Raptors Final Score: Raps Crush Mavs 95 - 74, End Dallas' 3-Point Streak

Now that was the Toronto Raptors team most of us were expecting this season.

A gutsy effort minus their "go-to" players resulted in a 95 to 74 thrashing of the Dallas Mavericks tonight, before a pretty solid crowd at the ACC.

Toronto kept pace with the Mavs early before pulling away as the game progressed. The club torched the Mavs from long-range taking 36 three-pointers and hitting 12, were much more aggressive on the glass, outrebounding Dallas 14 to 4 on the offensive glass, and simply played with a lot more heart in this one, especially on D.

The Raps held the Mavs to under 40 per cent shooting from the field, and even snapped the club's NBA record of 1,108 straight games with a 3-pointer made.

Dallas went 0 for 13 on the night.

Raptors MVP: The Entire Team

Linas Kleiza had 20 points in an "FU" type performance, DeMar DeRozan and Terrence Ross had solid games offensively, and guys like Ed Davis, Amir Johnson and even John Lucas played big parts in the win.

This was truly a team effort, so we're doling out MVP honours to all tonight.

Raptors LVP: No One.

Based on the MVP response perhaps this should be expected. Again, there wasn't anyone who stuck out like a sore thumb tonight. Even Alan Anderson, returning to action and missing all eight of his shots, grabbed five rebounds and helped shut down OJ Mayo, who was pretty much invisible on 2 of 8 shooting.

Best comment: Via Jenge

"Kaman and the 4 Clowns = a good name for a band."

Best/Worst Leo & Matt quotes

Matt: "This man came to play tonight, and his name is LINNNNNNAS KLEEEEEIZA!"

Most bizarre moment:

This wasn't in the game action, but anyone else think it was pretty random that Jack was going off about Roddy Beaubois?

The next match is Sunday afternoon and Lucas will be back in the pilot's seat. Drop by as the Dinos look to win two straight. YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT!

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