-What a difference a few days off to rest and practice makes. A sharper, hungrier, more prepared Toronto Raptors squad finished the first "half" of their lock-out shortened season with a win, 103 to 93 over a tired Detroit Pistons club. The Pistons were coming off an implosion the night before against Cleveland, and looked more keen to head to the All-Star break than fight this one out to the finish.

-Evidence of fatigue from Detroit? (Or lack of caring, depending on your vantage point.) The Pistons just didn't have the lift in their shots, hitting only 42 per cent from the field, and only two of 12 long-range bombs. Also, they were out-worked on the boards, 47 to 37 by the Dinos.

-However let's give the Raps some credit here too. This was a complete team effort with six players scoring in double figures, and DeMar DeRozan continued his recent offensive production, posting a team-high 23. Jose Calderon was only one of four from the field, but his 15 assists set the table for the Dinos all night and the Pistons had no answer. In fact Rodney Stuckey had zero impact thanks to a nice zero points, zero rebounds and one assist line on the night.

-But the game-ball in this one goes to Aaron Gray. We've already seen Gray be extremely effective in limited minutes of late, but tonight he was dominant, posting a 12 and 12 dub-dub in just under 30 minutes of action. Fans even chanted MVP at one point when he was shooting free throws. I mean, can a win get any better?

-Well...maybe if there's pizza involved.

-Yep, you knew it was another lottery bound season for the Dinos as fans chanted "pizza, pizza, pizza" as time ran down and the Raps approached 100 points. The team hit the mark, got their tenth win on the season, and now are off on the All-Star break for nearly a week. All in all, a pretty satisfying night.

-Wait. Unless you're a fan of Anthony Davis in a Raptors' uniform next season...

-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.

-Ok, now for the real recap.

-If you missed this one, you missed the next part of the Jeremy Lin story, as Lin hit a game-winning three-pointer with less than a second left to cap off a resilient comeback by the New York Knicks, in a 90 to 87 Knicks' win. The Raptors had a double digit lead for most of the game but Lin went off in the fourth quarter, and numerous errors on behalf of the DInos added up to an L.

-Toronto started off red-hot scoring 28 first quarter points (to New York's 21) and had a 47 to 36 lead at the half. The Knicks' defence was simply non-existent as Toronto waltzed effortlessly to the rim over and over, resulting in over 50 per cent shooting from the field, and the differential on the scoreboard. Add on some great pressure D by Toronto, forcing Lin into five turnovers, and a big advantage on the glass, and the game looked like Toronto's for the taking.

-Then Knicks' coach Mike D'Antoni started to make some adjustments. First, he put athletic guard Iman Shumpert on Jose Calderon. Calderon had been torching the Knicks up to that point, but soon after the switch, suddenly Toronto's offense began to crawl to a halt. This culminated in a late fourth quarter stretch where TO failed to score on eight straight possessions and meanwhile, New York simply kept chipping away at Toronto's lead. Without Jose's scoring, and minus Andrea Bargnani and Jerryd Bayless, players like Linas Kleiza and Leandro Barbosa tried to take over, but with mixed results.

-As well, D'Antoni helped to make sure DeMar DeRozan couldn't pick up where Calderon left off. D'Antoni had the physical and athletic Bill Walker switch onto DeRozan, and from that point on DeMar essentially disappeared. Even some foul trouble to Tyson Chandler couldn't slow the Knicks down as Amar'e Stoudemire found his legs late in the game despite repeatedly being blocked by Amir Johnson, and the Knicks rode his play, along with that of Lin, to eventually tie it up.

-And the rest as they say is history. Lin actually converted on an "And 1" sequence to tie it, which led to the inevitable set-up for a legend enhancing, "game-winner" opportunity.

-Which, with 0.5 seconds left, Lin hit.

-Game over, Knicks win, the legend of Lin grows, and another winnable game gets away from the Toronto Raptors, who now must forget tonight's debacle, and prepare for a very good San Antonio team, tomorrow night.

Jeremy Lin.

Jeremy Lin.

Jeremy Lin.

Jeremy Lin.

Jeremy Lin.

Jeremy Lin.

Jeremy Lin.

I'm not sure there's much more to say here.

-Yep, you read that right. The Toronto Raptors cruised past a sleepy Celtics' squad en route to an 86 to 74 win tonight in TO. The Raps started strong, and never really looked back as C's just couldn't make the plays they needed to get much closer than 10.

-The Raptors used a 26 to 14 first-quarter advantage to set the tone in this one. A Mickael Pietrus 3-pointer at the buzzer saved the lead from being 15 for TO as the Dinos came out with more fire and aggression than they had in a long time. Boston on the other hand still looked hungover from the previous night's OT loss to the LA Lakers and barely put up a fight. Turnovers, bad shot selection and a general malaise plagued the Celts and they dug themselves too big of a hole to get out of early.

-Unfortunately the second quarter looked a lot more like a game of dodgeball than basketball as both teams piled up the turnovers. The teams had 20 turnovers at the half, but it was Boston having most of the TO troubles, and it prevented them from chopping down much of Toronto's lead.

-The second half was no better for Boston, as every time they made a run, a much more spry Raptors' squad would answer via a dunk or long-range bomb. Boston even tried some of their usual bully tactics late in the game, but it was all for naught as the Raps rode out the victory.

-DeMar DeRozan continued his recent streak of improved play, attacking from the start and posting a game-high 21 points on 7 of 13 shooting. He also got to the line seven times and was a team-high plus 25 on the night. He got lots of help in this one too as Jose Calderon and Amir Johnson had double doubles (17 points, 14 assists and 12 points and 12 rebounds respectively) and others like Aaron Gray, James Johnson and Linas Kleiza all made key contributions.

-Boston got nothing from their backcourt of Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo scoring-wise (11 points combined) and this was a major issue all night. The team shot 45 per cent from the field, but the team's normal top guns like Paul Pierce struggled all night, and simply looked gassed from the night before.

-Toronto's win is only their third over Boston in the last 20 games so it feels especially rewarding I'm sure, especially given the thrashing the C's handed out to TO last time these teams met.

-A final note on this recap, it's up admittedly later than usual and for that I'll blame Jeremy Lin. If you haven't seen highlights of his play tonight against Kobe and the Lakers, take a quick look on the old world wide web. Suddenly next Tuesday's match-up with the Knicks just got a lot more interesting...

-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.

-It's one thing to get a much-needed home win but to get it big, AND reward the Air Canada Center faithful with pizza? Well the Toronto Raptors must have been playing the Washington Wizards. Indeed, the Wiz, were in town and despite fighting through a half and part of the third quarter, eventually succumbed to Toronto's dominant inside play, losing 106 to 89.

-Yep, I said it, DOMINANT INSIDE PLAY. The Raptors had 68 points in the paint tonight, exposing Washington's weak interior, not to mention 23 offensive rebounds, which in the end was too much for the Wiz to combat. Washington tried to shoot their way back in this one, but hit only 38 per cent of their shots from the field, including 26 per cent from long range, and were outplayed by the Raptors in virtually every way.

-Leading the way scoring-wise for Toronto was Leandro Barbosa with 19 points off the bench in 28 minutes, however four other Raptors hit double digits in points and Jose Calderon was brilliant with 8 points and 17 assists. Among the double digit point getters was Amir Johnson, who also stood out, playing his best game in weeks not only netting 18, but more importantly hauling in 13 rebounds, blocking three shots and being everywhere on the court, finishing +23 for the evening.

-Nick Young scored 21 points for the Wizards but considering his shot selection and his field-goal percentage (he hit only 7 of 17 shots), it's hard to say he "lead" his team. John Wall, Trevor Booker and Jordan Crawford hit double figures in points as well, but most of these buckets came in isolation, not due to great ball-movement or teamwork. Jose Calderon in fact had more assists himself than the Wizards had as a team!

-Unfortunately now the Raps go from the bottom to the top as they turn around and head to Miami to take on the Heat this Sunday. This will no doubt be one of their toughest challenges on the schedule so getting the win tonight, and an eventual laugher at that, is big. Even bigger though is seeing players like Amir Johnson and Jose Calderon getting back on track. Jose still didn't shoot well (2 of 6 on the night) but played with a lot more spark and precision than he has over the past while.

-Now if the club can just get DeMar DeRozan on that same path...

-Well, if you thought the Hawks' game was bad, you were in for a real treat tonight as the Toronto Raptors lost to the Boston Celtics by a score of 100 to 64. Not much to say in this one except that the Raptors just didn't show up. One of those nights? More like one of those nights again as first quarter woes sunk them early, and that was all she wrote. The Raptors were outscored 29 to 16 in the first Q and the C's never looked back, going up by as many as 40 points en route to an easy win.

-Paul Pierce led the C's with 17 points but Boston got double digit nights from Avery Bradley, Brandon Bass, Ray Allen and JaJuan Johnson. Johnson in fact, with 11 points, outscored every Raptor except Jerryd Bayless. Bayless had 14 for Toronto, but it was on 5 of 12 shooting, and there wasn't exactly a multitude of efficient options outside of him either. DeMar DeRozan had a measly eight points for Toronto on 3 of 12 shooting and Jose Calderon continued to struggle with his shot, blanking on all five lowly shots that he took

-There just wasn't much to take from this one in terms of positives and the hope is that the Raps can put the loss behind them and prep for an easier foe in Washington this Friday. Aaron Gray's near double-double of eight points and nine rebounds was a flicker of light, and Ed Davis' legit dub-dub of 10 and 12 offers some respite.

-But not much. The team got out-rebounded, out-shot (Boston hit 50 per cent of their 3's) and completely outworked in the loss. Even the category they won, free-throw attempts, ended up being a loss as Toronto connected on only eight of their 18 attempts.

-But hey...Solomon Alabi played five whole minutes!