Who Said It Was Nice Out West?

While the Raptors were on the road, I was in the friendly, winter-bitten, confines of the Big Smoke.

Since I got the exact same perspective as you at home, I’ll keep this update brief.

First, we start with Saturday’s stink-fest. I was doing updates at the station, and got to witness a gorgeous Leafs win over the Canadiens. (I was called by my boss that night, and told to leave out such short-form nicknames as: The Buds (Leafs), Baby Buds (Marlies), Habs (Canadiens), and Raps (Raptors), so I’ll try to keep it consistent on this space, too.)

Toronto couldn’t match the effort or intensity of their on-ice counterparts.

The Raptors were in Golden State, wrapping up what had been a pretty remarkable 4-games-in-5-nights west-coast road trip. The Warriors were a team that the Raptors had beaten 5 out of the 9 previous times in Oakland. But clearly, both teams are very different now from even last year.

Two words: Baron Davis. He dished out 14 assists, including back-to-back identical alley-oops to Jason Richardson. Both backdoor; both, the Raptors had no idea what was going on. Toronto gave up 60 points in the paint, to Golden State’s 28, allowing the Warriors to shoot 58% on the night. Chris Bosh scored 21 points (15 in the 1^st quarter, and 4 in the 2^nd), to share the team-high with Morris Peterson.

Mo Pete, Jalen Rose, and Mike James sat out nearly the entire second-half of the game, allowing the rookies to try and make it competitive. Joey Graham had 12 points, Charlie Villanueva had 6 (1-10 shooting), while Jose Calderon registered 4 points and 6 assists. Rafael Araujo, in his 2^nd year, had his only weak game on this road trip – stats seldom do justice to his effort, so I’ll just leave them out.

Warriors 117, Raptors 91

The game was so dismal that Coach Sam Mitchell decided the team would practice on their “off-day” (They’ve had only one day off all season). The Raptors got off the plane from San Francisco at 3:30pm EST, and were on the RBK practice court at the ACC exactly an hour later. Granted, the practice only lasted 90 minutes, but you’ve got to think that was punishment. Again, I was at the station doing updates, so any quotes wouldn’t come from me… thus, check your local paper.

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Friday night in Sacramento, the Raptors had an 8-point lead with just over 7 minutes left, but came up short for their 8^th straight loss at Arco Arena.

Kings 106, Raptors 104

Araujo tied a career high with 14 points. The Raptors shot 51% from the field, and dished out a season-best 27 assists.

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Wednesday night at Staples Center… again, another 4^th quarter lead let go for a loss.

The Raptors committed only 5 turnovers, but allowed Corey Maggette to torch them for 30 points. Sam Cassell scored 10 straight points in the final frame for the Clippers’ win.

Clippers 103, Raptors 100

Chris Bosh drove through the lane, and probably drew enough contact for a possible “and-1”, but dished it out to an open Morris Peterson, who missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

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Tuesday night, the road trip started in Phoenix. The Raptors were fresh off their first win, and were beaming with optimism. They played great against the Suns until again, the 4^th quarter. Phoenix went on a 12-0 run with 4:14 remaining (Shawn Marion and Steve Nash both scored 6 points), to seal it.

Suns 90, Raptors 82

Chris Bosh had a great 3 quarters, picking up 23 points on 10-19 shooting, but was shut down by Brian Grant in the 4^th, missing all 4 of his shots. Marion was dominant – 28 points and 18 rebounds, despite Phoenix scoring a season low for the second straight game.

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On a side note, as I’m always looking for positives… Pape Sow is destroying the “D-League” (The NBA Developmental League). He scored 40 points and picked up 14 rebounds for his second straight double-double yesterday. On Friday, he had 21 points and 11 boards. Sow was sent down to the Arkansas Rim Rockers (a team the Raptors share with 3 other clubs) last week.

A player can be transferred back and forth between the “bigs” and the NBADL a maximum of 3 times a season.

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We’ll talk after the Mavs and Grizzlies roll through town.

The Raptors now stand at an NBA-worst 1-13.