Toronto Raptors Ramblings

Coulda beat the Jazz....another good sign

A lotta coulda's going on during this tough road swing. Tonight was a beautiful example. Jazz making big plays down the stretch and the Raps not matching them. This game came down to the last minute and our favourite Garbo had a chance to be the hero.

Down 93-90 a Raptors turnover leads to a Boozer 18ft straight on bank, whilst being fouled. Ouch. #15 back with a big 3 and the Raps are within three. Off a miss Rebound to #15, saved to TJ who produces a head down bull charge. Next possession TJ brings it up...finds a wide open #15...misses. Back down at our end Garbo comes up with another rebound off a miss and saves it to a streaking TJ. Wisdom meltdown. TJ inexplicably shoots a quick 3, with 14 seconds to go and no rebounders. Parker tips it out though, Fred Jones has it, another three to tie it....clank...nothing doing.

Hey but guess what did happen? More than just Nani struggling on D (2 blks). He showed up! 27 minutes tonight. He was active (4 fouls), he was sharp (6-6 FT), he was shooting with confidence (15 pts). Best Andrea we've seen this year.
















Even though Nani played well I couldn't help but show this picture. Check out that defence! He's single handedly causing a flailing wave. Amazing. The Nani is going to have to tighten up that footwork, but who cares. For one game we saw 27 minutes of potential.

We hit our three's for once, shot only 74 shots for once, and played a tighter game all-around, we just couldn't execute down the stretch. And the road trip weary troops head home.

posted by WG @ 11:32 PM