Wednesday
Jason Richardson deserves the Defensive Player of the Year Award just for noticing the Magic only had four players on the court and hopping off the bench to play some clutch D.
This is a make or break game for the Raptors. The “Hell Week” is over and at 4-10 with blown chances against the Wizards, Kings, Pacers, and even the Bulls the Raptors are now on a five game losing streak and find themselves needing wins in yet another (ugh) tough five game slate against Boston, Portland, the Clippers, Phoenix, and Utah.
Luckily the Celtics are also on a five game losing streak and are on the tail end of a back to back after last night’s tough loss to the Thunder, and even though they still have four potential Hall of Famers on the squad, these Celtics aren’t the Celtics of old.
That being said without Andrea Bargnani the Raptors will probably have problems scoring on any Doc Rivers’ coached team, old or not. Bargnani is still day to day and it is unlikely he will play at 100% if he even plays at all. It is a tough blow as some of Bargs most memorable moments in a Raptors uni have come against the Celtics and he has always seemed to bring something special when matched up against the C’s.
I look forward to seeing what kind of games Amir Johnson and Ed Davis have against Kevin Garnett, who often bullies younger or weaker players. (See Bosh, Chris) now Amir is probably going to give KG the business early and often as he is the kind of no nonsense player who isnèt going to let KG bark him into submission, but Ed Davis has yet to have a stand out performance as a Raptor, if any night would be the night to step up the night against the veteran Celtics and one of the best power forwards of all time would be it.
Speaking of match ups, expect James Johnson to check Paul Pierce often tonight. Johnson has been playing stellar defense all season and it is always a treat to watch him bring his mix of athletic ability and energy to defending the leagueès best scorers, and with JJ putting a focus on improving his shooting, the sky is the limit for one of the Raptors most promising players.
FanSided
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