-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.