Game Recap: Raptors 114, Supersonics 106
“And this afternoon, your assist leader for the game, Rasho Nesterovic!”
Silencing those who wonder why the big Slovenian gets $8 million to come off the bench, Rasho Nesterovic proved that he belonged on the court in crunch time this afternoon as he gave the Raptors leadership and a lift that was sorely missing. As he posted 17 points, six assists, and six rebounds, Nesterovic also played some much-needed post defense and altered countless shots, giving the Raptors a last line of defense.
However, things were not rosy for the entire game, as the Raptors started the game shooting terribly and playing even worse on defense. In fact, if it wasn’t for Seattle’s propensity for turnovers, the Raptors would have been looking at yet another loss to a sub .500 team. Seattle managed to shoot 54% for the night, which is completely unacceptable considering the fact that the Raptors have been working on tightening their defense.
Chris Wilcox was a handful all night long and he, along with Kevin Durant, kept the Sonics in the game with 48 points and 16 rebounds combined. Wilcox in particular, was impressive with an array of inside moves, including a few vicious dunks. Toss in a good game by Nick Collison and the Sonics showed little fatigue in spite of a bad flight delay due to the storm on Saturday.
Nevertheless, the Raptors managed to pull out the win with stingy defense. The Raptors got their hands on deflections and read the passes that Seattle tried to throw. In particular, Jamario Moon was very good at reading the play and intercepting the pass by using his hops. Moon needs to keep fronting his man so he can jump and intercept the pass with his natural athleticism and he’s starting to show some progress in this area.
Andrea Bargnani also got into the act as he crashed the boards to become the Raptors’ leading rebounder for the night. Especially important was the fact that, thanks to his effort on the glass, he continued to get minutes despite some poor shooting.
For once, Sam Mitchell tried to keep two bigs on the floor for the entire game, and as a result the Raptors managed to wrestle control. Anthony Parker continued to be the main offensive threat with 23 points and Jason Kapono broke out of a prolonged absence from beyond the arc when he tossed in 10 points from the bench. Add Kris Humphries as the surprise of the night with solid minutes on both ends of the floor and the Raptors put their foot down in the second half.
One last side note about this game - TJ Ford seems to be slowly making an adjustment back to the pass-first mentality point guard we’re used to. With Kapono hitting some important shots Ford had some options to go to from the bench. Even though Ford showed some propensity to force passes and guess where his man was, he still eventually slowed down and showed some rhythm on the court. It’s going to take time, but as he remembers to slow down his play just a couple steps and use his court vision rather than his scoring ability, Ford will see his options more clearly.
With the Raptors heading out West, the dreaded “hard part of March” will be in full force. Winning without Chris Bosh will be a tough task and it won’t get any easier if the Raptors continue to allow opponents to shoot above 50%. Today, it worked because the Raptors scored enough while causing enough havoc through turnovers, but they need only look back at their last game against the Wizards to see an example of a game where they forced turnovers but lost as the result of allowing a team to shoot a high percentage. It’s not a winning formula and it’s not an acceptable playing style.
A year ago, the Raptors went out West without Bosh, but managed to pull out a series of wins that kept their season alive. This year, it’s a little later, but the same objective remains. With about one month of ball to go before the playoffs, the Raptors must weather this storm and make sure they do not fall any further in the standings.
Next Game: Toronto @ L.A. (Lakers)
Comments
By Tfan on March 10th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Watched the second half and all of the Suns-Spurs game. I sure hope the trio of Shaq, Nash and Stoudemire are finally rounding into shape for Phoenix’s sake.
Coming back to the Raptors game… a win is a win. Rasho, AP and Bargnani played well. As for TJ, he was trying to find his team-mates but he was also hesitating a bit (due to all the criticisms for his shoot-first display the last few games) when it comes to creating his own shots. Once he can belance the two, he’ll be fine. TJ’s a very good player and if I were him, I’ll just put my head down and play hard for the remainder of this season. Who knows, maybe he’ll win back his starter’s role or he’ll get traded to another team that needs a good player.
As for the west coast trip, I’d be happy if they can win one or two games. Go Raps!
By Kinnon Yee on March 10th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Tfan - That suns trade better have been worth it, or they’re screwed until Shaq’s contract expires.
Yeah. I believe in TJ too, but for me, it shouldn’t matter if he starts of plays off the bench, he’s still gotta do the same thing, which is create for those around him. However, it falls upon Sam to pull him when he plays that selfishly, and he doesn’t. For this game, it seems like he’s getting back on track, which is a good thing.
By Johnn19 on March 11th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Go west young man (TJ) and play as you can. The key to Raptors’s winning is for TJ Ford and the 2nd unit (Delfino and Kapono) outplaying the opponents bench players.
Trackbacks