| Bench And Defense Key, As Toronto Beats Kings Authored by Barak Falkovitz - January 18, 2007 - 9:54 am
| Current Featured Columns | | Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
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Along with Jones, TJ Ford was forced to take a back-seat, even on his own bobble-head giveaway night. In his place, it was Toronto’s other point guard who received most of the limelight.
While Ford struggled and played only 24 minutes, Jose Calderon controlled the tempo for the Raptors, and got his teammates involved throughout. He finished with 11 points and 9 assists, and broke down the defense at will. He also shot 5-8 from the field, and even added a blocked shot to his stat-line.
It wasn’t only Calderon who got his teammates involved, however. Toronto, as a unit, showed great ball movement, and had 27 combined assists.
What seemed like a “grind-it-out” type of game for most of the first three quarters, turned into a romp for the Raptors. The Kings, who had lost six consecutive going in, started the second half on a 20-8 run. However, the Raptors broke away from Sacramento in the fourth quarter, and outscored them 33-16 in that frame, on their way to a 101-85 triumph.
During that fourth quarter, the Raptors shot a sizzling 76.4% from the floor, and held Sacramento to only 35.2%.
“The guys are buying into the concepts of what we’re trying to do, and they understand that if we do those things, it makes it hard for teams to score on us,” said Mitchell of his team’s solid defensive play. “They’re taking pride in trying to stop people.”
Offensively, the Raptors’ received double figures from three bench players, and outscored the Kings’ second unit, 50-12.
Leading the Raptors off the bench was veteran Morris Peterson, who looked to be making a case for more playing time. Peterson was the most lively he’s been in weeks. He scored a team-high 22 points in 30 minutes, and made eight of his eleven shots, which included four of six from behind the arc.
“Tonight I wanted to come out a little extra aggressive because of the game we played Dallas, I felt like I let the team down, and didn’t do what I was supposed to do,” said Peterson, referring to a miscommunication that led to a game winning basket from Josh Howard at the buzzer. “I wanted to come out and say, ‘my next opportunity, I want to be ready and play aggressive’,” added Peterson.
The Raptors’ self accountability this season has been a breath of fresh air, and a lack of leadership has hurt them in some respects for the past few years.
One of those glue guys, Jorge Garbajosa, broke out of his recent funk, with 16 points and 6 rebounds in 39 minutes. About four minutes into the second quarter, Garbajosa grabbed his own rebound, and got fouled while making a putback with his left hand.
Afterwards, he ripped his jersey out of his shorts in a release of his frustration. It was Garbajosa’s first real show of emotion in some time, and that jump hook was only his fourth made field goal in his last five contests. Wednesday was Garbajosa’s first double digit scoring game since January 9th in New Jersey. For the record, he made the ensuing free throw.
After committing 4 fouls in his first 8 minutes of action, it looked as though Joey Graham was back to Bad Joey, despite playing a terrific game Monday, against Philadelphia. But as the Raptors decided that they were going to begin to play defense and move the ball on offense, Good Joey decided he was gonna show up.
Graham tallied 8 of his 10 points in the final quarter including 2 points with 24 seconds left in the third. And although his productivity still fluctuates from game to game, Graham has been making big strides in his development and looks to be on his way to becoming a player that Toronto will be able to count on.
The Raptors have now won six of their last eight games, and are beginning to receive a lot of respect around the league.
“They’ve got a new team, some nice big men, outside shooters, so Toronto is a legitimate playoff team,” said Ron Artest, who scored 18 points for Sacramento.
For the first time in about five years, the Raptors are playing meaningful games this late in the schedule, and it has Chris Bosh excited.
“To know that we’re playing for something, it means every possession is important. We have to get every loose ball, every rebound, we have to go for it,” explained Bosh, who scored 20 points and grabbed 9 boards. “And just the game itself, we have to win it because we’re trying to do something special, we’re trying to win a championship, and we’re trying to get home court in the playoffs. |
