-If you were rooting for close games that ended up in losses this season, you've been getting your wish. The Toronto Raptors dropped a 92 to 88 decision to the Orlando Magic tonight in a closely contested affair. The loss robs the Raps of a chance to win two in a row for the third time this season.
-How close was it? With the exception of Orlando getting a five point lead on the Raptors at the half, the rest of the match was neck-and-neck on the scoreboard, with the teams both scoring 25 in the third quarter, and Toronto actually won the fourth quarter battle 25 to 24. Both teams shot in the low 40's from the field, posted nearly identical rebounding numbers and were neck-and-neck in other stats too.
-And while the Magic looked to have put a dagger down with nine seconds left thanks to a JJ Redick 3, Jose Calderon came right back draining one of his own, using only three game-time seconds. But with a two-point deficit, the Raps were forced to foul and as he did so many times at Duke, Mr. Redick drained both to give Orlando a two-possession lead. So James Johnson's errant 3-point attempt hardly mattered and this was loss numero 26 for the Dinos.
-Amir Johnson didn't play and while Aaron Gray put in a solid effort (11 points, 11 rebounds), Dwight Howard was too much down low, posting a game-high 36 points and 13 rebounds. Ryan Anderson and JJ Redick did their part too, and it was enough to eek out the victory.
-For Toronto, the club just couldn't make shots when they needed to and while DeMar DeRozan had another 20+ point game (23), he was only 9 of 22 from the field, and others like James Johnson and Jose Calderon didn't fare much better.
-The Raps have to take the positives though from this loss, including hanging tight with one of the league's top teams despite being down two key players (Bargs and Amir), and prepare for a rematch with the Rockets on Wednesday.