Raptors Rapid Recap - Toronto 103 to 101

-After two straight games of not getting any breaks, the Raptors finally caught a few when it mattered most, and the result was a 103 to 101 win tonight over the Charlotte Bobcats.

-This one wasn't pretty, especially through the first 3 quarters.  Both teams took suspect shots, turned the ball over at inopportune times, and looked out-of-synch offensively en route to a 47 to 43 half-time lead for Charlotte.  It didn't help that Tim Donaghy was calling the shots for the refs, who made bizarre call after bizarre call this evening.  (Or, didn't blow the whistle on obvious calls, like DeRozan almost getting his head taken off on a breakaway dunk.)

-Top performers?  How about Jay Triano for once.  He brought Hedo Turkoglu in off the bench tonight and Hedo had his best game in weeks.  Sure he stepped out of bounds on a key play near the match's end, but the Ottoman was 4 of 9 for 11 points to go with 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals in just under 30 minutes.  And aside from Hedo, Triano's balanced rotation enabled the entire roster to shine in their niche roles.  For instance Antoine Wright had 15 points and 6 rebounds starting at the 3, and Chris Bosh looked a lot more like his old self, with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

-For the Bobcats, they got a fairly balanced scoring attack as well with Boris Diaw, Stephen Jackson, Larry Hughes, Gerald Wallace and Raymond Felton all hitting double figures.  However a key turnover by Felton with the 'Cats only down 2, as well as some questionable late-game offensive decisions from his teammates, helped Toronto put this one away for good.

-As a Raptors' fan, you've gotta feel good about this win, and hope it's a sign of things to come.  The rotations tonight were finally what many fans have been clamoring for all season, the effort was there for 48 minutes, and both Bosh and Bargnani looked much more interested than they have recently.  It's perfect timing considering the string of winnable games up next on the schedule, however it's going to take a lot more than one win to convince fans and the media that the Good Ship Dino is back on course.