Sorry for posting this so late, I had most of it done, but my girlfriend had made plans for us to hang out with her friend and her friends boyfriend..lame…the best thing that came out of the night was the food (Yamato restaurant in Yorkville) and the fact that Chris Bosh was sitting at the table next to mine.

I really wanted to talk to him about the game, but I couldn’t muster a damn thing, I was far too interested in my Teppen Fried Rice, and he has his own things going on, so I left the man alone. Mostly I couldn’t be bothered frankly. Wasn’t like when I saw Rafer Alston at Garden restaurant at 430am one night pounding General Tao’s chicken, and he had a 10 minute convo with me about ball

For the first three games, the first quarter aside in game 1 and 2, the Magic weren’t making their shots. Bogans, Evans and Lewis were getting great looks, and couldn’t sink a single thing from beyond the arc. You couldn’t help but think that if the Magic only hit those shots, that things would just open up, and that is exactly what happened today.

Anyways, the Raptors let an extremely winnable game, they were winning in fact, slip through their fingers. I must say, that was a tough-tough loss to swallow for me. The Magic really came out hard. To the Raptors credit, they played just as hard. The game didn’t get out of control, and it wasn’t lost in the 1st. I have to give them credit, the Magic hit the offensive boards hard, and seemed to be on the verge of blowing the game wide open, but Bosh and Ford really stepped up and kept it close. In fact, Ford had 8 assists on 12 Raptor field goals in the first.

The Raptors started the 2nd on a run, in fact, you could almost consider the entire quarter a run by the Raptors. It was a perfect storm situation:

1. The Magic shooters went cold.
2. The Magic turned the ball over left and right.
3. The Raptors attacked in the paint and from the perimeter, knocking down shots every which way.

They took a 5 point lead into the half, and things were looking rosy, I wont lie, I thought they had this game (not in the bag, but it was theres to lose…stay tuned).

The 3rd quarter hits, and boom, the Magic look like a D-League team. They made a couple open looks from the perimeter, but every time they would gain some momentum, one of them would turn it over, unforced. Looked like they were unraveling right there in front of us. Then with a little more than half the quarter left, things went from good to bad.

AltRaps said it the best “Momentum, thy name is Magic.” Rashard Lewis started penetrating at will, hitting runners in the paint, dropping it off to Howard for a monstrous dunk, or kicking out to someone for an open look. Howard got some looks he normally wouldn’t in the post, which opened thigns right up. At one point, Evans was strolling in the low block, no one within 6 feet of him, and Howard hits him in the numbers for an easy/open dunk. All-in-all, it was easy pickings for the Magic who finished the 3rd on an 11-5 run, cutting the Raptor lead to 1 heading into the final frame.

With the 4th quarter about to get underway, I couldn’t help but think “wow, this is a lame ass crowd.” The seas of red from game 3 evaporated into a pond of mush. I really can’t blame Bosh for his rant a couple weeks ago about it feeling like a funeral at the ACC. What do people want? This is game 4, the Raptors down 2-1 in the series, and on the verge of evening things up. Yet we have this lame crowd that was popping just two days ago. We were making more noise at my place for f*ck sakes.

Anyways, the game went from bad-to-worse. The Magic were actually hitting their shots with the consistency that won them 50 games. The perimeter defense was gone, rotations were non-existent and boxing out on the boards was a pipe-dream. Lewis and Turkoglu were picking the Raptors apart on the drive, and Nelson was earning that $50 million contract with 3 straight daggers from the perimeter.

The story however was the Raptors defense, or lack-thereof. Only a quarter ago, they were defending, rotating, and hustling, and it just stopped. I have no idea why. I haven’t watched the press conferences yet, but I am sure there is some lame ass explanation.

The fact of the matter is that the Raptors are a .500 team, and the Magic are Eastern conference elite. They are a better team as a whole, and just wanted it more. Just reading around blogs/news sites, I think what ails the Raptors isn’t something that Smitch can do anything about. There are serious pieces missing on this team that will need to be addressed in the off season if there are any designs of being more then a round then out playoff team.

It is sad to waste a monstrous game by Bosh 39pts and 15rebs, and a solid game by Ford 12pts and 13asts. Unfortunately, no one else showed up. Calderon, for all the chants of the second coming of Stockton, didn’t do nearly enough with the time he had - in fact, he didn’t do anything worth noting at all.

The man can blow by Nelson at will, but only did it a handful of times. Makes no sense to me. If he wants to be a starting point guard in this league, attacking the rim every single chance possible will have to be a staple for him. Bargnani, Moon, Kapono, Delfino, Rasho…they all were useless for the most part (read the part of the game that mattered, the last 18 minutes or so). Not much left to say really, I really don’t know what they can show/do in game 5 that will be of any consequence. Arsenalist has a primo review, definitely worth the read (all his stuff is, but he hits the nail right on the nose…again…whatever, just read it already). Anyways, on with the show:

1st Quarter:

• Raptors lose the tip.
• Ford gets to the elbow, draws the double and kicks to an open Bargnani for a trey.
• Howard goes baseline and drops in a layup.
• TJ penetrates, pulls up in the paint and hits the jumper.
• Bosh grabs the offensive board, but Bargnani misses the open trey.
• Evans penetrates and kicks to an open Nelson for a trey.
• Bargnani jacks a jumper.
• Hedu drives and hits a floater over Bosh.
• Bosh gets open under the rim and puts it up (should have been +1).
• Howard blocks Parker and Bosh in a row.
• Moon blocks Hedu on the break.
• Howard puts back Hedu’s missed jumper, Bargnani didn’t block him out.
• Moon hits a baseline J over Howard.
• Lewis hits a rolling Howard with a sweet pass for a nasty dunk.
• Bosh comes off the screen and hits the J.
• Moon misses a wide open three from the corner.
• Bargnani blocks Evans in the paint.
• Ford hits a rainbow from the elbow over Hedu.
• Magic get 2 offensive boards in a row, then Howard finds Evans under the basket for a dunk.
• Lewis hits a wide open trey.
• Ford misses a wide open trey in the corner.
• Ford finds Parker on the break with a sick pass and Parker finishes with a sick reverse layup.
• Howard gets deep in the paint, turns and hits a layup and the foul, misses from the line.
• Howard gets deep in the paint again, turns and hits the hook over Bosh.
• Moon doesn’t swing the ball, and misses the jumper.
• Bogans lobs an alley-oop to Howard for a dunk, it was nice.
• Bosh hits a J over Howard on the wing.
• Ford draws the offensive foul on Nelson.
• Kapono curls into the key, and hits a layup off the Ford feed.
• Dooling hits a J over Ford.
• Ford draws the double in the paint and hits Bosh for an easy layup.
• Bogans gets to the top of the arc and nails an open trey.
• Howard blocks Moon on the drive.
• Moon comes back down, steals the ball, gets it to Ford who sends Moon on the break for a layup + 1.
• Calderon steals the ball and drops it off to Bosh on the break for a dunk.
• Dooling penetrates and hits a layup over Bosh.
• 31-26 Magic at the end of the 1st.

2nd Quarter:

• Bosh forces a jumper over Gortat…misses.
• Hedu hits a bank shot in the paint.
• Rasho blocks Dooling on the dunk attempt.
• Kapono comes off the screen, Jose hits with a perfect pass, he hits the J + 1.
• Delfino gets inside the arc, pulls up and knocks down the J, Magic timeout.
• Kapono sinks a left hander.
• Delfino gets in the paint, pulls up and hits the fade-away.
• Nelson finds an open Bogans for a trey.
• Lewis misses the layup, but grabs his own rebound and puts it back.
• Bosh hits the layup and draws the foul on Hedu, misses the freethrow.
• Lewis misses another open trey from the corner.
• Bosh takes it back to the rack and draws the foul on Lewis, hits both from the line - gives the Raptors a 1 point lead.
• Howard gets deep in the paint, but is surrounded by Raptors and gets fouled, misses both from the line.
• Kapono finds Bosh on the roll, and Bosh draws the foul, hits 1 of 2 from the line.
• Nelson fouls Rasho, and Rasho hits 1 of 2 from the line.
• Nelson steps inside the arc and nails the jumper.
• Calderon finds Rasho in the corner for a jumper.
• Lewis blows by Bosh for an easy layup.
• Delfino steals the ball and drops it to Bosh for a layup on the break.
• Howard called for 3 seconds in the key.
• Bogans misses an open trey from the wing.
• Bosh turns and shoots, and Howard grabs it off the rim..count it.
• Nelson rattles one in and out from the corner.
• Kapono steals the ball, and sends TJ on the break who hits the layup and draws the foul, misses the FT.
• Hedu takes it to the paint and draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• Bosh grabs TJ’s missed runner and puts it back with 3 seconds left on the clock.
• 53-48 Raptors lead at the half.

3rd Quarter:

• Bosh jacks a deep jumper over Howard.
• Magic give it right back with a bad turnover.
• Parker pus up an air-ball…fugly.
• Lewis fakes the three and hits Howard with a nice pass for a dunk +1, hits the FT.
• Hedu turns the ball over again.
• Lewis penetrates, draws the double and hits Evans in the corner for an open trey.
• Parker finds Bosh for a jumper.
• Turkoglu turns the ball over again.
• Parker curls off the screen and sinks the J.
• Bargnani blocks Nelson on the layup.
• Magic turn the ball over again on the break.
• Ford jab steps, and hits the jumper from the stripe over Lewis.
• Bargnani tips the ball away from Howard.
• Ford strolls into the lane and lays it up easily.
• Ford penetrates and drops it off for Bosh who pump fakes, steps under and dunks it like a champ, Magic timeout.
• Nelson blows by Ford and draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• Ford turns it over in the paint.
• Hedu takes it to the rack, lays it up, misses and Howard puts it back with a dunk.
• Bargnani fouls Lewis on an aggressive post up.
• Ford pulls up from the elbow and puts one in Nelson’s eye.
• Nelson throws the ball away, another Magic turnover.
• Bosh turns it over and fouls Hedu, he needs to stop f*cking playing with the ball.
• Bosh attacks Howard off the dribble drawing the foul, hits both from the line.
• Lewis finds Howard, who shakes free and puts down a nasty dunk.
• Bargnani takes it baseline and draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• Bogans finally hits an open trey from the corner.
• Lewis fakes the pass and takes it through the paint for a layup over Bosh.
• Parker comes off the baseline, curls off a screen and nails the jumper.
• Lewis drives and draws the foul on Bosh, hits both from the line.
• Bargnani bricks from the top of the key.
• Bosh nails a wide open jumper in transition.
• Howard fouls Bosh battling for the board.
• Turkoglu goes baseline and hits a reverse after some pretty decent defense by Carlos.
• Howard finds Evans strolling to the rim for a dunk.
• Howard gets fouled in the paint, misses both from the line.
• 74-73 Raptors lead at the end of the 3rd.

4th Quarter:

• Raptors force the Magic to shoot a bad shot as the shot clock expires.
• Parker attacks the paint and drops in a nice floater.
• Delfino turns the ball over.
• Parker stops Bogans on the drive with solid D.
• Calderon takes it to the rack and lays it up over Gortat
• Lewis nails a trey.
• Lewis grabs another offensive rebound.
• Kapono puts up an air ball, but Bosh cleans it up under the basket.
• 2 point Raptor lead.
• Nelson nails a jumper in Calderon’s eye.
• Rasho strips Howard like a slut.
• Rasho finds Kapono in the corner for a trey over Howard, butter baby!
• Nelson answers with an open trey in the corner.
• Delfino jacks a trey with Nelson on Bosh…idiot.
• Nelson nails a jumper from the elbow, Raptors timeout - 85-83 Magic.
• Bosh grabs an offensive board and pops a jumper over Howard.
• Nelson crosses over, steps back and nails a trey in TJ’s eye.
• Ford draws a foul on Nelson in the corner.
• Delfino shoots an air ball at the top of the key.
• Ford penetrates and dishses to a slashing Parker for a running hook.
• Lewis penetrates and hits the layup + 1, misses the FT.
• Parker turns it over.
• Hedu makes it a 5 point game, nailing two from the line.
• Ford blows by Nelson and dishes to Bosh who hits the layup +1.
• Lewis blows by Kapono and hits the floater
• Parker grabs the offensive board and hits a layup (should have been +1).
• Hedu sinks a dagger from three.
• Howard blocks TJ under the rim.
• Nelson penetrates, kicks to Hedu who swings to Lewis in the corner for an uncontested trey.
• Raptors timeout.
• Parker misses a contested layup at the rim, Magic grab the board and get fouled.
• Hedu sinks both from the line, 10 point lead…game over, back to Orlando for game 5.

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