It was an exciting finish to a game that the Toronto Raptors probably shouldn't have been in but the HQ's a ok with last night's loss to Washington...

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-The Toronto Raptors have a history of playing some weird matches against the Wizards in Washington and this one likely falls into the same category. Despite being down 57 to 42 at the half, the Raps stormed back, forcing OT before eventually falling 111 to 108. The loss knocks the Raptors to 8 and 18 on the season, and only a 1 and 2 record so far this year against the Wiz.

-In what's been the story of the season, the Raps shot themselves in the foot early, getting down by 10 after one quarter, and struggling to find any semblance of offensive execution. Making matters worse was that the D wasn't there either, resulting in near 60 per cent shooting for the Wiz, and a game that looked like a certain L for Dinos.

-It was a lackluster effort from Toronto to say the least, but Dwane Casey made personnel adjustments in the second half, riding the play of his team's top two first-half performers, Linas Kleiza and Jerryd Bayless. Gradually the Raps chipped away at Washington's lead and by the time the game's final minutes were within reach, so was a win for Toronto.

-If you were to describe the game's final minutes to someone you could simply say it was the John Wall versus Jerryd Bayles show. The two went toe to toe, accounting for almost of their teams' scoring, and even with Toronto down two, with 10 seconds left, it was Bayless' errant drive that pulled the Wizards' D in, allowing Amir Johnson to dunk the missed lay-up, sending this one to OT. (It also didn't hurt that Linas Kleiza nailed an awkward 3 with about a minute left that conjured up images of Mo Pete.)

-OT was another back and forth affair but the difference was Washington's ability to draw fouls in the end. There wasn't much scoring, but the Washington's four free throw makes to Toronto's two was the final difference on the scoreboard. Unfortunately a number of crucial mistakes at key times gave the Wizards' the opportunity to shoot said free throws, including a horrific display of defensive rebounding by Jamaal Magloire, inserted into OT at crunch time for this exact purpose. Magloire's inability to secure a Travis Booker missed free throw gave the ball back to the Wiz, forcing the Raps to foul, and well..that was pretty much it. The Wiz hit one of two, giving Toronto a chance to tie with a 3 at the buzzer, but Jose Calderon's shot failed to even draw iron.

-Bayless finished with 30 points as did Linas Kleiza, and DeMar DeRozan and James Johnson chipped in 15 and 10 each. Wall had 31 for the Wiz, but Nick Young's 29 was a big part of Washington's victory too, as the Raps simply couldn't contain the explosive backcourt. And while the Raps gave it a good run, nearly stealing one they had no business being in, the end result was loss number 18 on the year, and an entertaining match ended with a hollow ending.

Tonight we have three big games for you to check out that feature our freshman poster boy Justin Edwards, west coast gunner Nik Cochran and our favorite Myck in a Texas shootout all right here ...

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Today we have a nice story on Steve Nash, a profile on Barrie, ON's Megan Lukan, lots of NBL Canada, Boris Bakovic and a lot of CIS news and more in this edition of the weekend roundup in Canadian Content ...

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The Toronto Raptors looked like a motivated team Sunday against the Miami Heat. Although the game ended in a loss for the Raptors, there were a number of encouraging signs for this team that is struggling to find an identity without their best player Andrea Bargnani. The HQ takes a look at whether this game is a sign of progress, or if it is just another loss for the Toronto Raptors.

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-The Toronto Raptors put in a surprising effort against the Miami Heat and were actually in it for the majority of the contest. Despite an impressive first half by the Dino’s they couldn’t sustain their great play in the second half, and dropped this contest to the Heat 95-89.

- Dwayne Casey again elected to utilize a smaller starting lineup with Jerryd Bayless at the 2 and James Johnson at the 4;this gave the Raptors a little more movement on the offensive end which helped them get off to a favorable start before J.J got into foul trouble.

- The Raptors got a huge effort out of Demar DeRozan who seems to have a big performance every four games or so. DeRozan dropped in 25 points, 16 of which were in the first half. DeMar also led the team in free throw attempts with 11, a good sign for DeRozan given his recent tendency to settle for long jumpers rather than attack the basket.

- After an impressive first half which ended with the Raps trailing by just 5, the wheels began to come off in the third. The Dino’s offense struggled mightily and suffered through a scoring drought of 4:38 before ultimately finding themselves in a 13 point hole heading into the fourth quarter. There was no doubt that the poor play by the Raptors in that third quarter ended up costing them the game in the end.

-The Miami Heat’s "big three" played like superstars in this one. LeBron James finished with 30 points, while Dwayne Wade had 25 and Chris Bosh added 12 points and 8 rebounds to lift the Heat over the Raptors.

-The Raptors' bench gave them a huge lift in the ballgame; their bench outscored the Heat's 31-15, highlighted by Linas Kleiza's 17 point outburst. Ed Davis was also solid, grabbing 8 rebounds and scoring 8 points.

- Even though the Raptors lost this game, the effort they put out in consecutive games now has to be encouraging. The Dinos will look to continue their momentum as they take on the Washington Wizards again Monday night.

So the Raps crushed the Wiz...and as a prize for the convincing win, they get a trip to South Beach!!

Oh...to play the 17 and 6 Miami Heat.

This one will be tough no doubt, but Dino fans are hoping to at least see the team put in a solid effort against a much more talented squad.

GO RAPS!