Ryan Degama, from Celtics Hub, James Herbert and AltRaps answered three of my burning questions:

Read an interesting trade scenario on ESPN (Insider required) with Garnett going to Denver for Afflalo, Miller and Mozgov; good trade personally. Why hasn’t Ainge began breaking up the big three, and getting picks/prospects for them while he can?

Ryan: There are a few reasons nothing has happened yet. Part of it is that teams are still evaluating what they need and part of it is that you nail the expected return: picks and prospects. That’s a serious bounty and Boston’s early performance has done little to strengthen Ainge’s negotiating position. Now that Paul Pierce has returned to all-star form, Ainge has more to work with, but there’s no guarantee he’ll get an offer he considers palatable. It’s possible Boston will ride out the season as is.

Alt: I’ve hated Ainge my whole life. Hated him as a Blue Jay and as soon as he became a Celtic, well, it was all over. So, in short, he hasn’t moved on anything because he can’t cross a street without calling someone for help. Much like when we traded Carter, Danny knows that what he gets in return for any of these guys will show what kind of a gunslinger he is. The fact he was willing to part with Rondo before any of these guys tells you something. He will make a move closer to the deadline, especially as the Sixers get further and further ahead of them. You’ll see a desperate perennial playoff team give up some good picks and current talent for one of the two. Pierce is untouchable.

James: Ainge has directly said that he would break this team up if he received a good enough offer. Who’s going after these guys, though? You’re only taking one of them if you’re a contender, and what contender has spare young players that would actually help the Celtics? Maybe some team would like to shed salary for Garnett’s $21 million expiring contract, but would Boston want a bunch of overpaid guys? Would Ainge want Joe Johnson? I doubt it.

Can the Celtics, as presently constructed, still win a championship?

Ryan: Their offense is on the wrong side of mediocre and their rebounding is bottom third in the league. Those two factors guarantee an early round exit come playoff time. Add the team’s collective age and inclination to injury and it’s all over unless you really want to delve deep into “everything goes right” scenarios. Those haven’t been hallmarks of the last few years in Boston.

Alt: If they were able to pull out series wins in 4-5 games, yes. They would get a breather between sets (presumably) and it gives their coaching staff time to get them working on the possible next opponent. Give that time to an Allen, a Garnett, a Rondo, then you have a shot. The real hitch is beating the West in the final. Good luck with that.

James: Can they? Yeah. In the same way that Portland or Denver can if a lot of things go their way. The Celtics are not contenders, barring a major injury elsewhere. They’ll be better come playoff time and we shouldn’t forget how bad they looked during some parts of 2009-2010 before making it to the Finals, but as constructed they are not in the same class as Miami, Chicago, and Oklahoma City.

Will it be a bar fight tonight?

Ryan: Feels like it could be a rough one after Kleiza smacked down Rondo last time. But I don’t think it will be a close one if the Celtics are interested in playing defense (sometimes they’re not) and moving the ball on offense, like they did against the Cavs last night.

Alt: Casey has these guys playing scrappy. You throw Scarborough out there to lay some shoulders and I envision some chippiness. If it’s a close game you know they will zero in on Jose’s touchiness and, especially without Andrea playing cold hand Luke, he could fall for it. That’s okay, though…we have Kleiza who has taken the role of the NBA’s version of a viper.

James: I just watched the Raptors get blown out by the Hawks at home and it wasn’t for a lack of effort. They’ll fight, but without Bargnani they’re going to struggle to put points up against this Boston defense. It all depends on if Toronto can contain Pierce, the Celtics’ primary creator in the absence of Rajon Rondo — if it’s a blowout, it’s not a bar fight.

Injuries

Toronto
Bargnani – Calf, out indefinitely

Boston
Rondo – Wrist, day-to-day
Dooling – Hip, day-to-day
O’Neal – Knee, day-to-day

Match-ups

Point Guard
I’m really liking the effort Bayless has been putting up since his return from injury; what helps most is he’s protecting the ball much better. Calderon’s been consistent. I realize he’s been starting at the 2 the last two games, but I just don’t see DeRozan covering Paul Pierce and James Johnson taking on Kevin Garnett. So with Rondo out (probably out), Bayless will be backing up Calderon and playing some shooting guard in relief of DeRozan while Colangelo sorts out a trade for Barbosa.
Edge: Raptors

Shooting Guard
I took a lot of heat when I said DeRozan’s game against the Nets wasn’t that great (especially getting to the foul line 16 times against a D-league level team). When you such dramatic swings from game-to-game, you don’t get love from this corner of the interwebs when you make a pretty against a weak-ass team. Head-to-head against Ray Allen, DeRozan’s been mediocre for a few seasons, I’m not saying Ray-Ray is going to drop 30, but he will do 15-20; mix that with DeRozan’s love affair with the jumper and Boston’s defensive resurgence (4th in defensive efficiency)…it’s going to be a long night for the prodigal son.
Edge: Celtics

Small Forward
Paul Pierce may be old, but his game was never dependant on his athleticism; it’s that slow-motion first step that’s killer. JJ and Kleiza have been playing nice, but if their combined production matches Pierce’s, I’ll be surprised.
Edge: Celtics

Power Forward
I’d like to see Amir or Magloire nail Garnett in the face with an elbow tonight, then have Calderon bark in his ear about it. This would be a win for me.
Edge: Celtics

Center
All my match-up assumptions were based on the Raptors not going small ball because of the bad mis-matches at the 2 and 3 if they do. Maybe they go that route, in which case half of what I’ll be watching the Chicago/Philly game (I’ll be watching that game anyways, Love D-Rose), but maybe they try and match-up a bit smarter, and not let Allen and Pierce take it easy on the bench in the 2nd half because they built up a 20 point 1st half lead.
Edge: Even, but who really cares

Keys to the Game

• Ball movement: the Celtics are a damn good defensive team, but they are old. The Raptors need to make them work on the defensive end of the court and really attack the paint; Garnett and O’Neal aren’t what they used to be. Don’t settle for jumpers!
• Tight defensive rotations: with Rondo out, the Celtics don’t have a guy who can consistently break down the defense and create for the rest of the team. Can’t give Allen and Pierce open looks from the perimeter (the Raptors have done a great job of allowing this this season) or they will kill us; I can’t stress this enough.
• Get into Garnett’s head: this wont win us the game, but I want to see someone mess the SOB a bit…hate him…

The Line

There’s no line at time of publishing, but I’ll go ahead and put a line in the sand: Celtics  by 13.

The Raptors finally broke out of their 0-for-showing with Bargnani injured this season, and got a win with the franchise on the sidelines. Individual plays and levels of effort aside, you have to appreciate this one; the Raptors never lost a quarter, and dictated the flow and tempo throughout. In fact, had it not been for early solid free-throw shooting in the first half, and some above average offensive rebounding by the Nets, this would have been one of those games where a Nets blogger’s post-game would have been a picture of tightly curled turd on the Nets logo.

An aside to the win, the Raptors managed 94 points without Bargnani and Barbosa. Granted some of that has to do with Jersey’s lack of…everything, but the Raptors did as good a good as job as possible with defensive rotations and assignments that you could expect. I mean, Deron Williams dropped 24 points, but it took him 20 shots (3-10 3FG), and some heroic off the ball movement to get good looks at the rim.

Case in point, in the 2nd quarter, Williams started at the top of the arc, ran around the low block, brushed past two low screens, came around to the top of the arc, caught and shot the ball with Bayless on his ass. He hit the three (without as much space as you’d think), but the point is he wasn’t blowing by pylons to get his baskets. He’s the type of player that can make those kind of plays happen, the rest of the team couldn’t and caved to the Raptor defense.

I like Calderon and Bayless starting in the back-court together. As much as Bayless offends me with his decision making, when he doesn’t have to be the floor general, he makes things happen. He also takes pressure off Jose to cover the likes of Deron Williams. I’d like to explore a lineup of Calderon, Bayless, JJ, Bargnani and Amir with DeRozan, Kleiza and Davis as the first three off the bench for a few games. Bayless attacks the paint off the bounce as much as possible, something DeRozan and his new-found love for the jumper should be doing. It gives a bit more balance, which takes me to DeMar…

…I wasn’t that impressed with DeRozan’s game last night. Sure, 27pts on 8-12FG 11-16FT looks great on the boxscore, but it didn’t sit right with me. Three times in the first half, DeRozan pulled up on the break and popped (missed) a jumper when he could have made a move to the basket and either converted or drew a foul. His 27 should have been at least 30. The second problem I had was 17 of 27 came in the second half with the Nets thinking about dinner and watching Californication.

The saving grace of his second half “dominance” was that he got to the line 12 times and hit 9 of them. Had they all been jumpers, I guarantee we would have been watching him shoot jumpers at an even more alarming rate for the rest of the season. Not sure if it’s just me or is his development looking a bit like VC’s? He doesn’t have the same finish Carter had at this stage of his career, but we watched VC go from a guy who wanted to break the backboard, to the POS jump shooter he became. I’m way to lazy to pull stats on this (maybe Liston can put something for statophile), but I’ve noticed myself sighing with more regularity that he’s shooting instead of driving. I can live with the shooting if it continues to improve, but only if he gets to the line more; 4 times a game is half of what of what he should be doing.

Photo Credit: James Herbert via Twitter

Obviously others chipped in and contributed…just that the headline was perfect and I didn’t want to change it: Calderon moved the ball around aside from a couple retarded passes, but the defense wasn’t there; Barbosa did DeRozan’s job and scored the ball; Kleiza did Amir’s and Davis’ job and grabbed rebounds off the bench; and James Johnson’s double-double was so natural it makes you want to choke him out on nights he puts up crap.

I have nothing positive to say about this game. It took 42 minutes from Bargnani, after missing six games, to win this one. 42 MINUTES! You have to assume he still isn’t 100% since that’s how the pro’s work. Amir and Ed played so terrible that Casey couldn’t spare more than 6 minutes at the power forward. Think about what that means for a minute; guys that were considered core members of the future could only give an injured man, who missed six straight games with injury, 6 minutes of relief against the one of the few teams in the league I wouldn’t trade the Raptors straight up for.

That last notion is a conversation I’ve been having with a lot of folks over the last few days: if you were to compare the Raptors to every other team in the league as currently constructed, you’d be hard-pressed not to like the other squad*. In this instance, the Suns have the best player of the two teams, Steve Nash, but he’s old and dreaming of finishing his career in New York. If he still had a year or two left on his contract, you could make the case that it would be better to rebuild around him…I really want to know what people think of this, put it in the comments.

As for Arse’s predictions:

Margin after first: -8 -> 10
Margin at halftime: -4 -> 4
Margin at end of third: -16 -> 8
Final score margin: -9 -> 3
Best Raptor: James Johnson -> Would have been if Bargnani wasn’t there
Worst Raptor: Ed Davis -> Yup, see Roll Call
Shots of Suns cheerleaders: 6 -> I counted 7 on LPBB
DeMar DeRozan three attempts: 4 -> 0, thank jah
Amir Johnson fouls: 5 -> 3, but didn’t play enough to get there
Barbosa final point tally: 18 -> 19
Rasual Butler moments of retardedness: 3 -> 2
Dwayne Casey yelling “go go go”: 2 -> No idea, I wont lie and say 6+
Jose Calderon assists: 8 -> 11

One thing I did like was the starting lineup, not that they played very long together, but Gray and Bargnani lining up together is more formidable than anything else we can muster. Next step is to insert Barbosa into the starting five, and make DeRozan the first wing off the bench; could be what he needs…in Utah tonight, pre-game up soon.

* Of the ten worst teams in the league, a case could be made that only Charlotte and Detroit are worse off than the Raptors

Photo Credit: Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images

There’s losing a tough, competitive game that came down to the wire; there’s losing a nasty one to a better team where you weren’t really expected to make any noise; then there’s that once a year performance that would cost a coach his job. Clearly Casey is in no danger of losing his job, and shouldn’t be, but if Triano was still around, this would have been the nail in his coffin.

Last night was the result of a perfect storm that was bound to happen. Not only to the Raptors, but we will see a lot of fugly results like this across the league:

Injuries It says a lot about the state of your team when missing Jerryd Bayless in the lineup is cause for concern. Look, he’s not the worse thing that has ever happened to the Raptors, but at least he gives Calderon some rest (70 minutes in two nights, and he didn’t play the entire 4th quarter), and is aggressive off the bounce when he has the ball in his hands. It would also be nice to have Kleiza (again, I only weep for myself that I’m hoping Bayless AND Kleiza get back in action asap) force both Butler and Johnson into playing a combined 15-18 minutes a night.

Scheduling & Player Management The Raptors have played five games in the last seven nights, with little time for rest, and more importantly, practice. It’s tough to really work on things when you’re either on a plane, at the airport or sleeping. Top that off with heading into the 2nd night of a back-to-back, and things don’t look good considering the Raptors aren’t the most fit bunch. What made things even worse was Bargnani and Calderon played 45 and 41 (DeRozan played 38, but that shouldn’t be as big an issue) minutes respectively the night before against the  Wolves. I questioned Casey for riding those two for so long, but at least they got the win out of it.

Scoring The Raptors couldn’t put the ball through the hoop; it was tough to watch.

Now to the game…

The game started ugly for both teams; it took two and a half minutes and a combined five shots before Bargnani put the ball on the floor and got things rolling. The key during that two-minute stretch of ass was that the Wizards were missing off the bounce and in the paint, and the Raptors were clanking jumpers. This set the tone for the entire night where the Wizards were just monsters in the paint, scoring 38 of 46 points in the paint in the 1st half. That’s a big deal since it isn’t like the Wizards have a dominant front court that had it’s way with our boys. They attacked off the dribble with Wall, Young and Crawford taking their man, and making some difficult shots.

Aside from Calderon getting his second wind a minute into the game (it was downhill after the first quarter for the guy), three things stood out for me in the quarter: offensive rebounding and defense kept the Raptors in the game early; the Wizards had a grand total of 2 assists in the quarter; and DeRozan wasn’t actually playing any basketball. Given that the Raptors had just played the Wolves the night before, I expected some tired-lazy shots, but it was nice to see the defense do its job. The Wizards scored because their guys took the game into their hands and instead of running plays, made super aggressive moves off the bounce to get a shot off. This made me me happy heading into the second because when you control the boards, and are forcing a team to score off of broken plays and zero ball-movement, good things will happen.

I was wrong, the 2nd quarter was a warm, tightly curled pile of doo-doo (I actually used the word doo-doo six times in my game notes). If I could take back 40 minutes of my life, it was witnessing the 2nd and 3rd quarters of this game. Yes the Raptors were tired, but the worst team in the NBA managed to set the pace of the game, and capitalize. Eighteen of the Wizards first 20 points were transition buckets in the paint.

There was also a two-fold problem of turning the ball over (9 turnovers in the quarter), and when they managed to protect it, scoring the bloody thing.  DeRozan, Butler and Johnson were a combined 1-15 from the floor in the 1st half. To compound things, each and every shot they took, and missed, was early in the clock and obviously forced. In all fairness, DeRozan isn’t getting the ball in his sweet spot: catching the ball after curling off the high screen. He’s getting the ball on the wing, with no weak-side action. Unfortunately, his shot isn’t there quite yet. Butler and Johnson are just brutal; makes me miss watching Mike James go 1-on-4 for a bucket five-times a night.

The third was more of the same, and Casey threw in the towel in the 4th, trying to conserve some energy for tonight’s affair against the Kings.

After turning in an ugly effort against a lesser squad, I’m still happy with how the season is going. The reality is that the Raptors should have won this game and lost to the Knicks – net change is zero. Regardless of the outcome, some really good things happened last night:

• The Raptors defense was pretty decent; a 93 point performance where the starters didn’t play the entire 4th quarter isn’t something to hang your head low on. The Raptors were rotating on defense fairly well, but you have to give the Wizards some credit for hitting shots with next to no ball movement until the second half of the second quarter
• Bargnani weathered through his fatigue and managed 22 points on 16 shots in 29 minutes
• The Raptors out-rebounded the Wizards 44-38, with their offensive rebounding keeping them in the game, 14
• The zone defense worked until it didn’t, and by didn’t, I mean they didn’t use it enough. Still, it’s nice that they can throw out different looks that are effective

I really hate to say it, but the Wizards were due for a win, and the gods conspired to set the stage for them to capitalize. It’s an easy one to put behind you and prepare for the Kings at home.

If you don’t know, watching the game while keeping track of things on Twitter makes things a bit more interesting. The highlight for me last night was this exchange with some random dude (start at the bottom and read up the thread):

Photo Credit: Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images

Barbosa: for one night at least, he was back to the Barbosa we need. Crisp passes, getting to the line (where he was a perfect 9/9), active hands on defense…it was good to see.

Bargnani: this is verging on redunkulous. His game is almost written by a Hollywood script night in and night out: get pushed around, ignore it, give up taking a 3 to get a high percentage shot, have one reverse, pull one never-seen-by-him-before defensive move out of nowhere, make your critics eat crow. He got off 25 shots and 9 free throws in 45 minutes of action and he looked like he would go full throttle in OT if needed. Incredible.

Butler: I’ll give $20 to the first person to take a picture of his vehicle’s gas cap opening because I’m sure it is surrounded by gashes from the nozzle. This guy just can’t find a hole and fill it. How he has escaped the boo birds by the local fans is mindblowing. 0 for 5 from deep and every time he hoisted you almost knew it wasn’t going in. Embarrassing.

Calderon: I can’t be the only one who was terrified to see what Jose would do tonight. Going up against Rubio with at least a few thousand more Spaniards watching online than there were Canadians at the ACC tonight, the proud Calderon was bound to be wound up more than Liston at a new release of Microsoft Excel. Happy to say, though, that this is an older/wiser/freshly shorn Calderon and he passed with a solid B.  He held Rubio in check and refused to be on the bad part of a highlight reel.

Carter: sweet momma….7 minutes, –17, no points, no assists, 2 fouls. If you had given him a jar of pickles to open tonight, I’d put my money on the jar.

Davis: I’m not going to say that, one again, I’m disappointed in Davis’ game and he underperformed against a team that he should do better against.  i will say that I am less disappointed in my dog who ate my roast beef dinner and drank 2 bottles of my Carlsberg then went to the bathroom on my newly purchased area rug. The excuses are running out for Davis and soon one has to wonder if Solomon was actually the most deserving of being sent to the DLeague.

DeRozan: he once again made an attempt to redeem himself late in the game but as was deftly pointed out by Mr. Armstrong, we need more out of a guy who represented the team at Allstar weekend and is constantly referred to as our future. There are times he seems disinterested.

A. Johnson: I know the season is just underway, but if there was ever a game to show the change in Amir, this was it. 30 minutes, with the majority coming against Kevin Love, almost a double double at the half, 7/9 from the floor, 5/6 from the line. Last year he would have been saddled with 3 fouls in 4 minutes and then pick up a quick 2 in the second. This year all he did was make Love look like he’d met his match. Phenomenal game.

J.Johnson: James didn’t fare as well against Love. Heck, he lasted one possession at one point where he came in for Amir, he fouled love in a few seconds and Casey swapped Amir back in immediately. Just like DeMar, he saved his soul in the 4th with 2 wonderful blocks that set the tone for the Raptors to finish the game. I have no doubt that he’ll be punished by watching a lot of video tomorrow, but that’s well deserved. We still need him playing like he did in game 1.

Driving the bus: Amir Johnson

Under the bus: Rasual Butler

Theme of the Game:

I caught my first Wolves game of the Rubio era yesterday; liked what I saw. They are a nice team, with some real solid pieces to build around: young point guard with all-star potential; elite power forward who does everything; and a young talented supporting cast. Even without their 2012 1st round pick, you could argue they are better positioned than the Raptors going forward; especially considering no one on the roster makes more than $6.5m (no bad contract imho).

I spoke with Benjamin Polk of A Wolf Among Wolves:

The Wolves seem like a nice, young, deep team in-spite of Khan’s best efforts; am I wrong?

You are not wrong. A few qualifiers on that though. First, although Kahn certainly has his fair share of bewildering moves (drafting Jonny Flynn chief among them), I don’t think he’s quite as terrible as he’s made out to be. When he replaced Kevin McHale, the team’s roster was a hot mess. Untangling it all would have driven the best of us to drink. Second, while people are feeling pretty good about them right now, they are still a wing scorer/defender and an actual (not Darko-holographic) big man away from being for real. If can can make that happen (without a ’12 first-round pick and without giving up anything serious) then you can color me impressed.

True or False: Rubio is the real deal.

That is true. Nobody passes like that by accident; the kid is seriously gifted. But: I’m still not convinced that his solid shooting isn’t an anomaly. If he regresses back down into the sub-40% range (where he was projected), he’ll be a lot easier to defend. Also, right now he has the second-worst turnover rate of any point guard in the top 30 (Mario Chalmers is worst). That’ll take some fixing.

Call the game.

Well, since both the Raptors and the Wolves are working on new identities under new coaches it’s still really hard for me to know who they are. Statistically, they’re pretty even so far–the Wolves have been a bit better defensively, while the Raps have been a bit better on O. But because I’m a blatant homer I’m gonna go with the Wolves, let’s say by five.

Match-ups

Point Guard
Both Ridnour and Rubio have been doing their damage from the perimeter this season. Yesterday against the Wizards, they took three shots inside of 9 feet between the two of them.  Now that we know how these guys score/operate, Calderon and Carter should be prepared, right? We may see some remnants of fatigue tonight with Calderon, and if the Raptors get into an early hole, don’t expect to see heavy minutes from him. Barbosa may even see some time at the point since Carter really can’t put in much more than 10 minutes himself. I’m just hoping Ridnour doesn’t have another career night against the Raptors; he always gets up to play us. Barea might see action tonight, but the guys been injured to start the season, so he wont be a huge factor given he wont be logging heavy minutes.
Edge: Even

Shooting Guard
DeMar hasn’t been helping himself at all the last couple games. I still stand by my assessment of him needing to get to the line more; three trips in the last two games is unacceptable. Both Ellington and Johnson are perimeter players who will make DeRozan pay if he gives them too much room to shoot. He needs to set the tone early, test the Wolves defense early, and be engaged from the onset, otherwise another 8pt 2reb performance is all we can hope for.
Edge: Even

Small Forward
By all rights, Beasley should be playing for the Raptors; why we passed on taking him back from Miami is beyond me. I’m asking because I’m interested to know what people think: would you rather have Beasley and Norris Cole or James Johnson and a trade exception that wont get used? Fortunately, Michael is injured and wont be dropping 31 on us tonight. Leaves a combination of Derrick Williams and Wesley Johnson for JJ, Butler and Forbes to deal with. Wont be quite as bad as it could have been, but with three games in three nights, we’re going to bear witness a lot of ugly.
Edge: Wolves

Power Forward
You’d be hard-pressed to name a better power forward than Kevin Love right now. Bargnani could actually do worse than look to him for some pointers on rebounding and putting himself in the right spots at the right time. Otherwise, I am really looking forward to this match-up. Love will have a hard time defending Bargnani off the bounce, but will give him more than a handful on the glass. Love should win the match-up and post somin’ nasty on the box score, but Bargnani will take back his. Whatever happens, I have a feeling that this game will be won on the wing.
Edge: Wolves

Center
Darko doesn’t play heavy minutes, and when he does, he doesnt leave much of a mark on the game. The guy will block a couple shots, grab a couple rebounds and score a couple from 3 feet; that’s it. The Wolves will go small ball whenever they can, making Magloire less useful than he already is. Amir should benefit against a smaller front court, but he still needs to show up and make things happen. This will be the least interesting match-up tonight.
Edge: Even

Injuries

Raptors
Linas Kleiza – Knee, Game-Time Decision

Timberwolves
MIchael Beasely – Foot; Out
Jose Juan Barea – Hamstring, Out
Malcolm Lee – Knee, Out

Keys to the Game

1. Limit Kevin Love’s effectiveness on the boards: the Wolves are 2nd in the league in rebounds/game; have to box the guy out make him work for everything
2. Control the pace: Raptors do much well when they slow the pace, and walk the ball up on offense. Getting into an up-and-down will do nothing but create space on the perimeter for the Wolves to shoot uncontested jumpers which they are good at hitting.
3. Attack the paint: the Raptors went to the foul line 12 times against the Sixers; this is utterly unacceptable. You need to be able to get easy points on the board; have to take advantage of the athleticism our key-players have, and attack the defense off the bounce.
4. No open looks: I’m not sure how much more of this I can take, but the Raptors do a great job of giving opposing teams clean looks at the rim from the perimeter. How many open shots did the Nets hit on Friday? …makes me crazy…

The Line

The gamblers have the Raptors as 3.5 point favourites with an over/under of 188. If the Raptors are to win a game over the next three, it will be tonight (we’ve never seen the Raptors play three games back-to-back-to-back, but it’s going to get very ugly come Wednesday). I hate to say it, but I’d bet against the line right now, and take the Wolves by 4. This is a team that walked into the Wizards house shorthanded, and beat them like they stole something.

Barbosa: so is buddy auditioning to be a Sleep-eze spokesman or what? It’s like his pregame meal now is turkey and milk. No spark, no excitement, no point being on the floor.

Bargnani: still not as active on the boards as Casey had hoped but for a guy who used to take 3 pointers about as often as a 15 year old looks at porn on the internet (or RapsFan, lets be honest) he continues to put it away and zip it up when it comes from launching the long ball. Only 1 attempt tonight in a game that last year would have seen him take no less that…hmmm….42.

Butler: another night where my television can breathe easy and not feel the wrath of my collection of Scotch bottles. The human groan was one of only 4 Raptors to score in double digits, he dug his heels in defensively, and he didn’t feel the yank of Casey’s cane. Pop some bottles.

Calderon: one has to question why Jose takes the most shots on the floor during any game, but the answer is easily found by looking at the final score…and the stat line of the man he covers. Williams came back to the floor tonight and wiped it with Jose’s jersey that he ripped from him as he spun him around like a dradle.  In fairness, Jose did his best to keep up and match him, but that’s like saying Kris Humphries was suitable competition for Reggie Bush in the bed of Kim.

Carter: speaking of Hump, Anthony almost found himself as a tattoo on Kris’ elbow at one point and had Magloire come to his aid. Still don’t mind this guy. Love how he spreads the floor and runs plays as opposed to flashing signs for a Burkie Dog and a soda like Jose does. 4 points, 4 boards, 3 assists in 12 minutes.

Davis: I’m gonna have Liston run the numbers, but I’m sure Eddy has the lowest shooting percentage from within 1.5 feet of the hoop.  On a shot chart that is to scale, you can’t see his misses because the dots are covered by the damn hoop. It’s a shame too, because you could basically see the confidence coming back tonight. He did everything except let out a roar that shook Brampton. 11pts, 8 rebs and finally a night he can call home and not feel like he needs a hug.

DeRozan: his game tonight reminded me of the time where it took me 90 minutes to go from Yonge and Sheppard to Union Station on public transit. You swipe your metropass, you get on the subway, you are happy after downing a few pints and wings with your buddies, then the great spirit above decides that another game of Grand Theft Auto just isn’t fun, so he decides to reach down and mess with your aura.  If the Raptor mascot was standing on a ladder above the rim waiting to guide the ball in, DeMar would have hit the shot clock tonight. Just an off night for TMZ.

G. Forbes: I feel for Casey. Forbes is far enough down the bench that you look at him and you second guess yourself. Example: you had a lovely evening with your lover. You both get a few hours sleep, but you wake up and you feel some…stirring.  Your lover wakes and it’s on. Then it hits you. You only had one condom and it’s lying on the floor next to the bed, used in your jump off earlier. Do you reach down and cover your Gary with the Forbes or……??

A. Johnson: I’m a believer. He has completely changed my opinion of him in a short period of time. That block in the first half, his hustle all night, his continuing ability to keep his fouls in check, all impressive to his ultimate doubter. I think the faith that he has been shown by the coaching staff this year has gone a long way to improve his game and bring him to the floor as a professional as opposed to a wannabe twitter celebrity. Kudos.

J.Johnson: another enjoyable game. He was finding teammates with crisp passes, he was in the ears of the Nets, he was seen salting popcorn at halftime.As much as Rasual is as worthy as being in the starting five as much as I’m worthy of being featured in a swimsuit calendar, I’ve come to enjoy watching James come out as the leader of the second unit.

Magloire: he picked up 2 fouls so quickly I automatically blurted out “WTF PRIMOZ????”.  When my acid reflux settled down (great commercial space timing, using that product as a sponsor for Raptors games) I comforted myself by realizing I wouldn’t have to see Big Mouse for most of the game tonight. I do applaud him for backing up AC, though. That was some true gangsta stuff right thurr.

Driving the bus: Andrea Bargnani

Under the bus: Leandro Barbosa

Theme of the Game:

Barbosa: he hit one shot all night and it was one that went so high that God caught the ball, wiped it off with a towel, spun it on his finger, all while whistling Sweet Georgia Brown. Then Chuck Daly told him he had to give it back, which he did by letting it fall through the hoop without touching rim.  God celebrated and so did about 7000 at the ACC tonight.

Bargnani: okay, this is getting out of control. He smiled tonight. No, really. A smile and a laugh. On the court. At ACC. Ready for more?? It seemed genuine. This really could be the end of the world. Life insurance offices will be overrun tomorrow.  31 and 7 and it seemed effortless.

Butler: someone BBM’d me tonight asking if I felt the tremor. I merely responded that I was at the Raptors game and it was no earthquake, it was just Rasual crashing back down to earth. Didn’t hit a shot all night and kept trying from downtown even though it was apparent to everybody that Monday’s game was a flash in the pan. Nice to have Kapono back.

Calderon: Kyrie Kryptonite. Irving made it to the line and sunk his shots, but from the field he was held down like a 10 year old on his birthday getting the paddywhacks.  Another double double for Spanish Fly with 13pts and 11 assists. Not to be lost in all this: the evident disappearance of the handclap defense.

Carter: the one downside of Jose playing so well is less floor time for AC. I know he doesn’t have a ton of fans here, but I still think it’s important to get him out there to have him get familiar with the squad. This month’s schedule with Bayless out for a bit will require some time from the deep bench and someone with his pedigree is important to keep fresh.

Davis: good work, young fella. Sure it came against a team that we should beat on the second night of a back to back that looked disinterested from the start, but hopefully it’s a seed planted. Early on it looked like a repeat of every other game, but he stepped it up in the second half and made a team on their heels pay for their disinterest.

DeRozan: lawdy lawdy lawdy, TMZ has been reborn and he is proving that he can be a great piece to this team. He was feeling it from deep and he kept reloading and ended up taking 8 shots from downtown, hitting 5.  It was ideal DeMar: have fun, play hard, hit shots, defend well, smile.  Question for you, though: if it was an opposing player that pseudo-celebrated in front of the Raptors bench the way he did in front of the Cavs, would you be calling for his head?

G. Forbes: you are put in with 2 minutes left, you come in, hit a nice shot then come back down on the next possession, don’t pass the ball and put one up that probably cost you more bench time. Not a wise move. At all.

A. Johnson: not a lot on the stat sheet for him to be proud of, but he was laying lumber almost every minute he was on the floor. I don’t think there was one Cavs player that saw action that didn’t get some Amir sweat on him. He’s the kind of guy that can be used to deflate a tired opponent and he did exactly that tonight.

J.Johnson: ever since he ditched the hair and the headband he has played like he actually cares. He was jumping around like he heard there were pieces of gold on the rim all night, just too bad he felt he would double up if he took silly shots. Still, for a team like this, we need to learn to accept 50% effort as a B+ effort. Tonight he earned a solid B+.

Magloire: wasn’t a spectacular night for anybody from Toronto. Jamaal put in an effort that Hedo would be proud of. Inconsequential against a team that he should have had a great night going up against.

Driving the bus: DeMar DeRozan

Under the bus: Jamaal Magloire

Theme of the Game:

The Cavs are 3-2, and the Raptors should be 3-2; this is going to be an interesting season to say the least. The other night I had a thought that really made me uncomfortable; what if the Raptors win more games than they should? There are already lots of interesting themes developing (insider required). Couple that with the number of absolutely brutal teams there are in the east, and the solid effort being turned in so far game after game, and you could make the case that the Raptors could surprise and over achieve this season; jeopardizing their lottery status in the summer.

I know there are positives to both sides of this coin, but I’d rather grab at least one more solid draft pick, then try to make a run at things; need as many horses as you can get.

The Cavs frontcourt kept them in the game against the Raptors on opening night, grabbing 15 offensive rebounds, but an even attack from the Raptors spurred by ball movement (35 assists) and solid defensive rotations were more than they could handle.

Match-ups

Point Guard
Irving showed signs of promise, but he’s just not ready to be handed the reigns just yet. Sessions hurt the Raptors with his dribble penetration and three point shooting; nothing from mid-range. Calderon needs to close-out on him faster, and force him into a waiting defender. Same thing with Gibson, except I’d he’s less of a threat to get to the rack. Bayless will be a game-time decision, but the Raptors could use some of his off the bounce attack to mix things up and keep the Cavs defense guessing. Anthony Carter will be counted on to provide spurts of solid relief. I’m the first to admit I was wrong about his effectiveness; a couple minutes here and there is doable for the guy.
Edge: Raptors

Shooting Guard
Every Time DeRozan took the ball to the rim, he either scored or got put on the line. The Cavs don’t have the shot blocking ability to challenge DeMar when he gets to the rim. He has to keep on attacking Anthony Parker, who just doesn’t have  the foot speed to keep up. Barbosa will do the same to Gibson, who I can’t recall doing anything of value in the first game.
Edge: Raptors

Small Forward
Butler and Johnson did a good job of keeping Casspi off the board, and he hasn’t done much this season since, but  some guy named Alonzo Gee stepped up for the Cavs. With the performances that Butler has turned in the last games, the small forward spot is stabilizing some. As long as whoever is manning the 3-spot puts defense first, and tries to avoid taking retarded shots, the Raptors should do well.
Edge: Even

Power Forward
A repeat performance from Jamison would go a long way tonight; Bargnani and Davis kept Antawn to 6-20 shooting from the field. Bargnani couldn’t find his shot last week against the Cavs, but has since remedied that. With him going to the rack as often as he’s popping jumpers, he will be putting a lot of pressure on the Cavs frontcourt to step-up. The Raptors would have the frontcourt locked if Ed Davis would just come back. Since his solid performance against the Cavs last week, the sophomore has all but vanished. He could find his game tonight against the only team he’s played well against this season; I hope anyways. It was great to see Tristan Thompson play well, and he’s done a pretty good job so far considering, but the Cavs overstepped in taking him 4th with Valanciunas and Vesely on the board.
Edge: Raptors

Center
I foolishly didn’t give the Cavs the edge at center last game, and was proved wrong. Varejao still has a great deal to offer, putting up 14pts 10rebs (7 offensive) almost single handedly keeping the Cavs hanging around and in the game. Things have looked downhill for Amir since the first two games of the season, and there wasn’t much there for Magloire to begin with. Varejao will do his best to keep them in the game, but the Cavs have less talent than the Raptors.
Edge: Cavaliers

The Line

The gamblers have the Raptors as 4 point favourites, with an over/under of 190. The Cavs and Raptors have found themselves to be in an interesting situation so far this season. Both are doing better than expected, and playing hard. The Cavs took advantage of an easier schedule, beating the Pistons, Nets and Bobcats. The Raptors on the other hand should be 3-2 heading into tonight’s game. Bet the line; Raptors win 92-86.

Barbosa: we got the W, but I still feel the need to ask where the hell he went in the second half. Yes, DeMar was having a game, but as the lead shrunk, Leandro, who had a nice first half, sat on the bench and tried to make a mental note of all the celebrities in the house so he could text his brother afterward.

Bargnani: I want to befriend the guy just to have him buy my lottery ticket. Evidently someone has told him that the solid line at the court that he stopped at the last few years can actually be passed without penalty and, holy moly, you have an easier time scoring!!! You can bet the usual doubters will be out with pitchforks at his first poor game, but lets enjoy the silence and the ride until then.

Butler: stone cold!! stone cold!! stone cold!! This guy beat you up, stole your lunch money, went to Harlem, bought a mixtape and a 40, came back, stole your girl, and is now rocking a fedora, a cane, and a fur coat as he gets a great return on his investment, just like Colangelo. Long time coming…for both him and your girl.

Calderon: the stinger he felt in his neck last night came back tonight, but only from watching the missiles being launched from downtown courtesy Douglas, Anthony and anybody else in white. He was a point shy of a double double which, for a PG playing 43 minutes, should be almost automatic.

Carter: you want a line to be proud of?  5 mins, 4pts, 4rebs, 3 asts. In that short amount of time he showed he was comfortable in knowing where guys were going to be and how to get them the ball. He certainly didn’t look like a guy who has had just over a week with these guys on the floor.

Davis: it was Ed’s girl that Rasual stole. He is trying harder than my girlfriend is to get me to look like some dude from some werewolf movie, but the one thing he and I have in common is we are coming out uglier in the end. Me physically, him in his game.

DeRozan: TMZ had the night of his young season tonight. None of that “let me just throttle up in the fourth” stuff tonight, baby. 7 of 13, 6 trips to the line, and enough bravado to have the ladies swoon.

A. Johnson: the first game where I was fearful of him fouling out before I needed a refill. He just made me fear the ref’s whistle from the outset. Sure enough, he picked up 5 but he never did get ejected. A few nice blocks, a silly turnover, and another night wondering what the hell that tattoo is.

J.Johnson: luckily we still had some confetti left from the other night, so I used it when James hit that corner 3 with enough wide open space in front of him that Donald Trump already had his assessors out there determining  how much he could get per square foot. Of course he followed that up with a quick shot that clanked like the Liberty Bell a few minutes later, but hell, he hit an important shot and looked like he had the weight of the world fall off his shoulders.

Magloire: from Howard to Chandler, the kid from Scarborough hasn’t had the easiest 2 nights in a row. Like last night, however, he earned some respect by hanging tough and actually matching Tyson’s rebound number with 10.  The Big Cat lives to see another day. I couldn’t be happier.

Driving the bus: DeMar DeRozan

Under the bus: Ed Davis

Theme of the Game: