No Finish...

Good start... Decent second and third... no finish...

102 ; 92

Observations:

- Mo Pete has experience playing with impaired vision. If he can do blindfolded lay-ups, he can hit the midrange jumper with a puffy eye.
- Anthony Parker's got some mean floatage ability (yeah, I said 'floatage').
- TJ Ford did a good job of getting his jumper going early.
- Chris Bosh was clearly out of his element... and brought Andrea Bargnani with him.
- Joey Graham had a case of first-game jitters.
- Sam Mitchell's half-time/time-out talks are getting received much better this year...
- The team appeared too focused on getting shots up, as opposed to getting quality shots.

It was disappointing to see Bosh and Fred Jones try to force the issue - but for Bosh, it's a little more understandable. As the floor-leader, if you're struggling, you've got to work your way out of it. But for Jones, when his shot's not going, pull-up 3's are unacceptable (if I'm Mitchell).

The Raptors were playing the passing lanes very well... but because they were relying on steals-turned-fast-break-points, they ended up gambling a lot and giving up open looks. Any time Mikki Moore looks like a 7-foot braided Jason Kidd, you've got problems.

The real Jason Kidd definitely stood up, too... 76th career triple-double... 3rd against the Raptors. How much of a TSN-turning point was that Ford steal, turned inadvertent-whistle?? Somehow, the mistaken call has the ball given back to NJ, which at the time, sported a 4-point lead. If Ford gets the steal, assuming he sinks the open lay-in, the lead is down to two. However, the Nets end up sinking a trey for the 5-point swing.

I believe that was the closest the Raptors got, from that point on.

Oh yeah, how about that Vince Carter guy... 25 points, 11 boards... still bother you? Not me in the slightest. Forgive, don't forget.

Wait, what are we talking about again?

...Next up... BUCKS... at home...