The Toronto Raptors (40-40) are holding down the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference, but will need to finish the season strong in order to hold off the Philadelphia 76ers. The Raptors take on a D-league caliber Miami Heat (14-66) Monday night at the ACC.
The Raptors got an early look at what a first round match up with the Detroit Pistons would look like. THe Pistons knocked off the Raptors, 91-84 with their second unit nicknamed the “ZOO Squad” playing the majority of the minutes. Rodney Stuckey led his team with 18 points, while Chris Bosh scored a game high 30 points and grabbed 10 boards.
The Heat are injury ridden and terrible! With no Dwayne Wade, Udonis Haslem and Shawn Marion, the Heat are just playing out their games in a hope to land the #1 seed. Consensus number one pick, Michael Beasley, has a very good chance of ending up in Miami next season.
Starting 5:
Chris Quinn/TJ Ford
Daequan Cook/Anthony Parker
Ricky Davis/Jamario Moon
Stephane Lasme/Chris Bosh
Mark Blount/Rasho Nesterovic
Key Match-up:
If the Raptors want to make any noise these playoffs they’ll need a couple of players to step it up. Chris Bosh and Rasho Nesterovic are doing their jobs, but it will be up to players like Andrea Bargnani and Jason Kapono to find their groove. Both Bargs and Kapono should look at this game as a way to showcase their skills and build confidence heading into the post season.
Game Notes:
Raptor guards TJ Ford and Jose Calderon have combined for only 1 turnover in the last 2 games; Rasho Nesterovic has scored in double digits in 16 straight; Chris Bosh is averaging 27.7 ppg and 10.0 rpg in his last 3; the Raptors are 24-16 at home this season.
Technorati Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh, Detroit Pistons, Dwayne Wade, Jason Kapono, Jose Calderon, Miami Heat, Philadelphia 7, Rasho Nesterovic, Rodney Stuckey, Shawn Marion, TJ Ford, Udonis Haslem
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April 14th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
The fact is … the Raptors W-L record vs plus .500 teams is better with Jose Calderon starting and playing 35 (or more) minutes per game than it is when the PG duties are shared between Ford and Calderon.
Instead of cow-towing to Ford’s need to be a starter, the Raptors should have sat him out of the line-up completely and spent the last 2 weeks preparing to play against a plus .500 opponent in the 1st Round of the Playoffs.
khandor’s last blog post..Hubie Brown’s take: Toronto @ Detroit, 2nd Half
April 14th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I forgot to mention, but the raptors can clinch the 6th seed with a win over the HEAT and a 76ers loss to the Cavs
Go Raps Go
April 14th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
easier said then done khandor. that notion wouldn’t be widely supported by many, but there is a lot of logic to it.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
the raps win, the 76ers lose, which means we’ll play the Magic. hack n shaq the hell outta DHOW with guys like Primoz, Hump, Rasho, and even Baston. Hope that parker and moon can contain lewis and hedu. I like the pg match up though