The team that beat the Magic in Orlando earlier in the season is a far better one than the one rolling into town now; never mind that the Magic are also a much better team now. Don’t expect the same result, I can’t stress this enough.

Injuries

Toronto
Reggie Evans – Out
Leandro Barbosa – Out
Sonny Weems  - Out
Linas Kleiza – Day to day

Orlando
Malik Allen – Day to day
Jameer Nelson – Day tod ay

Match-ups

Point Guard
For anyone who didn’t get concerned about the Magic after the two big trades: you haven’t been paying attention. While the Arenas trade may have been unnecessary, and potentially has hurt the front court depth, you can’t deny that having multiple playmakers come playoff time is crucial. It frees up Nelson from the burden of playmaking, to scoring and swinging the ball. After a few games to adjust, Jameer is shooting 48% from behind the arc in January while averaging 6.4ast. 60% of his shots come outside of 18feet. What’s interesting is how he’s getting those assists; on average, 2.5 ofthem result in a three, and 2.2 of them at the rim. So two-thirds of his passes result in some sort of open-look off that high screen.

The lame use of stats is meant to illustrate what kind of battle Jose should expect tonight: Jameer likes the perimeter. Leaving him to double will result in an open look that he’s all too happy to take, or even worse, when Jose runs to close him out, he blows by him and puts pressure on our defense in the paint where the options of what to do are limitless since everyone is worried about Howard.

You can officially put me in the “don’t trade Jose unless you get something really valuable back” camp. One of the best parts of this season has been-being able to sit through a game and not be upset about the effort; Jose is a big reason for that. In January, the kid is averaging 12pts 11ast; coming 1 rebound shy of a triple-double against the Wizards. With so much history since the last year we were in the playoffs, there’s going to be some nice back-and-forth with these two. I haven’t even mentioned Arenas, who frankly, I’ve expected a bit more from since the trade. The good news for the Raptors is that he pretty much spends all his time on the arc hoping to jack it up. Not sure if he’s fully recovered from that injury a few years ago, but he doesn’t seem to like to put the ball on the floor and take his man off the dribble. I’ve got my eye on this Gaines kid, who’s quickly playing Bayless out of some minutes.
Edge: Even

Shooting Guard
This is where things start to go really wrong for the Raptors.  It took a few weeks to get used to a totally different system than what he enjoyed in Phoenix, but Jason Richardson hasn’t lost a step. He must be relishing playing for a contender after getting to the conference finals last year. Half his shots (in a Magic uniform) come from behind the arc, and 94% of those are assisted. The guy is a catch and shoot player, and hits them rather efficiently, 44% since being traded from the Suns. Where DeMar can hurt him is off the dribble and in transition where Richardson lateral movements limit his defensive effectiveness.

I like the Raptors offense much better with DeMar as the focal point. He’s attacking the basket off the dribble, and picking his spots to take an 18 foot jumper. The shot still doesn’t inspire 100% confidence in me, but all that work in the gym seems to be paying off. If I’m DeMar, I’d be on the phone with Dave Hopla for some private shooting instruction, doesn’t even matter what it costs; he’ll more than make up for it on his next contract if he develops a consistent mid-range game.

As much as I appreciate DeRozan’s recent emergence, he needs to work harder at other aspects the game. He has the physical/athletic prowess to be a tremendous defensive player for the Raptors on the wing. One area of immediate improvement could be his ball distribution when he drives through the paint and gets doubled; passing to an open shooter could rack up easy assists for him.
Edge: Magic

Small Forward
The Turkoglu we played in the win against the Suns won’t be the same one we play tonight in Orlando. This one thrives in half-court offenses that afford him room and space to create for others off that high pick-n-roll. He’s not the same Hedo that went to the NBA finals either, but a triple-double and a 17 assist game since coming back can’t be overlooked.

I worry about the pick-n-roll defense, since Bargnani will struggle to both hedge on Hedo, as well as defend a rolling Howard. There will be lots of defensive slack for Julian Wright to pick up, and he needs to be up for the task. I like that Wright is long and can fight through screens a bit more aggressively then we’ve become accustomed too.

Wright (and Kleiza if he’s healthy) will also have to battle Hedo on the boards where he does a great job of complimenting Howard. Full Disclosure: even though I felt like a dirty traitor, I picked up Hedo on waivers, and he’s done very well for me. The guy contributes all over the map, with the only knock being he doesn’t play defense at a high-level.

Oh yea, watch the three; he’s been shooting it at over 44% since getting traded.
Edge: Magic

Power Forward
I really thought Johnson and Davis would bring the goods against the Spurs, and to a degree they did, but they clearly got their butts handed to them on a platter by Dajuan Blair, who’s an absolute beast. Notwithstanding Blair, the Raps front court did a pretty good job (minus Bargnani’s contribution).

Tell me you don’t like the pairing of Amir and Ed Up front. Defense and rebounding aren’t an issue, with the offense looking a bit more fluid with DeRozan taking the lions share of the responsibility. I appreciate them putting it all on the floor, and growing into their roles as guys who contribute across the board as important role players (Davis might prove to be more given the chance, Amir is what he is).

I’m willing to bet that Amir/Ed will be checking Howard during key stretches of the game, and probably doing a better job of it than Bargs. I also like Howard checking either of them on defense, since they live in the paint, and can substitute in and out quickly to give Dwight fresh legs to constantly deal with. Not saying they will score on him at will, but they are active and could force Dwight into some early foul trouble.
Edge: Toronto

Center
It gave me the warm-fuzzies when Triano decided to flex some coaching muscle, and benching Bargnani when it was clear he was hurting the team. Lets hope Bargnani got the message loud and clear. That said, Bargnani isn’t the kind of the player who can fall back on other aspects of his game when the shots aren’t falling. 90% of his effectiveness comes from his scoring, and if he’s not shooting well, then he’s as useless as Arsenalist cruising at Hemingways on a Friday night.

The shot needs to be there tonight from the tip, since Bass/Anderson have no chance checking him on the perimeter. He can shoot over both, and back both down into the paint for short turn-around-half-hooks. Even off the dribble, no one on the Magic can check the guy. He’s got so much offensive ability, it’s really comical he doesn’t average 25 a game consistently. A lot of that comes from his sick tendencies of stepping inside the arc and launching low percentage jumpers; his efficiency crashes when this happens.
Edge: Magic

Keys to the Game

Defend the Pick-n-Roll Aggressively
It’s going to come hard, and with a lot of furry.  The guy being screened will have to fight through them, and the guy defending the picker will have to hedge and buy some time for the defense to recover and set itself.

Perimeter Defense
Dwight Howard commands so much attention, that Magic shooters get a lot of looks, good ones, from the perimeter. Pick-n-roll defense is one aspect of this, another is how many doubles we through at Howard in the paint. The Magic are surprisingly 25th in the league in assists, so their offense is a lot of catch-and-shoots, which doesn’t give a lot of time for defensive rotations to play catch-up.

Don’t Give Hedo any Satisfaction
Easier said than done with the team he’s playing on, but I don’t want to see him smiling and laughing it up because of he’s on route to a triple-double.

The Line

The gamblers have the Magic as 11.5 point favourites, with an over/under of 207. The Magic play a slow pace, but are deliberate and damn efficient at it. The Raptors can’t spot them 10 points to start the game, since they will grind the game to slower pace, and pick us apart. Not much hope here tonight; just need to play our game and keep developing good habits. Since we got the Heat tomorrow night, you might see Triano shut things down if the Magic run away with this early to keep guys as fresh as possible for Bosh & co.

The Raptors have it tough for the next 10 days; four of the next six games are against playoff teams, and three of those teams are elite. It kicks off tonight in Orlando and it’s not going to be a pretty one. We’ve talked ad nauseam about what this team is (isn’t) capable of, how good (or bad) certain players are, and the job security of one coach. What we need to consider is that this season is a wash. The Raptors aren’t good enough to do anything, and the lineup shouldn’t be tinkered with to fight for a playoff spot because it will jeopardize the teams future in doing so.

Khandor hit the nail on the head with his piece after the Bobcats game:

COMPONENTS OF A GOOD LOSS FOR THE RAPTORS THIS SEASON

1. Their opponent is a team with more NBA level talent on their roster than Toronto.
2. The game’s final outcome is only decided in the last 30 seconds of play.
3. At no point during the game does Toronto fall behind by more than 10 points.
4. At no point during the game does Toronto go ahead by more than 15 points.
5. DeMar DeRozan and Ed Davis – only once he is 100% healthy, again – receive at least 20+ minutes of PT, including at the start of quarters #1 and #3, plus during the last 6 minutes of quarter #4 [and, in any overtime session which might be played].

The long term objective for the Toronto Raptors this season should be focused, exclusively, on obtaining the future rights to a Top 3 Pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.

Anything which, in fact, moves the team closer to achieving THIS specific goal next summer is a good thing for this franchise heading towards the future.

Something to think about.

Life got in the way, and I got stood up by the Orlando blogger, but here are the questions I asked (I’ll update this with his answers if he gets them to me today):

1. What’s going on with Rashard Lewis? Vince Carter got a lot of flack for his poorish performance in the playoffs, but Lewis was just as bad, averaging 12.9pts 5.6rebs 2.3ast. His play has seemed to seep into this season. I’m clearly missing something.
2. Jameer Nelson has been a big part of this team’s recent success, but his injuries make it difficult for the team to be consistent (shuffling guys here and there). Williams and Duhon are capable backups, but seriously. At what point does Otis Smith say “enough’s enough” and go out and make a splash to upgrade the point?
3. A lot has been said about Gortat and Bass not being happy with their playing time. Gortat especially didn’t seem happy the Magic matched the contract Dallas extended him. I’m not sure where I’m going with this, but they could be valuable pieces to upgrade this roster; please comment.
4. Even though they lost the first meeting with Miami, I like how this teams matches up against them. The Celtics on the other hand could pose some big problems. What are Orlando’s prospects of getting back into the finals this year?
5. Almost a joke to ask, but what is the strategy coming in against the Raptors?

Injury Report

Toronto
Jarrett Jack – Sore Knee, Will Play
Reggie Evans – Bruised Left Hip, Gametime Decision
Linas Kleiza – Achilles, Doubtful
Leandro Barbosa – Shoulder, Out
Ed Davis – Out

Orlando
Jameer Nelson – Hurting, Will Play
Vince Carter – LOL, Will Play

Match-ups

PG – Jack vs Nelson
The guys been killing our PG’s for years: he’s quick enough to beat them off the dribble, strong enough to knock them off tilt and hits every single bloody shot he takes against us. It’s very frustrating. He is coming back from an injury, but it didn’t stop him from playing well against the Jazz (even though the team lost) chipping in 19pts 7ast. Based on everything we’ve seen so far this season, I don’t see how Jack/Calderon have any chance tonight. Might be nice to see Banks get some run and step up defensively, but we know that’s not going to happen; why would it?
Edge: Nelson

SG – DeRozan vs Carter
After starting the season strong, he has utterly fallen apart the last three games, averaging 4.3pts 2.7rebs while shooting 33% from the field. Yes, the match-ups weren’t in his favour, but since when is that an excuse to put up Marcus Banks numbers? Carter owns us. Period. He might be in the twilight of his career, but he still can light it up, and is actually playing efficiently all things considered (52%FG 44%3FG 20.68PER). Only Amir Johnson is as productive as Carter with a PER of 21.39. It’s a nice game for DeMar to come out of his funk from, since VC wont be able to keep up with him if he gets going. Like most nights, he has the tools to make life difficult for folks, it’s just a matter of being focused and having your head in the game.
Edge: Carter

SF – Kleiza vs Lewis
It’s lose-lose at the 3. If Kleiza’s achilles is still bothering him, there’s no way he can hang with Lewis. If he can’t even play, the Raptors have no one who can begin to match-up here. Weems, while athletic, doesn’t have the size to bother Lewis (6″10). While Kleiza isn’t 6″10 either, he does have some strength which can compensate. At the end of the day, Lewis is only averaging 11pts 6rebs (all for the low-low price of $20mil), but if folks start doubling Howard (like I wish they wouldn’t but know they will), there’s going to be a lot of open shots for the guys on the perimeter.
Edge: Lewis

PF – Evans vs Anderson / C – Bargnani vs Howard
I have a feeling the front court is going to get messy, and will see the following match-ups (humour me here):

Raptors Playing Defense
Bargnani/Howard & Evans/Anderson
We all know Bargnani wont stop Howard, but the killer part here is that since Anderson likes to live on the perimeter, Evans will be out of position to rebound on the defensive glass. Bargnani has no chance on Howard, and this could get messy fast. I expect Amir to get some heavy minutes if he can play with his head and stay out of foul trouble; even Dorsey should see some time. This situation neutralizes the only reason to start Evans alongside Bargnani, and exposes how bad this front court really is.

Raptors Playing Offense
Bargnani/Anderson & Evans/Howard
I don’t see Howard playing out on the perimeter with Bargnani. The Magic are the 2nd best defensive team, and 4th best rebounding team for a reason: Dwight Howard is a beast in the paint. Evans is a bad enough offensive player that Howard can essentially roam free and help everywhere, and recover fast enough to challenge Reggie in the paint. Anderson moves well enough that he can keep up with Bargnani, but probably wont prevent him from dropping 17+. I don’t think the Magic will care since they will basically be dictating the flow of the game, and Howard will be there to clean up anyone attacking the rim.
Edge: Anderson & Howard

Keys to the Game

Play with Heart
The expectation tonight is not to win, but rather to play with some pride. There is a moral victory to be had here if at the end of the game the Raptors can say they did their best, but still lost. The gain here is continuing the aggressive play they’ve shown us, not getting down big early, fighting for every possession, and making smart plays.

Pray to Jah
Seriously. It will take every Raptor, hitting on all cylinders, not making mistakes and sticking a lot of shots for this to be a contest. The Magics bench is pretty scary too, which compounds the problem: Mickael Pietrus, Brandon Bass, Martin Gortat, JJ Reddick…they are better at every possible match-up and combination of lineups.

The Line

The Magic are 14 point favourites, at home with a full days rest.

Looking to have some food, drinks and good times with other Raptor fans? Come check out Raptor Fan Fridays at The Sports Center Cafe.

As always, we got Twitter, Facebook and Live Chat; pick your poison.

The Raptors have another chance to improve their record to .500 (18-18) tonight in Orlando. With 6 wins in their last 7 games, the last one being a big win over the Spurs, it’s hard not to get a bit excited regardless of who we beat to get here. At the end of the day, you have to sit back and consider that to be a middle of the pack, low playoff seed good team in this league:

• You have to beat the teams who are worse then you
• You have to compete and beat at least half the teams who are the same level as you
• And you have to steal a game or two from the teams who are better then you.

After a horrific start to the season, this is the path the Raptors are on, and realistically, it is the only one we should have expected at this point in time. Tonight, the Raptors are facing the third scenario above: they have a realistic opportunity to steal against a team who is better than them. The Magic are arguably the deepest team in the league. Twice so far this season, we have lost games to them where an unsung role player has stepped up and been the deciding factor in the game (Reddick, Anderson, Barnes).

So I’m calling this a realistic steal because the Magic are on the second night of a back-to-back, and a two game losing streak (losses to Chicago and Indiana). The Raptors are well rested, and have been in Orlando a couple days, so it is hard to imagine that they could lose two season season series against Eastern Conference teams in the same week (Boston is 2-0 against us).

With Calderon slated  to return tonight, the point guard controversy will be in full swing, I know this because I’m feeding the fire right now. With Jack playing so well in Jose’s absence, and Jose probably not being 100% healthy (if recent history holds true), our boy will be coming off the bench for at least this game. I’d like to make one thing clear: the Raptors are NOT better with Jose out of the lineup. When he is healthy, he is a top 15 point guard in the league. However, I do contend that if the Jack/Banks duo can hold it down, we have glaring needs at the wing that can be addressed by trading Calderon for the right piece (notice how I said the right piece).

The match-up sucks for the Raptors every way you slice it. With Howard commanding so much attention in the paint, it doesn’t matter which of Bosh or Bargnani (usually Bosh) covers him – the other (usually Bargnani) will be sent over for the double, then all that is left is for Howard to kick it out to one of the shooters (usually Lewis, since Bargnani is doubling) and make us pay for playing into their hands (usually because our rotations suck).

That was what usually has happened, but the Raptors have gelled a bit over the last 7 games and are communicating more. We have seen some pretty impressive games where man defense was tight, rotations were crisp, and folks were talking. They will need a lot of that tonight.

IMHO, you have to stay at home with this Magic team. If Howard can create room for his shooters (list everyone else in the top 9 of the rotation), then there will be hell to pay. Over the first two games this season, the Magic have shot 31-62 from behind the arc (with Lewis absent from that first contest) against the Raptors, easily the stat that stands out the most, and is the reason we’ve lost by a combined 28pts.

I like Jack manning up Nelson to start the game, he will get bumped more then when Calderon is on him. This wont shut Jameer down, but it will make it that much harder for him to run the offense. Telling of this two game losing streak is VC’s performance over the stretch: 7pts 3rebs 2ast on 5-30 shooting (zero 3′s) from the floor. DeRozan/Weems/Belinelli will have to keep Carter out of the paint, and off the line. He has been shooting terribly from the floor, so they can’t let him find his rhythm – all jumpers, no layups, let’s do it 80′s style.

I’m actually thinking a win tonight for the Raptors. The Magic are tired, and playing pretty bad over the last two games. The Raptors are fresh and can distance themselves a bit from Charlotte and Milwaukee in the standings with a win. The line wasn’t posted at time of publishing this, but you can bet it will be tight one. Raptors grind out a tight one tonight, 97-91 with Bargnani leading the way (I believe).

In what amounted to another middle-finger being pointed at the Raptors by our ex-franchise player, Vince Carter had the last laugh again. How ridiculously ill conceived is this plan to honour Raptors greats of the past? I mean, Oakley was cool because he is years removed from playing, and he’s interesting. But making a fuss about players like MoPete, Bonner and VC while they are still playing and trying to get wins for their teams (against the Raptors) is stupid. At least we didn’t have a “Sea of Blue” cross-promotion with the Leafs as the Magic rolled into town.

I enjoy playing in that atmosphere and I enjoy coming back here and playing, just being a part of this.” Carter said. “This is where it all started.

At the end of the day, this Magic team is on a different level than the Raptors. They were missing an injured Jameer Nelson, and Brandon Bass didn’t get off the bench, and still had more than enough to take this one to the bank.

I’m really only concerned with the 4th quarter, as the first three were evenly played. The same issues are starting to surface, and we are seeing some developments in the fourth quarter that are very,very concerning in my humble opinion.

Like the last few games, the Raptors had a stretch of 4 minutes where they didn’t score. Not only did they not score, they didn’t try to get a good shot:

• Turkoglu stumbles into the lane and misses an off-balance layup (should have went straight up)
• Bargnani clanks a three off the front of the rim from 25ft
• Jack forces a jumper and misses
• Calderon misses a three that should have fell from the foul line extended

See any trends? I’ll give you a hint: Bosh didn’t touch the ball. To be fair, he didn’t check into the game until the 8:25 mark. However, he didn’t actually take a shot until the 4:28 mark when Reddick nicked his elbow on a jump shot attempt (another bad shot). The Magic were on a 15-2 run before Bosh hit his free throws.

The last time we played them, we gave him free rein to the rim,” Howard said of Bosh. “He got a lot of easy rebounds. Tonight, we kept a body on him, forced him to stay out of the lane and not be able to get those easy rebounds.

They did a great job of keeping Bosh out of the game. He did score 22, but only had 5 rebounds on the night. He literally had two shot attempts in the 4th (one of them he drew a foul so it didn’t count). Let me repeat that: CHRIS BOSH HAD ONE SHOT IN THE FOURTH QUARTER. One…We let a big opportunity pass through our fingers considering we had Howard on the ropes early in the first quarter with two fouls.

I have to say it, but we really missed Belinelli coming off the bench today. Amir picked up some slack, and Weems chipped in some, but Belinelli has been huge for us down the stretch of games hitting some big/clutch shots.

Uhm…what else was there…yes..the pick and roll defense was terrible. Arse broke it down with some guerilla videography, I have nothing to add except +1.

Four Factors to Losing

Shooting the Ball Well
Neither team shot the ball particularly well, but the Raptors were marginally more efficient from the field.
Raptors – 48%
Magic – 46.3%

Taking Care of the Ball
Both teams did a great job of limiting turnovers.
Raptors – 9.8%
Magic – 7.6%

Offensive Rebounding
When you go 9-32 from behind the arc, there will be plenty of long-juicy rebounds to grab. Howard led the way with 5 offensive boards, that translated into 5 points scored by the Magic.
Raptors – 20%
Magic – 28.5%

Getting to the Free Throw Line
The Magic got to the line at a higher rate, and hit more from when they got there. When you are hitting from the field, this is what good teams do, pound it inside and draw fouls.
Raptors – 36.3%
Magic – 42.1%

Safe to say that the Magic won this game by solid offensive rebounding and getting to the line.

Player Impact

Bosh marginally led the way, but Johnson was HUGE. Amir had his best game as a Raptor without Belinelli dropping ridiculous passes to him.

The advantage the Raptors had on opening night, quickness and conditioning, was a non-factor against the Grizzlies who have a young, athletic team. Bargnani was able to take Shaq/Big Z off the hop, but Gasol and Z-Bo were able to counter, and in some instances, nullify the Raptors front court. As big a night as Bosh had (37pts 12rebs), Randolph countered with a 30pt 7reb monster of his own.

I think they just had a little bit better conditioning than the Cavaliers.They were coming up a lot harder, their fast-break. I don’t think Cleveland did a very good job at fastbreaking against us and that put a lot of pressure on us.

That doesn’t sit right with me. We beat an Eastern Elite, and fell asleep behind the wheel playing a young – up ‘n coming one? One that draftee Thabeet 2nd overall? We didn’t know that a young team with some of the best young wings (Gay, Mayo, Carroll) wasn’t going to push and attack?

Orlando has come out the gates like a team that belonged in the Finals; sans Rashard Lewis. They have convincingly won their first two against Philly and Jersey by an average of 12pts. Howard has been a monster, averaging 20.5pts 18.5rebs. Yea, he has grabbed 37 rebounds in the first two games of the year. That’s ridiculous.

I wandered over to Orlando Magic Daily to see what our TrueHoop brethren had to say about their recent game against the Nets:

It’s not a win the Magic will look back on — surely, it’s one of those wins where you forget about it on the plane ride home — but it’s the type of win an elite team is supposed to win. It was ugly, but it gives you confidence knowing the Magic can take care of a team when they didn’t shoot well and were missing two key starters.

The tone in the things being said is jarring for me. Against the Cavs, the Raptors were able to withstand a run by an elite team while they wore down. Against the Grizz, they couldn’t. Athleticism and conditioning seem to be an issue for our guys. The Magic on the other hand were able to win ugly while missing two starters. The Magic are an athletic team. With Carter expected to come off the bench, the starting 5 will be tough to deal with.

Match-ups

Calderon vs Nelson
All I can think about is Swirsky saying that Calderon will own Nelson in those playoffs, and that backfiring. Nelson straight up owns Calderon. He is a tough cover: strong, quick, a bulldog. He had an off-game against Harris, so I am sure he will rebound.
The Edge: Magic

DeRozan vs Reddick
With SVG saying he wont be surprised if JJ starts, chances are good VC is coming off the bench if at all. Reddick is Mr. Fundamental. Bit of a disappointment after a solid college career, but he is carving out a niche for himself. I can see it now: DeRozan will be sent to Howard in the low post; the ball gets kicked out to Reddick who nails an open trey or swing it around the perimeter for somebody to nail an open shot. Kid Dynamite has been playing great so far. He should give Reddick fits chasing him around the court, but I suspect being the one sent to double Howard wont bode well for the kid.
The Edge: Magic

Turkoglu vs Pietrus
It upsets me that the Magic got Pietrus so cheap (5yr/$25mill-ish). I was pleading for the Raptors to sign him, as he brought all the things we needed (at the time) need: defense, take his man off the bounce, slashes to the rim, rebounds and hit some shots, but alas, we got HO…Turkoglu has been playing pretty decently. Dropping 13 a game, grabbing 4.5, but not the playmaker we had hoped (2ast). I was ripped for saying his matchup with Gay would be even (a draw would be a generous assessment of what went down Friday), but I’m saying it will be a draw this time around. Pietrus will be the beneficiary of some open space created by Howard in the post, but will have a hard time covering Turk in the paint on offense. This will be an even match, book it.
The Edge: Even

Bosh vs Anderson
Bosh has been a beast the first couple games. You have to figure that having him score 37 is bad for the team. 20-25 is the perfect range, where he is producing, but not at the expense of a fluid offense. Anderson, whom our very own PHD Steve said was NOT to be slept on this season, has been proving just that. He was a throw in as part of the Carter trade, but the kid can play, and is starting ahead of Brandon Bass, who was looked at as the starting PF when they snatched him from the Mavs in the summer. Just don’t see Bosh slowing down against this team, not even after a night of partying with Jay-Z.
The Edge: Raptors

Bargnani vs Howard
LOL, doesn’t look good for Bargnani at all. Forget the playing defense on Howard, but keeping him off the boards. Howard should have zero problems cleaning up the boards given VL’s lack of rebounding/boxing out grit. Seeing the trouble Andrea had with Gasol, I cringe to think about the possible 40/20 Howard can drop on our boy.
The Edge: Magic

Injury Report

Raptors
Reggie Evans
Sonny Weems

Magic
Rashard Lewis
Vince Carter*
Adonal Foyle

Simulation

Our boy Jeremy Visser from That’s What I’m Saying, Guy… checked in with his simulation. You can hit him up on twitter @jeremy_visser. We’re keeping track of the simulations here.

The Raptors couldn’t handle an Orlando team that was missing Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis, falling 96-91 Sunday at the ACC. Chris Bosh had 29 points and a career-high 23 boards, but had trouble handling Dwight Howard, who had 28 and 13 of his own.

Aside from Bosh, the only Raptor in double digits was Hedo Turkoglu, who had 17 in his first game against his former team. Like Bosh, Andrea Bargnani had his hands full with Howard and was limited to just 17 minutes, picking up five fouls and scoring just five points in the process. Jose Calderon had eight points and six assists.

Howard was one of five Orlando players in double digits — Matt Barnes, starting in place of Carter, had 16, while Jameer Nelson had 15 and Michael Pietrus and Brandon Bass added 10 apiece.

Surprisingly, Toronto out-rebounded Orlando and had almost three times as many trips to the free throw line, but it wasn’t enough to come out with a win.

Keys to Winning

• Keep Howard off the boards, both of them
• Don’t double Howard in the low post, let him score 40, but keep everyone else in check
• Bargnani should never rotate on defense, stay with Howard at all times
• Let Jason Williams shoot as many transition-pull-up threes as he wants, seriously

Prediction

This has the makings of a solid game: The Raptors are reeling from a tough loss on the road to a team they shouldn’t have lost too; The Magic are 2-0 to start the season, and looking to secure home-court throughout the playoffs aka they will be coming hard and fast. As much as I would like to think that the Raptors will avenge their Friday loss, they wont (unless Bargnani duplicates his effort form the home opener, which you will excuse me if I don’t hold my breath for). Magic by 6.

Catch us for live chat at 1pm here.

Grab the Opening Tip.

Sorry Dinosty, don’t mean to bastardize your family tradition here, but duty calls. I sat down to write the Pre-Game for Orlando, when I realized it was a waste of time (I’m still gonna do it, don’t worry). If the Raptors got Bucked by a Milwaukee team that just lost Redd for the season, on the heals of a 3 game winning streak, what hope is there against the third best team in the league that is sporting thee All-Stars? The answer is none.

Don’t fret, this game should be entertaining. Bosh always gets up to play his BFF. There will even be points in the game where we will all think that the Raptors can pull it out, but they wont. I probably lost all credibility calling a win against the Bucks, but it was an educated guess, humour me…

• I was assuming the Raptors were feeling good about themselves, as three wins in a row (the first since the first three games of the season) in such a solid fashion should have spilt over on Friday;
• Redd was out (he dropped 35 the last time they played);
• Bogut was inured and questionable;
• Ridnour was injured and questionable;
• Home game;
• All that big talk about making the playoffs bla bla bla

Hola mamacita

Still drunk on the Kool-Aid? Ok…

The Magic are 35-10 on the season, 17-6 on the road, 17-6 against the East (1 of those losses were to the Raptors), 8-2 in their last 10, +8.2 scoring differential, 3 All-Stars…good coach……management team committed to winning………better weather…………they just beat the Cavs, so the taste of blood is fresh in their mouths……………the clincher: they wont lose 2 in a row to the Raps.

The worst part about this game is that it isn’t in Orlando, and we wont be able to see their dancers, which are phenomenal compared to the Bucks’. It was actually a tough choice for me, but I have to go with Danielle, dark haired girls (I’m not really into blonds-maybe the bias comes from the fact that they think I look like a terrorist) with a tight body…is-a-good!

Injury Report

Toronto Raptors
Kris Humphries

Orlando Magic
Some guy named Mike Wilks

The Match-ups

Calderon vs Nelson
The Edge: Nelson - The kid is legitimate. I was afraid of him last year in the playoffs when everyone said Forderon would destroy him…how wrong they were. Fresh off his All-Star nomination, he will have something to prove, and JC/AP/Rokoman will be the victims.

Parker vs Lee
The Edge: Lee - For no other reason then Parker will be doubling down on Howard, and Lee will have the pick of the litter on how to hurt the Raptors the most.

Moon vs Turkoglu
The Edge: Turkoglu - There is a case to be made for Hedu to be an All-Star too. He has been a thorn in our side, and will continue to be. Welcome to Pump Fake City, population: Moon.

Bosh vs Lewis
The Edge: Bosh - Lewis had 20pts 9asts 6rebs last time out, so it wont be easy, but Bosh will be motivated to show his BFF that he has game. Lewis will be tough on the defensive end though.

Bargnani vs Howard
The Edge: Howard - VL should have a good game. He would have had a great game the Bucks, but Triano had a brain-fart and didn’t play in the 2nd quarter whe he was hot (where the Raptors also lost the game). Howard had 39pts last time, I expect about the same this time around.

The Line

VegasInsider.com has it Orlando -6.5, I think that is generous.

The Prediction

lol…2 losses in a row for the Raptors.