It’s been a few wonderful days since I haven’t had to report on game stats for a Raptors game. The quality of my life has increased 26%: I have my appetite back, the weather is getting better, my knees aren’t aching, heart is ok, it’s my New Years. With traffic to RaptorsTalk.com falling in the wake of a couples game without my play-by-play, the sadist in me was screaming for me to turn to the Denver game, I was more than happy to watch Hellboy in HD (can’t wait for the sequel), but my RFS was acting up.

This was the best game the Raptors have played against an elite team in a couple months. They came out of the gates, firing on all cylinders. Shooting a blazing 66% from the field. They moved the ball around the perimeter, found the hot player (mostly Bargnani, who had a great half, but didn’t play much afterwards), and stuck their shots. Bosh even had 5 assists. Not surprisingly, they had a 12 point lead at the end of the 1st.

In true Raptor fashion, they went away from the things that were working for them:

• Parker started the game on Iverson, limiting his effectiveness on the offensive end. This stopped for some reason in the 2nd half until the mid-way point of the 4th.
• The Raptors stopped slashing through the paint with the ball in the post in Bosh’s hands.
• The Raptors stopped moving the ball around the perimeter.
• Bargnani was planted on the bench for most of the 2nd half.

This forces me to wonder what Smitch was barking at the guys to do. Seriously, you take a 12 point lead doing all those positive things, and stop doing them for no apparent reason. Denver did pick up their defense, but it isn’t as though they are a great defensive team.

It wasn’t all on Smitch, Denver is a better team, there is question. Karl has more options when things aren’t going well for him, against the Raptors anyways…to the start the 3rd quarter, Karl subbed JR Smith in for Anthony Carter, forcing Calderon over to Iverson. This was the definitive move as far as I am concerned. Denver grinded their way back into the game, and took the lead in the 4th.

The next point of interest came with the Raptors down 2 at the 4 minute markish. The Raptors coming out of a timeout, Calderon gets the ball to Moon at the top of the arc, he is open, and jacks and misses a trey. Early in the shot clock, and without anyone banging in the post for a rebound. He has been taking those types of shots all season, but not the last few games. Given the way he was playing, I was actually surprised he took it. All in all, Moon had a great game. He really made Carmelo work on the offensive end, blocking 3 of his shots, and forcing him to take 28 shots to score 33 points.

The third defining moment was with the Raptors down 1 with 2:36 left in the game, out of the timeout, Parker and Calderon were playing pick and roll, except Bosh didn’t really roll. Parker was looking for the pass, left his feet, and had to kick out to Calderon at the top of the arc in mid air. Calderon gave it back to Parker on the elbow extend; Parker tried to dump the ball into Bosh, but K-Mart stole the ball, took it coast-to-coast, Calderon fouled him with clear path, 2 plus possession and the game is over.

Bargnani started the game like a man possessed, popping from all over the court. I am going on record with this, but he really doesn’t do things differently from a game-to-game basis. Hear me out: in the games he has good offensive output, all he does is hit his shots, which leads to more minutes, which leads to more shots. He forces shots from time-to-time, but really, the difference between a good and bad game is that he hits more. Case in point today…he comes out in the first half hitting his shots, getting 16 points in 14 minutes. To start the 3rd, he misses 4 shots, and that’s it for him for the game, he sits out the last 16 minutes of the game.

Bosh played like a champ, coming 1 assist shy of his first triple double. He almost got that one assist, but Rasho missed a contest half-hook from close. Again, he fell victim to the Raptors moving away from what was working. He got the bulk of his dimes from the post, finding the slasher in the paint. That all but stopped after the 1st quarter, where he had 5 of his 9.

What was Smitch’s strategy you may ask:

1st Quarter (1Q Stats):

• Raptors lose the tip, game over, lol.
• HOLY SHIT, Moon slashes through the paint, and gets the pass from Bosh for a layup.
• Jose gets out on the break, gets to the line, and kicks out ot Bargnani for a trey.
• Melo shakes and bakes and sticks a J.
• Bargnani comes off a Calderon screen for a jumper.
• Moon steals the ball from Carmelo, but Bargnani takes a bad jumper at the stripe.
• Camby finds Martin under the basket for an open dunk.
• Parker finds an open Bargnani for a dunk.
• Carmelo wills a layup in over Parker and Moon + 1 (he missed the FT).
• BC looks pissed, as per usual.
• Parker cuts through the key, comes off a screen, gets the pass and hits a fade-away-J.
• Martin hits a hook over Bargnani in the paint.
• Bosh answers with a J from the elbow.
• Bosh gets the ball to Moon in transition for an open dunk.
• Iverson draws a suspect foul from Bargnani, he hits both from the line.
• Parker uses the Moon screen and hits a running bank shot.
• Carmelo answers with an off-balance take over Bosh.
• Bargnani gets the ball, takes a step, and sticks the J.
• Calderon draws a charge on Iverson.
• Bosh hits a jumper off the dribble over Martin.
• Bosh finds a slashing Bargnani in the paint for an open dunk, who are these guys posing as Raptors?
• Melo misses a jumper out of the timeout.
• Calderon takes the hand-off from Bosh for an open layup on the baseline.
• Moon tips in Bosh’s missed layup off the pick-and-roll with Calderon.
• Martin misses a short hook in the key.
• Calderon finds Bargnani for a short jumper in the low block.
• Iverson goes baseline, hits the layup and draws the foul from Calderon, he misses the FT.
• TJ finds Bargnani for another trey.
• Iverson hits a layup in traffic over Bosh and Moon.
• Parker hits a trey from the corner.
• JR Smith answers with a trey of his own.
• Rasho fouls Smith with 1.2 seconds left on the clock, he hits both from the line.
• 35-23 Raptors at the end of the 1st quarter.

2nd Quarter (2Q Stats):

• Smith hits a jumper to start off the 2nd.
• Delfino grabs the Nuggets turnover, and finds TJ on the break for a reverse layup.
• Ford strips Iverson in the paint.
• Iverson sticks a trey, 9 point game, Raptor timeout.
• Smith hits a trey in the corner.
• Smith puts up another off-balance shot on the baseline over Kapono.
• Ford hits a deep J as the clock expires.
• Ford finds Rasho under the basket for an open layup, sick.
• Najera penetrates and kicks to Martin for a jumper.
• Smith plays give-and-go with Atkins for an open dunk.
• Bosh answers with layup in the paint.
• Anthony answers with a layup in the paint.
• Kapono penetrates and drops it to Rasho for a layup in the paint, lol. Not a good pace for the Raptors.
• Rasho grabs an offensive board.
• Moon turns the ball over with a lazy pass to Rasho.
• Calderon comes off Rasho’s screen for an open J from the elbow.
• Bosh draws another foul from a Denver big battling in the paint (3rd in 1.5 minutes).
• Calderon hits a trey in the corner from Bosh.
• Carmelo misses a layup, but grabs his own rebound, and puts it back.
• Iverson gets Parker off his feet, and draws the foul, he hits 1 of 2.
• Bosh kicks out to Calderon from the post for a trey.
• Moon grabs an offensive rebound, but Calderon turns it over to Carmelo, who hits a layup on the break.
• Bosh draws the 3rd foul on Martin, and hits 1 of 2 from the line (the Raptors first two attempts from the line in the game).
• Iverson gets Parker off his feet again and draws the foul, he hits both from the line.
• 54-46 Raptors lead heading into the half.

3rd Quarter (3Q Stats):

• Bosh turns the ball over to start the 2nd half.
• Iverson blows past Parker for a layup.
• Raptors have missed 3 shots in a row, come out flat.
• Iverson drives in, and drops it off to Martin for an open dunk on the baseline, Raptors need a timeout.
• Parker hits a tear drop in the paint to stop the bleeding.
• Moon blocks Melo on the baseline drive, and rolls his ankle - plays through it like a man.
• Moon hits a trey.
• Melo grabs two offensive boards, and finally puts it back off the JR Smith jack.
• Calderon finds Bosh for an alley-oop tip in.
• Iverson hits a trey with Calderon up on him.
• JC answers with a layup, splitting traffic.
• Melo grabs another offensive board, but gets called for a charge swinging his elbows.
• Bosh grabs an offensive board off Parkers missed shot.
• Melo takes the handoff from Martin for a jumper.
• Iverson goes coast-to-coast, and finishes in traffic with a layup, Raptors timeout.
• Raptors don’t run anything out of the timeout, with Bosh putting up a lazy fade.
• Iverson cuts the lead to 4 with a contested layup in the paint.
• Bosh taps in his blocked shot with the right off the Calderon lob pass.
• Anthony nails a long jumper.
• Parker draws the foul from Melo, and hits both from the line, the 3rd and 4th attempts from the line for the game.
• Iverson comes off Najera’s screen for an open jumper.
• Parker doubles Melo in the post, but Ford didn’t rotate to Carter who hit the open trey.
• Ford answers with a forced shot from the line.
• Ford comes off the Rasho screen for a jumper.
• Moon misses the put back as time expires, grab the ball with two hands man…two hands.
• 73-71 Raptors heading into the 4th quarter.

4th Quarter (4Q Stats):

• Kleiza gives Denver a 1 point lead with a trey to start the quarter.
• Rasho hits a fade-away in the paint.
• Iverson hits a three off Najera’s offensive tip, Raptors need a timeout.
• Ford sticks one from the elbow.
• Najera hits a trey from Kleiza’s penetration.
• Bosh finds Rasho in the post for a layup, and 1 - he isses the FT.
• Iverson finds a cutting Carter in the paint for a layup over Rasho - Raptors need a timeout.
• Iverson hits a trey in transition, Raptors timeout, 4 minutes too late.
• Ford takes it to the rack, and hits a contested layup.
• Parker is covering Iverson now, good adjustment by Smitch.
• Bosh finds Rasho in the post for a baby-hook.
• Calderon finds Moon all alone under the basket for an alley-oop dunk.
• Moon blocks Melo on the other end.
• Bosh draws a foul on Martin, hits both from the line.
• Moon blocks Melo on the baseline, but gets called for a foul, BS call.
• Melo strips bosh, and hits a jumper over JC on the other end.
• Moon hits both from the line, to give the Raptors a 1 point lead.
• Bosh takes it to the rack, and draws the foul from Martin, hitting both from the stripe.
• Melo sinks a trey to tie the game.
• Camby hits a jumper from the foul line from Iverson’s kick out.
• Parker penetrates and kicks out to Jose for a trey.
• Melo hits a step back J over Moon in the corner.
• Parker takes the swing pass from Moon for a trey in the corner, Denver timeout.
• Iverson takes it to the rack, drawing a foul, he hits both from the line.
• Moon jacks a trey, misses.
• Melo gets Moon off his feet with a pump fake, and draws a foul, he hits both from the line.
• Martin strips Bosh on the baseline, and Iverson hits a trey at the top of the arc, Raptors timeout.
• Parker turns it over out of the timeout.
• Moon blocks Melo, again, and dunks it on the break.
• Melo hits a dagger from the elbow, game over.

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