After playing a huge game against the Lakers, the Raptors came into Golden State looking worn, without any real hope for survival. No one could blame the team, as they basically ran a track meet 24 hours earlier, only to play against a Don Nelson-style team the next day. From their first quarter deficit of 18 points, they clawed their way back to make things interesting.

With inspired play from Anthony Parker once again, the Raptors managed to give some scare to the Warriors. It was Parker who was largely responsible for keeping the Raptors in the game early, and it was Parker who still was effective at other small things when the ball wasn’t getting to him anymore, such as rebounding. In the first half, the Raptors could not manage to shoot a high percentage and to compound the problem, the defense had difficulties handling Monta Ellis and Stephen Jackson. In fact, every Warriors starter managed to put up big points against the Raptors for most of the first half, except for Baron Davis.

Adding to the problems was a lack of rebounding presence as the Raptors once again decided to go small. It was a lack of rebounding that really kept the Raptors from seriously chipping away at the Warriors lead, as Golden State crashed the boards time and time again to retrieve what few missed shots they had.

By the time the game moved into the second half, the Warriors found their rhythm and Baron Davis began heating up. The Raptors, on the other hand, managed to get back in the game as Andrea Bargnani changed his game, and Jose Calderon began shooting a much higher percentage. Toss in some inspired minutes from Rasho Nesterovic, and the Raptors began to cut into the lead.

When Ford was inserted into the game, he once again was looked upon to provide a spark on the offense side and play his hounding-style of defense. As Ford chased Baron Davis and Monta Ellis all over the floor, and Jose Calderon sat on the bench, the Raptors had to make a decision. Do they leave Ford in the game, who was playing better defense, but still displaying his “me first” shooting display, or would it have been better to insert Calderon who relies heavily on help defense, but began shooting a higher percentage and looked for his teammates?

The Raptors felt that Ford would give them the grit they needed, and for a while, in the second half it worked. Ford managed to make some of his shots, and kept being aggressive on the defensive side. However, he also illustrated how his determination could be a double-edged sword. With a few seconds on the shot clock, Ford had the ball in his hands, and was dribbling it away beyond the arc. His man was covering him pretty tightly, and Andrea Bargnani was heating it up in the second half. So what does Ford do on the play? He just stops his dribble, doesn’t even look off Bargnani to lose his man, and hoists up a three, which clanged off the iron. Now, there’s no guarantee that Bargnani would have been open for the shot, nor would there have been a guarantee that he would have made an open three-pointer. However, we’ve often seen Ford use fakes as a weapon and this has been missing from his repertoire since his return from his injury.

Nevertheless, the question going in for the rest of the season has to be about managing the minutes of the Raptors’ excellent point guard tandem. Sam Mitchell has given Ford the majority of the minutes in both the LA and Golden State games, electing to leave Calderon on the bench for significant stretches, especially in the final quarter. It’s clear that there is a tough decision that goes beyond simply who is playing better, as each point guard has shown different strengths and weaknesses. One point guard who plays some tough defense and can make his own shot, but often dribbles himself into trouble and makes questionable team decisions on the offense. On the other hand, you have another point guard who can shoot the daylights out of a team on any given night, ensures his teammates get equal opportunities, but tends to take fewer shots and has been playing porous defense lately.

Moral victories are the kinds of things a team can build on. Two losses against the best of the west and the Raptors have kept pace with both teams. They showed a lot of pride, fight, and seemed to challenge both teams. However, this is not 2005-2006. This is not a team of unproven rookies, with a badly mismanaged front office. Nor is this the beginning of the season, where the Raptors can be accused of feeling each other out, and need to build on their teamwork. No, these are the Raptors in the Bryan Colangelo era, and all these “moral victories” add up to a bunch of losses. At the end of the day, that’s just not acceptable or even adequate in a “winning culture”.

The end game is clear, in that the Raptors are trying to be the best, and are not trying to be “satisfactory with flashes of brilliance, and days of horrid play”. The harsh reality is that the Raptors are staring at a series with the Cleveland Cavaliers without home court advantage.

With losses against sub .500 teams earlier this month, they now look at an incredibly difficult last stretch to the playoffs.

Next Game: Raptors @ Denver