Final: Toronto Raptors 91 - Utah Jazz 104

[Dr. James Naismith]

Toronto Raptors @ Utah Jazz

5-6, 2nd Atlantic 4-6, 4th Northwest

WHEN: Wed., Nov. 17, 2009 at 8:30 pm ET
WHERE: EnergySolutions Arena
TV/Radio: SCORE, SCORE HD, FAN590 Radio


TORONTO RAPTORS
(click on logo for team stats)

Starters

(L to R): Calderon, DeRozan, Turkoglu, Bosh, Bargnani

Bench

(L to R): Belinelli, Weems, Jack, Johnson, Nestrovic, Mensah-Bonsu, Wright

Team Injuries/Inactive List

(L to R): Banks, Evans, O'Bryant

UTAH JAZZ
(click on logo for team stats)

Starters

(L to R): Williams, Matthews, Brewer, Boozer, Okur

Bench

(L to R): Kirilenko, Millsap, Fesenko, Maynor, Koufos

Team Injuries/Inactive List

(L to R): Korver, Price, Harpring, Miles

Who's Hot

TORONTO RAPTORS


Hedo: 15 PPG IN LAST 4 GP / Bosh: 28.4 PPG IN LAST 9 GP

UTAH JAZZ


Deron: 20.4 PPG IN 8 GP / Bozzer: 20.8 PPG IN LAST 6 GP

Key Match-ups


Deron Williams vs. Jose Calderon


Mehmet Okur vs. Andrea Bargnani

Fox Sports World's Head to Head Match-ups
(click either player photo to see numbers against one another)

PG vs. PG

SG vs. SG

SF vs. SF

PF vs. PF

C vs. C

GAME PREVIEWS


(click on image for preview *NOTE: only available on "Game Day")


(click on image for preview *NOTE: only available on "Game Day")

Prediction

- 91
- 97

After tonight I don't know how optimistic I am for the Jazz tomorrow night. If we were tired tonight, I'm scared to see what we'll be like on a back-to-back.

[Dr. James Naismith]

Rumour has it that Hedo is a no go again tonight.

[Dr. James Naismith]

Oh, and due to unforeseen circumstances there likely will not be a preview of tonight's game courtesy of my colleagues here at Raptors Republic. They're apparently at the "all you can eat" buffet at the "Rail" instead this afternoon.

They'll hopefully be back for Friday night's match-up vs. the Heat.

[TorontoForever]

8-0 in not even 2 minutes. I want to laugh, but it'd be mean.

[Dr. James Naismith]

Man, do we ever lack confidence right now. So far the only fearless player on the court for Toronto has been Marco. Even Bosh has been very tentative at times.

Raptors clock management on offense still irks me. I still feel they're rushing things too much. Slow it down for heaven sakes.

[insight_tor]

What is going on with all these turn overs? Jack and Andrea can't control the ball, careless TO that costs Raptors a lot.

[TorontoForever]

Did you see Bosh and Hedo watch the ball come off the rim as Kirilenko ran in, jumped up and tipped it in? This isn't even normal. What about Bosh's theory "go get the ball". Kick up the D guys, we can pull this win off.

[Dr. James Naismith]

We're clearly stunned right now. No movement, no talking on defense, no helping on defense either. It's like Jay told them to never take your eyes off your man, because no one seems to be helping the other on D. It's painful.

And, we gotta hit those open shots. Too easy, but if we're struggling with confidence right now, those easy ones make the hoop look smaller and smaller.

[Dr. James Naismith]

I love Chris Bosh. How people underestimate his importance with this team baffles me. He's wearing his heart on his sleeve right now. Thanks to him and some sharp awareness and ball movement from Hedo we're back in this game.

I want to yell at Bargnani tonight. He looking freakin' terrified on defense. Not contesting anyone. Just hands on his side and watching the guys run by him. If we still see that into the 3rd, pull him and bring in Amir. Unacceptable right now.

[Dr. James Naismith]

Anyone else think that outside of last night in Denver that Jay is babying DeMar kind of like Sam Mitchell did with Bargnani in the start of his rookie campaign? DeMar didn't have the best start to the game, but I'd rather see him learn from his mistakes by playing. Not being punished by not seeing the court again. It's stuff like that which messes with these young guys heads.

[insight_tor]

Apparently, the third quarter decides Raptors' games. If they can came back and put a nice effort, I think we may get a W .

I love Chris Bosh, too. He is playing amazing this season. I do not understand why some people thinks that trading Bosh would make Raptors better. Realistically, how many players are better than or equal with Bosh right now and how many out of these can we get back for Bosh? Nada! None! Nothing. And I would say no for that kind of garbage we got for VC. If BC is somehow forced to trade Bosh, Raptors is not going to get equal value

[Dr. James Naismith]

Apparently, the third quarter decides Raptors' games. If they can came back and put a nice effort, I think we may get a W .

And outside of a good 3rd quarter the other night against Phoenix, we struggle badly coming into the second halves.

[insight_tor]

And outside of a good 3rd quarter the other night against Phoenix, we struggle badly coming into the second halves.

Well, they just had a nice third quarter tonight, ended by Belinelli's last second 3PT! With only 3 points down, I hope Raptors keeps up the intensity.

[Dr. James Naismith]

Well, they just had a nice third quarter tonight, ended by Belinelli's last second 3PT! With only 3 points down, I hope Raptors keeps up the intensity.

Yup ... fingers and toes are crossed.

Still questioning what's going on with Bargnani tonight. It's like he's forgot how to play offense. What's with him shooting three's 5 feet behind the arc?

[Dr. James Naismith]

Still struggling with 4th quarter close outs.

Raptors need to watch game tapes of AK47's ability to play fantastic help defense. Simply amazing.

I'm not one to point fingers and blame, but man was Bargnani horrible tonight.