Raptors' Rapid Recap - Denver 130 - Toronto 112

-As a Raptors' fan, you knew this was going to be a tough match going in.  Toronto managed to hang with the Nugs for essentially three quarters, but then a combination of poor shot selection, defensive letdowns, and a superior talented Denver squad did them in.

-It didn't help that minus Hedo Turkoglu (and of course Reggie Evans), the team ran out of gas for stretches in the second half.  Jay Triano tried to keep things fresh by extending his bench right down to Patrick O'Bryant, but it was not to be.

-Not too much to be upset about in this one.  Toronto did as good a job as could be expected throughout most of the game, but the Nuggets talent shone through in the end.  Outside of points in the paint and a slight free-throw edge, Toronto actually outrebounded Denver (and killed them on the O boards 19 to 3!), and were neck-and-neck in various other statistical categories.  The real difference again was just the talent level; Toronto had no answer for the hot-shooting JR Smith (5 of 9 from downtown) and Carmelo Anthony (32 points on 12 of 15 shooting!)

- DeMar DeRozan actually lead the Raps in scoring turning in a career-high 17.  Offensively, it was his best game as a Dino.  Chris Bosh's streak of consecutive +17 point games ended (he finished with 13 on the night) but he did grab 1 game-high 14 rebounds.

-Raps now face the Jazz tomorrow night in a back-to-back situation.  No word on if Hedo Turkoglu will be a go, but let's just hope the refereeing is a TAD bit better.