Bruce Bowen, right, was up to his old tricks Wednesday. (AP Images)
Bruce Bowen was up to his old tricks Wednesday night, i.e., pissing off opponents. Well, his elbow to the ribs of Amare Stoudemire only succeeded in firing up Stat, who came up big to lead the Suns to an immense 96-79 win over the Spurs. In today’s Daily Dose, we explore the situation.
Rafer Alston made an immediate impact upon his return; Chris Bosh was lights out; Charlie Villanueva had the finest night of his season; usual durable Shane Battier got hurt; Manu Ginobili is just one of many ice cold Spurs; and Tim Duncan is a double-double machine.
Do try to drag yourself away from Dooce long enough to read up on the latest fantasy basketball tidbits. We’ve got you covered in today’s Dose.
Just as the Pacers have started rolling, winning three of their last four (including a huge win over the Cavs after trailing by 16) to move over .500, they had to embark on their longest road trip (six games) of the season. And the road has not been kind to Indiana. It had lost four straight away from Conseco Fieldhouse before pulling into Toronto for an afternoon clash today against the Raptors.
Of course, playing agains the Raptors — struggling along at 3-9 heading in — doesn’t exactly intimidate anyone. On the plus side, before their win last night, the Bulls were also 3-9, and they are supposed to be good.
Well, the Raptors did their darndest to try, but even they couldn’t throw away a 27-point lead, hanging on to beat Indy 92-83, sparked by a very promising defensive effort.
Stopping a super hot Jermaine O’Neal was going to be a key for this game for the Raptors. Coming off a season-high 29 points (on 8-for-15 shooting) and four blocks on Friday, O’Neal arrived in town riding a streak of four straight games with at least 20 points. He had even pitched in with eight assists in the past two games. Like I said, scorching.
Toronto did a solid job slowing down Indy’s power forward, holding him to 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting. O’Neal still pitched in with 11 rebounds, three assists and a steal, but he was unable to stop the Pacers’ road woes, now stretched to five straight losses.
Another concern for the Raptors was point guard Jamaal Tinsley, averaging over 17 PPG in the past five thanks to back-to-back 19-point games. The always injury-prone Tinsley (knock on wood, healthy so far this season) managed 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, but he had seven turnovers against just four assists, so he wasn’t exactly a positive contributor.
Even back-up guard Sarunas Jasikevicius was a big factor on Friday, pouring in 15 off the bench. This afternoon, however, as he is wont to do, he disappared (0-for-6, one point in 24 minutes).
Toronto, meanwhile, needed this win badly after a tough four-point loss in Atlanta on Friday (in which the Raps somehow got robbed of two key points by a scoring error late in the game), its seventh setback in the past eight. The Raps needed some home cooking to stop the bleeding, and that’s what they got, snapping a two-game skid against the Pacers. They are now 4-2 at the ACC. Just bottle that and get it through customs, please.
It was very encouraging that the Raps managed to win without a big effort from T.J. Ford. After just missing a triple double Friday (25 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds), Ford was very quiet this afternoon, managing just six points, six assists and four boards.
New starting centre Jorge Garbajosa continued his solid play, following up Friday’s 15-point, 12-rebound showing with 13 and six.
Chris Bosh, meanwhile, rebounded somewhat after Friday’s season-low 11-point game. He managed 17 today — better, but still not up to his standards. He’s really struggling from the field since Wednesday’s hard fall to the court, and he says he’s okay, but that brace on his knee suggests otherwise.
Morris Peterson, who had his NBA ironman streak of 371 straight games snapped on Wednesday, missed a third straight game with a partial tear in his left elbow. Toronto could really use some contribution off the bench from its seven-year veteran, yet strangely, it’s won two of three since he went down.
Game observations:
O’Neal came into the game second in blocks and added another three rejections. He’s having his finest season yet in this department.
It was all about a balanced offense for the Raps today. In addition to Bosh and Garbo, Andrea Bargnani, Jose Calderon and Joey Graham all reached double figures in points.
With MoPete out, Fred Jones needed to step up — especially considering this was his first game against the team he spent 245 games toiling for. He didn’t. Despite playing in a game-high 36 minutes, Jones was just 3-of-11 from the field for seven points. He did pitch in with five boards and three steals, but the key number here was zero, as in no free throw attempts. Jones is shooting 91.4 per cent from the charity stripe and he needs to be putting the ball on the floor, taking it to the hoop and drawing contact to taking advantage of that skill. Jones has been trigger happy from downtown, and last time I checked, that doesn’t often result in trips to the line.
Bosh did manage another double-double, pulling down 11 boards. Again, good stuff, but below our expectations at this point. He starts 3-for-13 and goes just 6-for-18 from the field and didn’t play a big part in Toronto jumping out to the big early lead. The team’s hopes are riding on that right knee. Just how sore is it?
Indy was horrible to start this game, but rode a 12-1 run to get back to within four in the third quarter. I was opening my window and had one leg on the ledge before the Raps sealed the deal with a big run of their own. At the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth, they outpace Indy 17-4, thanks to the second unit, specifically Graham and Calderon. Toronto never trailed in this game. Gotta love coast-to-coast wins, rare that they are in the NBA.
How about Bargnani? Toronto leads 32-17 after one, but goes insane to start the second, with Bargnani scoring eight of his 14 points to key a 14-2 run. Have you noticed what he’s done the past four games since the organization has decided he needs PT to develop? That’s 46 points in the past four, or 11.5 PPG for those of you who dig averages. The Italian prodigy has been showing off that sweet shooting touch. He nailed two 3-pointers and sunk 5-of-11 overall. His upside is tremendous. At this point, it’s all about learning the D. That will influence the number of minutes he gets going forward. Don’t be shocked if he starts regularly getting 30 MPG.
Rick Carlisle doesn’t get enough credit for how much he gets out of the Pacers year after year. Now in his fourth season at the helm of the team, he is a master of using the time out to stem opposing teams’ momentum. Basketball is such a game of runs and it seems so simple, but it’s amazing how few coaches are really good at using the TO as a weapon. Carlise is a genius when it comes to this, and that’s one of the reasons he has a winning percentage just a tick under .600 for his career.
In addition to O’Neal, containing Pacer centre Al Harrington was going to be necessary to win this game. The Raps did a great job there, holding him to 4-of-15 shooting for 11 points. He had 14 rebounds, but if he is not providing interior scoring, Indy is a lot easier to beat.
Stephen Jackson showed signs of life for Indy, pouring in 18 on 7-for-12 shooting. His shooting (both on and off the court) has been horrific this season. Jackson came in averaging just over 34 per cent from the field, and you have to wonder how much his head is in the game given the legal issues he’s currently facing. Still, this was a nice performance and perhaps will provide the impetus for Carlisle to give Jackson his starting two-guard job back. The Pacers need to have better starts, having trailed after one quarter in 11 of their first 14 games. If Jackson is finding his stroke, that will be a big help. He’s as streaky as they come, but can be so explosive when on.
Danny Granger also scored 18, after basically disappearing on Friday night. If he can get hot, that will provide another huge boost for the Pacers. Coming out of college, he slipped in the draft because of concerns over his knee. Granger had a decent rookie year and has stepped up with more responsibility this year, although his shooting has been poor. Maybe both he and Jackson should hit the shooting range, er, I mean take extra shots, er, I mean basket attempts, at practice.
The Pacers are shooting 36.4 per cent after one; Toronto is at 60.9 per cent. For the first half, Indy shoots just 32 per cent. The final tally? The Pacers are just over 37 per cent. Now that kind of defense will win Toronto some games.
With under six minutes to play in the opening quarter, the Pacers have already turned it over five times compared to just one by Toronto. For once, turnovers don’t kill the Raptors. They give up just nine points off of fumbled balls for the game.
Graham has definitely taken advantage of the extra time with Peterson out. He had 12 points and eight boards despite going just 1-for-5 and being mostly invisible in the first half. But Golden Graham sure picked up his play down the stretch today.
Calderon’s big performance — 13 points and five assists in just 24 minutes — was just what the doc ordered with Ford off his game. He’s taking high percentage shots and is having a huge impact off the bench. On one inbounds play, Calderon went around and talked to each of the other four Raps on the floor, providing them with instructions from coach Mitchell. He’s becoming a leader on this team, certainly of the second unit.
The Pacers next five games are on the West Coast. Yeah, we’ve done that. It ain’t pretty. Indy could find itself falling well behind the Pistons and Cavs by the time it gets back to its little field house.
We had a Rasho sighting. After a pair of DNP-CDs, Nesterovic played 20 minutes, the most action he’s seen in over three weeks. He was active on the glass with seven boards and came up with a sweet rejection midway through the second quarter.
Indiana didn’t get to the free throw line until there was just over six minutes to play in the second quarter. That is not going to get it done. Especially on the road, getting easy points at the stripe is vital. The Pacers bounce back and wind up with 20 trips for the game. Not great, but better than Toronto today.
Ford and Calderon are doing a great job protecting the pumpkin. They have combined for seven assists without a turnover in the early going. For the game, try 11 dimes against two turnovers for this pair. Oh, man, it is so sweet to have some real point guards. Calderon, by the way, is just so impressive in his ability to turn the corner on defenders. He’s so much more comfortable this year after enduring some struggles — especially with an injured foot — last season.
Ford was just 3-for-8 from the floor, but we’ll let it slide. His shooting has been much better of late, 15-of-24 in the previous two games. He started the game well with four points and five assists with under a minute left in the first quarter, but kind of disappeared for the rest of the day.
A reminder is in order that it takes time for a team to gel. Consider how much playing time is being swallowed up by new Raptors. Ford leads the way with 33.3 MPG heading in, but all told, 63 per cent of the team’s minutes are being logged by new faces. That is by far the highest percentage in the NBA (the Bucks are a distant second at 35 per cent). We simply can’t expect instantaneous results with such a new group.
Toronto needed to continue to be selective with its shots and distribute the ball well in the second half. It didn’t until it was almost too late. In fact, the Raps don’t record their first assist of the second half until less than a minute remains in the third quarter. Why do they go away from what makes them successful? I suppose I answered that question already with the point above, didn’t I?
O’Neal and Harrington combine for just 11 points in the first half. O’Neal is hobbled in the third, clearly favouring his right hip after some serious contact. He winds up playing 38 minutes, so I guess he’s okay but, man, will the Pacers be screwed if this acts up on the Western swing. What a battler he is under the boards, by the way. He was taking a pounding all game, yet there he was, late in the fourth, fighting for position and corraling a loose ball, not once but twice.
Garbajosa doesn’t look the part but he can actually beat opponents off the dribble.
At one point in the fourth, it’s small ball time for the Raps. Ford, Calderon and Jones are out together. The bigs are Bosh and Nesterovic.
Next up, the Raps head back on the road where they are winless. It’s just a two-game trip, but oh man, not only is it back-to-back, but it’s against the Hornets and blazing hot Mavs. Great. Are the Raptors ever going to have a winning streak?
RotoRob has been remiss. It’s been a few days since I did a Raptors’ report as I’ve been completely swamped putting together next year’s Fantasy Baseball Guide among other things. But not to worry. I’ll make up for it today with an extensive report from last night’s loss in Denver.
You had to know going in that something was going to give here. The Nuggets were 0-2 at home and the Raptors were 0-4 on the road. Someone was going to break a goose egg. Unfortunately, it turned out to be Denver. And yes, the Raps didn’t arrive at their hotel in Denver until 4 a.m. Saturday morning and it’s never easy to play in the altitude of Denver, so that’s an easy excuse for the 117-109 setback.
But plenty of credit has to go to Carmelo Anthony, who has stepped up big time in the absence of Kenyon Martin, done for the year with another knee surgery. Coming on the heels of a 34-point point effort in a loss to Orlando Wednesday, Melo went crazy again last night with another 34-point game for his sixth straight 30+ effort.
That ties the Denver record and it was done with the man who held the mark watching from the bench. Raptors’ assistant coach Alex English was the first Nugget to turn the trick, doing it 24 years ago.
So despite an impressive offensive showing from Toronto, that’s five straight times the Raps have gone down at the hands of Denver.
Game observations:
J.R. Smith has plenty of talent, but man, does he need some work on his decision-making skills. After his meltdown Wedneday that led to a tech and ultimately doomed the Nuggets, last night he threw up some very questionable shots. Sure, he sinks his share, but you could see the smoke rising from coach Karl’s ears. If the Nuggets finally deal some of their big men and bring in another small man (Corey Maggette?), Smith’s starting job will be in jeopardy. Despite the fact he’s a 3-point machine (four last night, on his way to 16 points), tread carefully.
Moving Jorge Garbajosa into the starting lineup has been a stroke of genuis, even if it hasn’t resulted in a win yet. After scoring 10 points with eight boards on Friday in LA, Garbo was simply fantastic last night, filling up the stat sheet with 17 points (on 7-for-14 shooting), 10 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block. That’s his first NBA double-double. I told you he can shoot; after three straight fantastic efforts, this slump is officially over.
Toronto’s defense looked good in the second half Friday, holding the Lakers to 39 per cent from the field. We need to see more of that. Last night wasn’t great, but holding Denver to 45.1 per cent is a step in the right direction.
Denver came in to the game third in the NBA in fast break points, but Toronto limited the Nuggets to 19. So how the hell did the Raps lose this game? Three reasons — the bench (see below), Denver shot over 40 per cent from beyond the arc, sinking 11 treys, plus it piled up 50 of its points in the paint. Hell, Yakhouba Diawara nailed three 3-pointers. Who? Exactly. He came in 0-for-8 from downtown. Uh, yeah. Perimeter defensive woes and an inability to stop Denver down low translates into another loss.
That’s five straight losses. Yep, the team needs to step up defensively. Where have we heard this before? We have a habit of making teams look much better offensively than they are. Denver’s 117 points are its best total yet this year. Again, teams are circling the calendar dates when Toronto comes to town.
English is the Nuggets’ all-time leading scorer with 21,645 points. At the pace the fourth-year Anthony is going, it won’t be long before he supplants him. Melo is already closing in on 6,000 points. In fact, at the early-season pace he’s set, he’ll get to 6K in about a dozen games. He might be knocking on the door of 8,000 points by the end of the season.
With K-Mart out, Eduardo Najera has become the starting PF for Denver, and while he’s not a big-time scorer or fantasy option, he is an extremely physical player and very tough to play against.
Chuck Swirsky says the e-mails are pouring in about Garbajosa. Is he a Kramer lookalike? What do you think? I think he could use a bit more poof in the hair, but there’s something there.
With Anthony on fire, it was another reminder of how great the 2003 draft class was. Fellow members of that class, Chris Bosh and T.J. Ford, did their part last night. Bosh poured in a season-high 31 and added two steals, but had “just” nine rebounds. What? No double-double? I guess we’re spoiled. Ford was unbelievable. How about a season-high 26 points and a career-best 18 assists plus five boards and two steals? Wow! Charlie who?
Raps were doing a great job moving the ball downcourt in the first quarter. They sink 14 of their first 19 shots. How they are still standing after that I have no idea considering the lack of sleep they’re operating on.
Carmelo looks much improved this year in his abilitity to lean in and invite contact. The result is a career-best 10.1 trips to the line per game so far. Last night, he was 11-for-11 from the charity stripe.
Ford didn’t just break his career-best in assists — he shattered it. He previous best was 14, set last year. With two minutes to go until halftime, Ford had already dropped 13 dimes. In fact, he fell just one assist short of tying the Raptors’ franchise record, held by good old Damon Stoudemire back in 1996. Ford is thriving in this offense.
Denver shot 57.1 per cent in the first quarter. Here we go again. On the plus side, the Raps drained 66.7 per cent! It’s the wild, wild west. Is there a defensive stop in the house?
The Raptors’ second and third quarter defense was much better, as Denver is down to 45.5 through three quarters.
The Raptors definitely showed some life in this one, especially considering it was their first back-to-back of the season. They trailed by a dozen points in the fourth, but instead of folding in the tent, they pulled back within four with 42.5 second to go. However, Najera put the dagger in with a layup. Anthony drained two of his three 3-pointers in the decisive fourth quarter as well.
Rasho Nesterovic was getting some good low-post position, but where’s the touch? He missed an easy shot, and wasn’t a factor, playing just nine minutes off the bench. He’s been doomed by a 38.9 per cent field goal percentage.
Seven Nuggets scored in double figures. The Raptors bench was bitch-slapped by Denver’s reserves, 39-14. That doesn’t happen very often and was a key contributor to this L.
Reggie Evans is looking absolutely dominant under the glass. In his first nine minutes, he’s already got seven boards. All told, Evans scores 10 points and adds 12 boards for his first double-double of the season. He is controlling the boards.
Joe Smith also did a great job with 10 rebounds off the bench. Even without Martin and Nene (out for the past four games), Denver has been a superb rebounding team so far. Smith, of course, is being dangled in trade talks, and this can’t hurt his stock. Plenty of undersized teams could use some help even in this new small-ball era of the NBA.
Morris Peterson’s elbow was bothering him. It’s obviously affecting his shooting touch as he misses his first three tries over 11 minutes of action, and goes just 1-of-5 in 15 minutes. The fact that MoPete was a complete non-factor off the bench really hurt Toronto in the battle of the benches as we discussed.
Anthony’s big night moves him ahead of Michael Redd for the early scoring lead. Could this be the year he breaks through for his first scoring title?
Marcus Camby had a tough time defending Bosh one-on-one. He kept gambling, trying for the block. It never came, marking Marcus’s first game this year without one.
Bosh again did most of his damage early. He had 19 points with almost eight minutes to play still in the third quarter.
Kris Humphries returned from his sprained ankle, and got to play 10 minutes — much of it in the third quarter — and he looked strong with six points and a steal.
Melo was shooting the lights out late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, but takes a seat 90 seconds into the final frame. You can see he’s pissed, but coach Karl looks like a genius as the Nuggets go on a big run to stretch their lead.
Denver got a scare in the final minute when Andre Miller landed on someone’s foot and sprained his ankle. X-rays were negative and he says he’ll be good to go Tuesday, but he looked quite hobbled as he tried to get to the bench. Miller shot well last night (6-for-11), but wasn’t much of a factor otherwise. If he has to miss time, watch for little Earl Boykins to step up.
Bosh was struggling from the line — 4-for-8 to start — not an uncommon event in the altitude when you’re trying to slow your heart down. But he nails his final five from the line to salvage the night.
Andrea Bargnani played just five minutes in the first half and not at all in the second half. His PT is on the decline on this road trip as he’s clearly been struggling. Once again: be patient. The skills are there for this guy to be a player.
This wasn’t exactly how I was hoping this tough five-game, 11-day Western swing would begin. The Raptors threw up a stinker last night — probably their worst effort of the season to date — in getting their asses royally spanked by the Kings 107-92.
There’s no shame is losing to Sacramento in Arco Arena. After all, after hammering Detroit the other night, the Kings are off to another good start in front of their great fans at 3-0, leaving them 165-43 in Sacramento since the start of the 2001-02 season. So clearly, few teams escape this trip with a W. The Raptors know that pain all too well, as last night made it nine straight loses at Arco. You have to go back to mid-March 1997 to find the last time — in fact, it’s the only time — that Toronto has won in this building. All-time, the Raps are 1-10 here.
But there’s no excuse for the absolutely horrible effort — sparked once again by a lousy start — that Toronto offered last night. This Kings’ team is beatable. They came in near the bottom in scoring, second-worst in field goal percentage and dead last in three pointers per game. All the Raps had to do was play their game, put up some points and the rest would take care of itself, right?
Wrong. Because, alarmingly, a big component of the Raptors’ game so far is allowing the other team to score at will. And even the offensively inept Kings were able to take advantage of that, and it was aided plenty by a new wrinkle in the Toronto troubles — turnovers. The Raps couldn’t protect the pumpkin, and that recipe — poor shooting, poor defense, inability to hold onto to the ball — rarely results in victory.
This is a vital stretch for the Raptors as they play the vast majority of their games on the road between now and the end of the calendar year. If they don’t get their act together fast, they will be buried by then. At 2-4, they’ve already dropped to 11th in the conference, a game out of the eighth spot. Believe it or not, it may take a .500 record to make the playoffs in the East this year.
Although at times I felt I needed to avert my gaze from this one, I offer up my observations regardless:
Jorge Garbajosa needs to get it going. If he plays like he’s capable of, it will have a ripple effect through the whole team. Sam Mitchell has obviously started to get frustrating with him, giving the Spainaird just three minutes last night. Garbo came in 6-for-26 and he missed his only shot of the night, 3-pointer, so he’s now shooting a woeful 15.4 per cent from beyond the arc. I repeat the mantra — this guy’s track record of shooting the ball is unquestioned. Garbajosa is also capable of rebounding and when he starts playing better, it will help solidify the frontcourt.
Ron Artest and Mike Bibby (who at least has an excuse because of his wrist injury) have been shooting the ball like crap this year. The tonic? A game against Toronto. Artest comes in at 31.7 per cent from the field and is 2-for-21 from 3-point land. Last night, he drains his first six and winds up 9-of-17 including 2-of-5 from long distance. Bibby is 34.8 per cent before last night, but drains 8-of-16 against Toronto. Do you think slumping shooters are starting to circle the date when Toronto comes to town?
Sacramento wins the battle of the boards 44-35. The Kings have a couple of strong rebounders but don’t really have a dominant boards man, especially with centre Brad Miller out. Instead they are very efficient as a team, and it was on display last night. Artest led the way as usual with 10, but the contributions came from everyone: John Salmons (eight), Shareef Abdur-Rahim (seven), Kenny Thomas (six), Kevin Martin (six) and Mike Bibby (five) all helped out on the glass in a great display of gang rebounding. Eric Musselman, the Kings’ new coach, believes that guards should be involved in the rebounding game.
Artest has definitely been doing his part to fill in for Miller on the glass. He’s pulled down at least eight rebounds in five of the first six games of the year. As usual, Artest fills the stat sheet and yesterday he added four assists.
By the way, in case you hadn’t noticed, Martin has seriously arrived in this, his third season. In fact, it might be just about time to strip the ever-injured Kenyon Martin of his title and make Kevin the real K-Mart. He scored 26 points and sunk all eight of his free throws. This kid is money from the line. That’s 36 straight he’s sunk — the best current streak in the NBA. But it’s not the first time he’s done this. Martin sunk 37 in a row in February. He now has 143 points in six games this year. To put that in perspective, he scored 131 in 45 games as a rookie.
In leading the Kings to a third straight win overall, Artest scored 23 points, but 15 (the most by any King in any one quarter so far this year) came in the first period that — at usual — put Toronto in a big hole. Obviously first-quarter D is an ongoing issue, but coming in, a better offensive start was a key for Toronto if it wanted to have a chance. Well, the Raps got it — shooting 55 per cent in the first quarter. But guess what? Sacramento is at 60 per cent, turnovers are taking away Toronto chances and the help defense is non existent. That translates into a 36-25 lead for the Kings.
To start the second, however, Toronto comes out flat, missing seven of its first eight from the field. For the quarter, the Raps shoot just 30 per cent and manage only 19 points. The Kings stay hot, and go on an 11-3 run to help build an insurmountable 59-44 halftime lead.
Sacramento had no problem keeping up with the Raps’ high-tempo offense. In fact, they were the pace setters for most of the night. The Kings, one of the top defensive teams in the association, employed a transition defense to defuse the Raps’ attack. Until Toronto gels, it’s going to have difficulty keeping its own weapon from being its own undoing.
Chris Bosh had four double-doubles in the first five games, and he scored 19 but he fell short on the glass last night. Who can complain, though? The guy has been outworking his opponents — especially on the O-glass. He’s so much stronger than he used to be and what a difference that makes. He’s also massively improved in his ability to play with his back to the basket. Bosh brings a passion to the floor at all times.
Bibby scored 21 points and added four assists. He’s still using a splint to protect that right wrist that was supposed to keep him out for the beginning of the season, but it wasn’t hindering his shot last night. He says it’s still bugging him to an extent, but this was a great sign for Bibby owners.
Did I mention the turnovers? How about five for Toronto before five minutes have been played? It’s five and a half minutes in, better make that six. Those turnovers haven’t been a problem this year as Toronto has been one of the better clubs in the association as far as handling the ball. So let’s assume last night was an anomaly.
T.J. Ford was making some smart decisions in the opening quarter. It was a much better start for him, at least. But he only wound up with just 12 points and seven assists. He did pitch in with six rebounds, but eight turnovers? Ugh. No wonder Toronto had a season-high 19 turnovers for the game.
Salmons, the guy who screwed over the Raptors this offseason, came in averaging 7.4 PPG. He managed just six on the night. Small victories.
SAR had 18 points for the Kings and flashed some fantastic post play. He may be undersized at centre as he fills in for Miller, but he makes up for it with fundamentally sound positional play down low.
We mentioned how bad the Kings’ shooting was before. But last night, miraculously, they shot 49 per cent. It’s amazing how NBA teams can stick wide open looks. Funny how that works.
Sacramento, now 4-2, looks like it will have another strong team this season. The Kings have remained remarkably competitive over the years despite being a small market club.
Morris Peterson had another strong game with 18 points, but most of it came early. He scored 16 points in his first 19 minutes thanks to four 3-pointers.
The Raptors seem to lack confidence right now. I think it will soon be time for a starting five shakeup.
Veteran Corliss Williamson got a big ovation when he stepped on the floor. At least, I think it was for him (after all, he came up huge on Wednesday against the Pistons). But given that his nickname has become “Scoreless,” I’m not sure if the fans were cheering for him or perhaps a fan who made a great catch as the hot dog cannon was blasting red hots into the stands.
What’s with all the misses on easy looks for the Raps? This team looks like the woman who pulls into the office after applying her makeup while driving on the highway. It’s just not very pretty.
Did I mention the turnovers? It’s just over two minutes into the second quarter and eight Raptor fumbles have led to 12 Sacramento points.
Sacramento has started winning by changing its formula. The Raps should take notes on this. The Kings have been charging out of the gates to work on getting the opposition into the penalty early in the game. For instance, in first quarters of their first three games, the Kings got to the foul line a total of 10 times. In each of three games since, Sacramento has had at least 10 first-quarter trips to the charity stripe. Are you paying attention, Toronto? It pays to go to the hoop, especially when your outside game is struggling.
There’s less than six minutes to play in the second quarter and the Raps don’t have a three-pointer yet. They miss their first five tries, sink just 2-of-10 in the first half and go 6-for-24 overall. Sacramento is 6-for-22. It wasn’t exactly a sharp shooting display from the perimeter. Peja doesn’t live here anymore.
Naturally, that led to plenty of long rebounds and second chances. Each team had 10 offensive rebounds — Fred Jones had three for Toronto and SAR pulled down four for the Kings.
Like candy from a baby: Sacramento racks up a dozen steals, including three by Thomas, who only had two in the first five games in total.
Artest was lighting it up, as mentioned, but man, what a brick he threw up midway through the second quarter. I think Chuck Swirsky and Jack Armstrong had bite back their laughter.
Bosh had 15 points and four rebounds in the first half, but was very quiet in the second half. The Kings manage to keep the ball out of his hands and when he gets the rock, a second defender is quickly there to help out.
Rasho Nesterovic continues to flash the D. He’s taking good angles against attacking offensive players and taking the charges.
Artest hurts his finger late in the game. He’s icing it with a Kings’ branded ice bag. I’m impressed by the marketing savvy.
The Raptors were simply never in this game. Just a horrible defensive effort compounded by turnover city. Next up, the Raps get Golden State on Tuesday night.
The Atlanta Hawks soared into town last night boasting the best record in the East. And they left with that mark intact after putting on a dominating offensive show in a 111-102 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
The Hawks are not only the youngest team in the NBA, but most of their key parts are veritable babes in the woods. What a tremendous core of young talent this club has amassed: Joe Johnson (25), Josh Childress (23), Shelden Williams (23), Zaza Pachulia (22), Josh Smith (20) and Marvin Williams (20). Much of the supporting cast is also young, including Salim Stoudamire (24) and Cedric Bozeman (23).
With the win, the Hawks moved to three games over .500 for the first time in seven and a half years. Hell, Smith was barely in middle school the last time Atlanta had a winning team. Last season, the Hawks got off to an 0-9 start. These clearly aren’t your father’s Hawks. From the looks of it, they’re not even your older brother’s Hawks.
While I find it difficult to imagine this team will maintain its pace, or even make the playoffs for that matter (especially when other teams start taking the Hawks seriously), stranger things have happened. The team is actually starting to believe they’ll make the playoffs, and that’s often half the battle. But regardless of whether Atlanta is playoff bound or capable of snapping its streak of seven straight losing seasons this year, it’s a team on the rise and one that’s capable of giving anyone problems with its athleticism and skill.
As for the Raptors, the loss drops them back to a losing record of 2-3. Coach Sam Mitchell is considering lineup changes because in each of the five games so far, Toronto has gotten off to a slow start. Something’s got to give there.
Things don’t get any easier. The team now sets out on a five-game Western road trip starting Sunday in Sacramento and 17 of the Raptors’ next 23 games are away from the ACC. Thanks, schedule makers. The team better learn how to win on the road — pronto.
Observations from last night’s contest:
The Hawks finally added a point guard this year in Speedy Claxton, but the injury-prone guard is out with knee woes. Bozeman — not Tyronn Lue — started in Claxton’s place. Lue is a tremendous player, but seems amazingly averse to starting. His numbers as a starter vs. coming off the bench suggest he’s simply just far more comfortable as a second-unit player.
Johnson has arrived this season. As good as he was last season, he is a truly dominant player now, one capable of taking over a game. If you want to beat Atlanta, you have to keep Johnson under control. The Raps couldn’t do it last night, as he went off for a season-high 34 points and showed an ability to hurt the opposition in so many ways. For instance, he uses screens brilliantly to get open looks. How about eight boards and five assists as well? And for those in FG percentage leagues, you’ve got to love Johnson’s 12-for-20 shooting performance. Forget about his 31.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 5.4 APG. Johnson is a leader now. And when your leader is going as well as he is, the rest of the team will follow. With Boris Diaw looking incapable of matching last year’s breakout, this deal looks very good for the Hawks. Johnson has now scored at least 25 points in every one of the first five games, tying a franchise record held by Luke Hudson and Bob Pettit.
By the way, on top of everything else, Johnson is also providing to be an extremely durable player. He’s played in 363 straight games, the second-longest active streak in the NBA. The current leader? Toronto’s Morris Peterson, at 365 in a row. With all these ironmen around, it feels like we’re in Hawaii. Except I don’t have a Mai Tai in my hand. Nor do I have my arm around a lovely tanned beauty wearing a coconut bra (she’s wearing the coconuts, not me). Oh, and it’s cold out. Otherwise, there’s a real Hawaiian feel in the air.
Smith is an absolute beast. He poured in a career-high 29 points (20 in the second half when the Raps finally realized that you have to double-team Johnson) and is equally capable of producing highlight-reel power slams as he is hitting a back-breaking three-ball from downtown. Smith also filled up the stat sheet, getting his customary seven boards but also dishing five dimes. His previous best was 28 points on April 15.
Toronto put itself in trouble right from the get-go. The Raps came out with no intensity in the first quarter and before they knew what hit them, they were down by a big deficit. We’re back to the first-quarter problem of allowing the opponent to sink easy buckets. Atlanta shot 57.1 per cent in the opening quarter, helping bury the Raps right off the bat. The Raps can’t buy a bucket, shooting just 26 per cent to start. Johnson and Smith, with nine points apiece, lead the way as Atlanta grabs a commanding 28-15 lead.
Less then two minutes into the second quarter, the Hawks have already scored 14 points in the paint. Where’s the Raptors’ defense? For the game, the Hawks shot 50 per cent. You won’t win many games allowing your opponent to do that.
Peterson shook off a substandard effort against Philly on Wednesday with a strong game. He scored 10 points in his first 10 minutes and was getting open for good looks. It was great to see him showing his patented hustle, rolling around the floor for loose balls. The Raps need Peterson supplying strong secondary scoring, and so far this season, he hadn’t been doing so. As we mentioned, there’s talk that the Raps may do some lineup switching, so Peterson could find himself coming off the bench if he doesn’t pick things up.
Joey Graham, a good candidate to earn more PT if the Raps tinker with the lineup, is meeting his goal of supplying energy and excitement off the bench. Thanks to the high-tempo offense, the starters on this club will need plenty of spelling, and Graham has been doing a fantastic job of that lately. While he didn’t do much on the stat sheet last night, he is playing much-improved D this year and that will continue to earn the soph his minutes.
The bench was again a strength for Toronto, outscoring its counterparts by nine. In the second quarter, the Raps’ second unit was instrumental in helping cut a 14-point deficit to a more manageable number.
This is where Atlanta falls short, I think. Getting Claxton and Marvin Williams back will sure help, but the Hawks don’t yet have the overall team depth capable of being a contender. Of course, this is the East, a conference in which last season’s two best teams (Detroit and New Jersey) didn’t exactly rely on second-unit scoring. The exception, of course, is Childress, one of the league’s better sixth men. He poured in 16 off the bench. Love the ‘fro, love the game.
The Hawks had the edge on the glass, outrebounding Toronto 49-40. Shelden Williams pitched in nicely in that area, pulling down seven boards in just 15 minutes. At this point, that’s his primary value and his ticket to PT.
Speaking of rebounding, with apologies to Frank Sinatra, Chris Bosh is looking like the Chairman of the Boards. Late in the first half, he already has five, but he’s struggling with his shot. He shoots much better in the second half and goes crazy on the glass, finishing with 19 points and 17 rebounds. He now leads the association with 13.6 RPG. Wow. Bosh looks like a man possessed this season.
Anthony Parker is showing a nice passing touch. I love how his game is so complete. There’s no one thing that makes him a star, but no glaring weakness either.
Raps pull within two with 7:45 to play. But like I said, these aren’t the same old Hawks who made an art form of blowing fourth-quarter leads. Courtesy of two-thirds of the J, J & J Boys (Childress being the third member after Johnson and Smith), they promptly went on a 17-6 run to ice the game.
T.J. Ford had a sluggish start (didn’t every Raptor except for MoPete?), going scoreless in the first quarter and managing just two in the second. But he looks great in the second half, and had 10 points in the third quarter with two minutes to play.
Andrea Bargnani manages four points (on 2-of-3 shooting) and a couple of boards, but piles up the fouls and plays just nine minutes. He sits on the bench for the entire fourth quarter. Like I have said repeatedly, patience is the key with the number one overall pick.
Jose Calderon looked fantastic again last night, providing a great lift for the team in the fourth quarter as the Raptors cut into Atlanta’s lead. He has really improved this season, looking like a completely different player. The confidence is obvious and I wonder how much of that is because of his experiences on the FIBA Gold-medal winning Spanish team and the addition of compatriot Jorge Garbajosa this season. Whatever the reason, it’s great to see. Calderon’s shot is night and day compared to last season when he was incredibly gun shy.
Fred Jones is great off the bench last night. What a shock. I just dumped Jones in the pool because his low shooting percentage was too hard to swallow. So he drains 7-of-13 for 17 points before fouling out. Thanks, Fred. In his stead, I picked up surprising Spurs’ centre Fabricio Oberto. You better go crazy next week, Fabricio!
Raps begin the fourth on fire, draining their first five shots. We need to see this touch earlier in the game, guys.
Lue may hate starting, but he’s a solid player, and he also knows how to play D.
Speaking of D, Parker is on Johnson and he also spent much of Wednesday on Allen Iverson. He seems to be getting the key defensive assignments that used to go to Peterson. In theory, this should help Peterson score more, as he’s not worn out on the defensive side of the floor.
Is it just me or with his new full beard does Hawk coach Mike Woodson have a Gil Scott Heron, circa mid-’70s, thing going on?
