| Bosh Magical Against Orlando Authored by Barak Falkovitz - February 8, 2007 - 10:50 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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But on Wednesday night, both all-stars showed why they are the future of the league.
After a seemingly ordinary first half, Chris Bosh was spectacular. Within the first five minutes of the second half, Bosh was only 1 point short of his total first half output, and proceeded to play the best half of his professional career, to lead Toronto to a 113-103 triumph over the Orlando Magic.
Bosh scored 31 points in 23 second half minutes en route to a career high 41 points, and as a result, was showered with “M-V-P” chants from the home crowd on multiple occasions during the final quarter.
“It made me smile a little bit,” said Bosh. “I was trying to stay serious, but I’ve never heard that before, and I’m not going to lie, it felt good.”
Although the Raptors have been performing well recently, it is very premature to have Chris Bosh thought of as a possible M.V.P. candidate. However, Morris Peterson isn’t about to count his teammate out of the running.
“If we continue doing what we’re doing, continue performing well, I don’t see any reason why his name shouldn’t mentioned up there, with the M.V.P.,” said Peterson, who scored 8 points in limited minutes against Orlando.
The two teams have been headed in opposite directions as of late, as Orlando had only won 3 of their last 13 games going into last night. Toronto, on the other hand, has posted a win in 9 of their last 11, and are currently on a six-game home winning streak.
Orlando was undermanned, missing four players from their regular rotation, but were able hang close for the first three quarters, and actually held a lead for most of the first half.
Keith Bogans ended an up-and-down second quarter, by knocking down a 3 pointer to square the game at 52 going into half-time. Bogans finished with 15 for Orlando.
Dwight Howard was tremendous throughout, scoring 32 points, and missing only one field goal attempt in the process. Howard has now made 22 of his last 23 attempts including a 21 point performance Tuesday night in Milwaukee.
For the first time since April 8th 1997, when Damon Stoudamire and Doug Christie dished out 13 and 10 assists respectively, two Raptors racked up double digits in assists during the same game. Both TJ Ford and Jose Calderon had 11 assists, and both finished with double-doubles at 10 points apiece.
“They’re playing so great right now,” Chris Bosh noted. “Jose is starting now, and we’re at a point where it doesn’t even matter who starts, who finishes, as long as we get the job done. Those two are very unselfish. Jose and TJ, they’re playing like men possessed right now. We need them to keep going.”
Toronto’s point guards have been dictating the tempo in every which way, leading to great ball movement and easy scoring opportunities. The Raptors, as a team, distributed a season-high 31 assists.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been on a team that’s clicked this much,” said Peterson. “Even when I first got here, we had a pretty good team, we clicked, but I really like this team.”
“It shows a lot of character, how we can respond to how we started off the season, and to be where we are." |
