I look at Derek Rose’s prediction and the Raptors lack of production. Hedo Turkoglu comes under scrutiny from all angles. We talk NCAA tourney and how the least likely final four emerged and why the draft this year looks soft.
The starting lineup changes have had one effect which I think is very important: it has reduced the pace of the game, i.e: the number of possessions played. The combination of having better defensive players on the floor longer and having to guard less has helped us become a better defensive unit.
Raptors grind out a win against the Bobcats on the road 103-101, and win a crucial tie breaker when things come down to the wire.
Jackson saw the whole thing as a fluke.
“We didn’t lose that game. They didn’t beat us,” Jackson kept saying. “A lot of things went their way to cause them to win. But they didn’t beat us.”
Back-to-back time in Charlotte and it’s not going to be an easy one. After playing two tight games in a stretch of 4 in 6 nights, you have to wonder what the Raptors have left against a team that resembles OKC Thunder a bit too much for my liking.
“It’s all good, man,” Turkoglu said. “I’ve been dealing with this [stuff] the whole year. They’ve been on me on this [going out] the whole year long. If I wasn’t out, sick or healthy, they [the fans] would still say something. I don’t say anything. Ten games left of the season, all I try finish strong.”
I’m not really feeling this moral victory. Denver, fine, I can buy that, after getting killed by OKC and the Jazz that was a good fight against a strong team, but we should’ve won this game. Up 17 against the Heat in the third and up 11 midway through the fourth, we had to find a way to close the game instead of crumbling under the pressure.
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