RaptorsHQ Rapid Recap - San Antonio Spurs 113 - Toronto Raptors 106

by Adam Francis on Feb 15, 2012 11:05 PM EST in Raptors Rapid Recap - 2010/11

-Another valiant effort came up short as the Toronto Raptors dropped a 113 to 106 decision to the San Antonio Spurs tonight. Tony Parker led the Spurs with 34 points as he repeatedly shredded Toronto's D, and dished out 14 assists in the win, San Antonio's ninth straight.

-And yes, it was another valiant effort. The Raps, as has been their modus operandi all season, fell behind early, 25 to 17, but stormed back early in the second half, even getting to within a point late in the fourth quarter. Jose Calderon had another solid offensive game with 16 points to go with 11 assists, and DeMar DeRozan stepped up as well in place of the injured Andrea Bargnani, Jerryd Bayless and Linas Kleiza. He was a handful for the Spurs scoring 29 points on 13 of 21 shooting, and even threw down a nasty reverse dunk in the third for emphasis.

-However Parker was not to be denied. Toronto simply couldn't stay in front of him, sending the Frenchman to the free-throw line 12 times. Parker hit all 12.

-He also made sure others like Danny Green and Tiago Splitter got involved and as a result, some of the Spurs normal studs like Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, didn't need to exercise their will on the match to a huge degree. In fact the Spurs played 11 players on the night, including Canadian rookie Corey Joseph, who entered the game with 3:20 left in the second quarter to a small ovation.

-But Canadiana aside, this was another L for the Raps. An 11-2 run by the Spurs after the Raps closed within striking distance finished things off and really, Toronto had no answer for Parker all night, who's perhaps having his best season ever. His play made the Spurs go and SA shot 53 per cent on the night, including 8 of 19 from downtown. 25 free throws for the Spurs, 23 of which they hit, sure didn't hurt the cause.

-And so Toronto's best chance to win comes this Friday night against the Charlotte Bobcats. Toronto's dropped 8 of 10, and in many ways, must be breathing a sigh of relief to know the 'Cats are on the horizon after hard-fought matches with LA, Milwaukee, San Antonio and of course, the New York Knicks.

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Kemba Has Been Lighting Up For Charlotte

but he has needed a lot of shots to do it.

Tonight he had 21 on 17 shots which isn’t that bad but he was a minus 20 in a game the Bobcats lost by 12

In the last 13 games he has scored 213 points is averaging 16.3 PPG but it has taken him 188 FGAs or 14.5 FGA per game to get those points or 1.13 points per FGA.

I look for him to be super aggressive against the Raptors because of his immense speed and quickness advantage over Jose.

Maggette has been back for four games and in the last two of those he is averaging 20 PPG.

Biyombo has been starting at Center for the Bobcats for their last six games. As a starter he is averaging a little over 6 PPG and 7 RPG in about 26 MPG

There other two starters Diaw and Reggie Williams are averaging about 8 and 10 PPG respectively.

The Bobcats bench has Augustin who is averaging about 14 PPG and not much else. They have Tyrus Thomas but he is having a terrible year. However in the past he has put up some very good numbers on occasion.

ISTM the Raptors win this if their guards and JJ can contain Walker, Maggette and Augustin. The Raptors need to keep all three off of the FT line and close out on 3FGA If all three get hot on Friday the Bobcsts could leave the ACC with a win.

In the NBA there are no gimmes. The Raptors are going to have play hard and smart to keep the game from being close. If it is close anything can happen.

by Buddahfan on Feb 16, 2012 1:27 AM EST reply actions

Another great game

Now can we find a way to get the same result in the next two games? It is crucial to our hopes of drafting in the top five that we do not go 3-1 or 4-0 over the next 4 games. It will be tough to lose to the Bobcats or the Hornets and the Pistons are horrible as well.

It hurts to say, but I hope our opponents play lights out against us for the entire season. then we get a top 3 pick and never look back.

by defensive rap on Feb 16, 2012 3:52 AM EST reply actions