This is the first game since opening night that I’ve legitimately been excited to watch. While I’m not sure what Colangelo’s plans for this team are over the next 9 months or so, but he pulled off the best trade of his Raptor tenure. While Jack may have been the best player in the deal, he turned Jack/Banks/Andersen into an asset (Peja’s expiring) that was greater than the parts it was traded for, and Bayless who should be giving us a couple years of frustration. If nothing else, we have a couple months of trade machine until the deadline.

Tonight, the Raptors host the Sixers at the ACC, and hope to extend the winning streak to 4-games for the first time since January of last season. Without even getting into it, I expect a win tonight for a couple reasons:

1. Sixers suck
2. Sixers suck on the road
3. Sixers sucked last night in Washington (back-to-back)
4. We’ve already beaten them

This the second time these teams have played in a week (it was the Sixers who got the Raptors started on this mini-winning streak), where the Raptors were able to keep the game close, then pull it out in the 4th. Bargnani came out the games gangbusters, but did a solid job of maintaining his effectiveness for the game. Arsenalist described the game the best:

“This game was a war of attrition between a poor Philly offense and a bad Raptors defense. Something had to give and it ended up being the Philly defense as a very motivated Andrea Bargnani kept demanding the ball right up until the end and delivered when he got it.”

Injury Report

Toronto
Ed Davis – On the mend

Philadelphia
Andre Iguodala – Achilles, Played last night
Elton Brand – May be suspended

Match-ups

PG – Calderon vs Holiday
Holiday is coming off a rough game against the Wizards last night where he went 4-12 from the field, but grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 5 dimes. I like this kid, but he’s too up and down, and considering he threw in a bad performance last night, and the three days rest Jose got, this could be a long night for the kid. I ugh…don’t have a whole lot for this one, other than the bench could have a big impact on this one. Lou Williams stunk last week, but had a big night last night, and Bayless is coming in pretty wet behind the ears. I expect Calderon to play 32+ minutes tonight, and with his ability to manage the offense, he should have a strong game if he keeps active on offense, and doesn’t give Holiday anything easy.
Edge: Calderon

SG – DeRozan vs Turner
Triano will be experimenting with minutes to get the right mix, but if DeRozan is having another bad game, you can expect to see Barbosa (and Weems in certain match-ups) play some here. Turner hasn’t been shooting well, and his offense has suffered, but he was able to pull down 12 rebounds last week against the Raps. I don’t expect to see that again, but the Raptors will need to stay alert and not let the Philly backcourt catch their second wind tonight and lead their offense since their front line players struggle to create shots for themselves. If Lou Williams gets going like he did last night against the Bucks, it could open up some cracks in the paint for folks to go to work. After a few pretty games, and a couple days off, DeRozan looks good to come correct tonight. He needs to stay active and get to the line, otherwise I don’t see it working out well for him-again.
Edge: DeRozan

SF – Weems vs Igoudala
After being out a few games with an injured Achilles, Andre played 50 minutes last night and had a solid game (23pts 11rebs 8ast). He’s going to be tired and is still injured (achilles injuries take a bit more time to heal). Nocioni is playing hurt, and Weems is playing well. That’s all there is to this. Expect Thaddeus Young to get some burn after posting a couple solid performances against the Bucks and Wizards, but he’s logged quite a few minutes the last two games, so he wont be 100%. I’m liking Weems a lot lately, seems like he’s ‘gotten’ it, and is doing the right things on the court. Either way, he will be playing folks who aren’t at their best, and should have a a good go of it. I’m excited to see what Peja brings to the table tonight. I expect he should play 20+ minutes as Carlesimo Triano figures things out; this should be a nice game for him to showcase what he has left in the tank.
Edge: Weems

PF – Evans vs Brand
Brand might be suspended for this game, after being ejected last night for a flagarant. Evans will need to do a better job defending him as he had his way last week (27pts 9reb) and was really the only reason the Sixers were in the game for as long as they were. If he’s suspended, then the offense will sputter, since no one else commands enough attention in the paint to give the perimeter players room to operate; hopefully we get to see Songaila airball a couple more shots. Either way, the Raptors have the horses to win this battle.
Edge: Evans

C – Bargnani vs Hawes
Greatest. Raptor. Player. Ever.
Edge: Bargnani

**NOTE** I think this is the first time I have the Raptors winning at all five positions, without the bench needing to pick up the slack. Could be a nice game for Amir to get at it without the pressure of being a focal point with so much going on with the new players and the fact that Philly sucks.

Keys to the Game

Show up
Philly is going to be tired after going to the wire agains the Wizards, and we’re a better/deeper team than they are. Yea…

Protect the perimeter
The Sixers don’t have the horses to hurt us in the key, or the glass, so our wings will need to pay attention to their shooting. If they get going, get the adrenaline pumping early, and hit their shots, it could be a long-frustrating night. I can live with that if they protect the paint and contest shots. Communication will be huge.

Give Bargnani the ball
Il Mago is hot, lets keep feeding him and let him go to work. Philly’s got nothing to stop him, or counter him. With Jack carrying CP3′s bags now, there’s no one to look away from him when he’s got it going.

The Line

The gamblers have the Raptors as 6.5 point favourites with an over/under of 205.5 points. I’m thinking bigger things tonight; Raptors by 11.

Sorry this pre-game isn’t as good as it should be, I was super rushed this morning.

Fortunately for my sanity, I missed the game. However, there was a point last night where I glanced up at the TV, saw the Wizards up 79-59, did a double take, then proceeded to drink myself blind while some suit at the bar was shouting the most obscene things at the TV I’ve ever heard; turns out he was watching the Leafs, but whatever. How the f&@% do you lose to a Wizards team missing their best player? How the f&@% do you get out-rebounded by the worst rebounding team in the league?

I don’t have any answers to questions about the Raptors, seriously. This team beats Orlando on Friday, competes hard against Miami on Saturday, then they get thumped by Washington on Tuesday. Indulge me for a second: so I design software at work for a living. After interviewing clients to get what their pain points are, one of the reoccurring themes was predictability of cost. They want to know what they will be paying, for a certain amount of product over the course of the year.

I want the exact same thing from the Raptors, I want to know what I’m getting out of them every night; right now I don’t. We don’t know which incarnation of this team will show up from night to night. Really makes it hard to put other aspects of my life on hold to watch games where we lose to bad teams because of questionable things. On the flip-side, it does us a huge disservice when they beat a team like the Magic on the road, since achieving that usually means that everyone is carrying their own weight, and making the right decisions on every play. This team obviously isn’t in that vicinity, so it gets our hopes up.

One positive from last night is that, and I’m just putting this out there, but I think Weems has moved into the starting role. Kleiza did well off the bench, and I think his offense is better suited coming off the bench, and frankly, with Barbosa out, it is needed there more. A wing Jack/DeRozan/Weems makes me much more excited.

Sigh…

I had a chance to speak with Carey Smith, of Philadunkia.com about the Sixers and the matchup tonight:

Andre Iguadala hasn’t started the season as expected, with his numbers pretty much down across the board. This hasn’t stopped teams from expressing interest in him. If he gets moved, what will the Sixers look for him in return?
Thorn and Stefanski are going to ask for the world in return for AI9, because in my opinion they highly over rate his potential. Iguodala is a very athletic, very well rounded and overall very good player, but he’s a second or some believe a third banana on a title contending team. He is not, nor will he ever be a star as the Sixers front office believed he could become. If they deal him (which I don’t want the Sixers to do), I hope they go after cap space and a young big who can grab some boards.

It took a couple seasons, but Elton Brand seems to be getting back on track. He was having trouble meshing with the athletic wings on the team, what has changed?
What has changed about Brand is that he lighter, moving better and is in much better shape. This past summer was the first time since Brand has been in a Sixers uniform that he didn’t spend the off season rehabbing from a serious injury. He was able to concentrate on getting ready for the season from a conditioning stand point and work on his actual basketball skills. All that work seems to be paying off.

I was super high on Jrue Holliday coming into the season, and it seems as though he worked on his game quite a bit this summer. What is the kid doing right?
To be honest, Jrue is having a wildly inconsistent year so far in 2010-11. There have been some All-Star caliber games from him and some flat out bombs like the one against SAS the other night. You can read more about in a post by Tom Sunnegren.

How do you match-up with the Raptors? What will be the strategy for dealing with Bargnani and DeRozan?
Outside of our usual interior weaknesses, I believe the Sixers matchup well against the Raptors. I don’t see DeRozan, Kleiza or the Jack/Calderon PG combo as much of an issue for the Sixers to handle. As is typical of the Sixers this season, they’re going to get killed in the paint vs. the Raptors. Former Sixers Reggie Evans may have a career night vs. our weak frontline and Andrea Bargnani will do whatever he wants against the Sixers bigs. If we can slow Bargnani down, even just a little (he averaged 18 ppg. & 5.8 rpg vs. PHl last season) we should win this game.

Injuries

Toronto
Ed Davis – Out
Leandro Barbosa – Shoulder, Out
Linas Kleiza – Achilles, Should Play

Philadelphia
Andre Iguodala – Achilles, Should Play

Match-ups

PG – Jack vs Holiday
Jrue just turned 20 this summer, so he obviously has the experience to take it to Jack/Calderon all night. He’s also a mediocre shooter, who’s quick enough to get into the paint; so expect him to go 8-13 from the perimeter tonight, and 6-9 at the rim. He’s bigger, stronger, and faster then Jack and plays better defense. The Sixers are 11th in the league in assists, meaning they do a great job of moving the ball around; doesn’t bode well for a Raptor defense that doesn’t rotate or play good defense. At the head of the beast is Holiday who may not have great court vision, but does a good job of finding the right guy for the shot (if that made any sense at all). Call me out on this, but on the second night of a back-to-back, I have zero expectations tonight…zero. Jrue has a career game…fml
Edge: Holiday

SG – DeRozan vs Turner
It wasn’t that he had a bad night per say, but he took 9 shots. To put that in perspective, Jack took 14 and Kleiza took 11 off the bench. The kids doing a great job the last couple games, and you can’t get him the ball? Seriously? DeMar needs to keep Turner on the perimeter and tempt him with open-ish shots. Turner doesn’t have the athleticism to beat DeRozan off the dribble, or through the air, so he will pick his spots since he sees the floor so well. Honestly, DeRozan should win this match-up, the kid is still finding his way, and is in the zonew. I wont accept any other result.
Edge: DeRozan

SF – Weems vs Iguodala
AI is injured, and was only able to muster 19 minutes against the Spurs on the weekend (he still managed to put up 10pts 8rebs though). Achilles injuries affect movement, movement affects ability to do stuff, and if you can’t do stuff, the guy on the other side of the court should win the match-up. If Andre can’t go, expect to see more of Young and Nocioni. If Andre does go, and is injured, Money better drop 20pts, that’s all I got.
Edge: Weems

PF – Evans vs Brand
I’m totally biased towards Brand, he’s been one of my favourites since Duke (actually, I think he’s the only Duke player I’ve ever really liked). He’s made some nice progress since that ridiculous injury he suffered when he signed with Philly, but hasn’t regained his explosiveness that he lost as a result. Evans isn’t an explosive guy either, but has been playing smart, and controlling the boards the best he can without much support. One thing to note is that Brand doesn’t play big in the paint anymore, he’s a mid-ranger who doesn’t shoot a very high percentage. Evans can get at him and make him work hard on the glass, and for his points. Wont be an exciting match-up.
Edge: Even

C – Bargnani vs Hawes
Last night in Washington was Bargnani’s worse game of the season, which happens. I seriously don’t think I need to say too much about this match-up. Hawes doesn’t like to initiate contact in the paint, has some nice post moves but prefers to jack shots from the perimeter. After an embarassing performance against McGee and Blatche, Il Mago needs to throw down tonight.
Edge: Bargnani

Keys to the Game

How about some defense?
109, 109, 110, 101, 109, 97, 108, 125, 111, 81, 98
The Raptors have kept an appointment to under 100 points three times this season, it’s a bloody shame. Hustle and defense are distinctly different things; actually, that describes Calderon to a T. The Sixers aren’t a high scoring team, so hopefully we don’t make them look like stars.

Bench Performance
The Sixers have a nice mix of crafty players and athletes on their bench, that could really be a thorn in the Raptors side. Thaddeus Young seems to always come out to play against us, and always makes me nervous he’s going to have a big night. I’d like to see Calderon regain some composure after last night’s shit show, and lead this squad. I also look forward to Kleiza’s scoring from the bench, which is a perfect spot for the guy.

Show some pride
You lost a rough one last night, and have a chance to split this four-game road swing 2-2 with a win tonight against an equally brutal Sixers team. What’s at stake tonight is being the worst team in the East; but who knows, maybe having the most ping-pong balls is a good thing.

The Line

The gamblers have the Sixers as 4 point favourites with an over/under of 207.5.

We have a weird 1pm game time for the Raptors/Sixers game today, ruining my day since it’s right smack in the middle (yet another way the Raptors are ruining my life besides the copious amount of time I spend watching/talking/crying/assuming fetal position because of them) of the day. It’s not even like we get to see a great team today, the bloody Sixers man…sigh.

With 8 games to go, the Raptors have made a giant change to the rotation, and it has worked out over the past two matches. The hardest part of the rotation change was getting the buy-in from Turkoglu to come off the bench, which to his credit has been a non-issue, at least in the media. As we all know though, it’s not who starts, but who finishes, and Triano has said that he expects Turkoglu to be out there in crunch-time regardless of his starting status. Ok great, I’m not going to say it took our head coach 74 games to put together a rotation costing us some games/playoff position in the process and giving all of us ulcers, but I really should.

Today’s game should be the third win in a row for the Raptors, who are coming off of two solid wins over the Bobcats and the Clippers. It’s go time, there is two weeks left in the regular season, and these sorts of games should be look at-as wins. Even though IMHO the Sixers should be one of the teams fighting for the playoffs given the players and coaching they have in place, the reality is they just don’t have it.

Over the last 10 games, the Sixers are 3-7, and are seemingly going through the motions. They need to be taken seriously though, since they have

Keys to the game

• Keep Lou Williams in check: the guy has averaged about 21 points over the three games against Toronto this season. He averages 14.4pts for the season.
• Keep Thaddeus Young in check too: he’s dropping 21.7pts and 6.7rebs this season on the Raptors. Both above his averages for the year.
• Maintain focus: The Raptors could have very easily be heading into Philly on a four game winning streak had Melo rimmed out and just one more minute of effort was squeezed out against the Heat. We’ve seen these guys play down to their competition this season; the Raptors need to NOT do that today and bring it.

Before I end this lame pre-game, I want to point out how questions about Bosh being checked out have all but died; and all the Raptors had to do was win 2 games. Even though he’s been producing at the same levels, with essentially the same usage and shots and minutes and bla bla bla, folks were saying he was mailing it in when the Raptors were losing, but win two games and it stops. Fickle bunch we are, that’s all I’m saying.

A 23 point lead evaporated while the arena was chanting for Reggie Evans to check back into the game; but the Raptors withstood a furious rally from the Sixers to win the last game of the ‘first’ half of the season. It was a game of runs; Toronto had two to take the lead, and Philly went on one to get back into the game. At the end, it was Bargnani who was involved on every big play down the stretch who brought it home.

Anyone else think that if Philly held on to Andre Miller that they would be right there with the Raptors this season? Lou Williams isn’t really a PG, Jrue Holiday is learning and Iverson is Iverson. Miller has always been a thorn in our side…always…but I digress.

Jrue really brought (and finally gave me something this season for one of my fantasy leagues) it to Jack early and hard, dropping 4 dimes in the 1st quarter, all of which resulted in a WIDE open look for a Philly player who knocked it down. These quick point guards still give us a lot of problems, and the only way to deal with it, is to deal with it . It’s easier on nights when you play the Holidays of the league, but when you get the Pauls, Harris’ and Parkers, things get interesting.

The Raptors paced Philly early until Calderon checked in at the 2:27 mark, and just unleashed alley-oop hell on earth. On four consecutive plays, the Raptors went back door, and Calderon found them with perfect passes for dunks or layups. It felt like a video game it was that good. He even finished a layup in traffic to end the quarter. I know I keep saying this, but this is the role for Calderon, and he SHOULDN’T be traded unless we get a game changing starting wing for him. Anything less is unacceptable.

Reggie Evans has attained cult like status without playing a minute of ball this season, and when he saw the floor to a roar from the crowd, he didn’t disappoint. God bless him-his offensive game is as ugly as sin, but he fights hard. In 5 minutes he gave us 2pts 3rebs 1ast 1stl and this…

Apparently grabbing a dudes nut-sac is a good defensive strategy to throw them off their game…

Where I perked up off my seat was the 3rd quarter, where Toronto went on two runs to take a commanding lead, and Philly finished on a run to set the stage for a 4th quarter Rally. For some reason Eddie Jordan opted for small ball and went with Royal Ivey over Elton Brand, and was too proud to change it up when things started to go from bad to worse. In fact, he wouldn’t even call a timeout, forcing them play through it – I use play loosely, they just ran around mostly.

The Raptors started the quarter on an 17-7 run. The offense was coming in the paint, or from drive-and-kicks to an open shooter. DeRozan and Weems anchored the defense, and were all over Ivey and Green; stealing the ball, getting a hand in the passing lanes, contesting shots and drawing fouls. They had the perimeter on lock down to the point where I had totally forgotten about Turkoglu.

This whole time, not one timeout was called by Jordan, and if that was Triano, my eye would have popped out of my head. At some point, you need settle things down and focus the guys. By the time he called a timeout, the Raptors were on a 26-12 run, with 1:47 left in the quarter. So all the Raptors had to do was to maintain for under 2 minutes, get to the 4th and put them away…but no, Eddie decided to coach.

Brand and Smith checked in the game, and Lou Williams was given the red light. The result of which was a 10-2 run to close out the quarter with the exclamation mark coming with Jason Smith blocking Belinelli at the rim with a second left in the quarter. That my friends is how you close out quarters.

The furious ralley continued in the 4th with a quick 6-2 run for the Sixers, and the lead dwindled to 11, bringing the run to 16-4 from the end of the 3rd to the beginning of the 4th. From there, it was chip and charge. The Raptors were out of any rhythm and just couldn’t knock down the looks they were getting. Things got worse when Jack entered the game, and any fluid offensivability (I just coined a new word) the Raptors displayed in the 3rd went to the crapper.

For exactly three minutes, the Raptors offense was the worse I’ve seen it all season. The ball wasn’t being moved around, no one was moving, and every attempt was a desperation one with the shot clock winding down. Thaddeus Young ties the game up with a jumper, and my heart literally dropped into my stomach while I sunk into my couch until the amazing happened: Calderon draws a foul behind the arc, and the ball hops around a couple times until going through the hoop – 4 point play.

Bargnani closed out the game with a clutch three (what else is new), a couple free throws, a block on Iguadala at the 3 point line, some solid defense on Lou Williams on the perimeter and some boxing out in the paint to wrap it up. Done deal, the Raptors go into the All-Star break with a 29-23 record.

We’re heading into All-Star weekend, where Chris Bosh and DeMar DeRozan will be holding it down for Toronto. We have partnered with Dime Magazine to bring some exclusive interviews/images/videos from the game, skills competitions and after parties through the weekend. Make sure to check back regularly to stay updated. If you have a question for Bosh or DeRozan, ask them here, and we will do our best to get them answered. One love baby.

On a scale of one to Chris Brown, how upset/mad/depressed/pissed-off/violent were you feeling after the Charlotte game? Terrible. Just terrible. There was one positive that came out of it though: timing. We got that game out of our system before we rolled into Boston. Imagine if we posted a performance like that against the C**tics? What would we be talking about…179-65? I may have jumped ship if I had to endure a game like that.

The C**tics are -10.5 favourites in this game (over/under of 204), which means we need to buckle down and expect a Bobcats level whooping. Never thought I would utter that – Bobcats level whooping, fml.

Blogger’s Take

We checked in with Zach Lowe of CelticsHub.com, and asked him a few questions about his team:

Q. You guys had two close ones against the Knicks and Philly.  What did those teams do to keep the game close?

The Knicks hung in because the Celtics missed a ton of open shots and Al Harrington hit some threes that ranged from mildly difficult to ridiculously difficult. It happens. That game didn’t worry me–the Knicks have played the Celtics fairly tough since KG arrived.

As for the Sixers, the Celtics appeared to take them lightly with Brand, Williams and Speights all out (and the C’s basically admitted to taking them lightly after the game). They also had a difficult time adjusting to the Sixers small line-up; slow rotations for the first three quarters allowed Philly (and your old pal Jason Kapono) to go off from three.

Bottom line: The C’s just aren’t attacking teams with the fury they showed last year. And I think that’s a good thing. They are experimenting with line-ups and strategy instead of going for the kill in November games.

Q. Are the Big 3 showing any signs of slowing down?

Two of them are. Pierce remains as solid as ever. He’s shooting 51 percent from the floor and playing lock down defense, particularly down the stretch of close games. His D against Andre Iguodala on Wednesday was a sight to behold.

As for Allen and KG, their stats are down across the board. Ray is shooting 29 percent from three and his PER has actually dipped below 15 for the first time since his rookie year. KG’s jumper has been off (41 percent so far) and his mobility is not what it was in 2008.

The shooting doesn’t worry me. Both guys will come around. They are vets. The team remains optimistic about KG working himself back into prime health. The jury’s out.

Q. Would you trade Kendrick Perkins for Andrea Bargnani?

No, but the “no” isn’t as emphatic as it would have been last year. In general, I think this Celtics nucleus functions best with a center who focuses mostly on protecting the rim and working his ass off on screen/roll defense. That obviously doesn’t describe Bargs. That said, as the C’s core players age, it would be nice to have someone take
more of the scoring load off of the Big Three. That was the idea with Sheed. Fifteen games in, Sheed’s shooting has been a disaster.

At this point, Bargs has convinced me he’s a legit offensive player. But the C’s defense would tumble if you replaced Perk with Bargs. So: No.

Q. Why is Garnett such a douche-bag?

No comment, though I’m on record (to the chagrin of some readers) as saying KG’s sideline antics during the ’09 playoffs were (at times) embarrassing. But he’s like Jordan in a way (and that is NOT a basketball ability comparison, so settle down, MJ’s the best, etc.): He’s a maniacal competitor, for better or worse. It serves his team well when he’s on the floor but may not serve him well in, you know, normal social situations.

The Raptors need to rebound from the Charlotte game, and I don’t mean they have to win, because they wont. What they have to do is give a full 48 minute effort. Rebounding and defensive rotations are going to be crucial, because the Raptors play the type of game where struggling opponents get good looks and can shoot themselves out of a funk.

The Match-ups

The Point: Calderon/Jack had problems with Felton/Augustin on Wednesday, but Rondo poses a problem for everyone in the league. If Rondo is blowing by, or hitting half-assed contested jumpers, he is going to be trash talking our guys into crying. Me-thinks Rondo posts a triple-double tonight. IF Calderon is shooting the ball well and protecting the ball, and IF Jack attacks the paint and kicks out to an open shooter (or finds a forward rolling to the rim), the Raptors won’t fare too badly in this match-up, otherwise, it’s going to be bad.
The Edge: Boston

The Wings: The Raptors forwards surrendered 63pts and 18rebs against the Bobcats forwards on Wednesday. Jesus and The Truth (and a couple other guys) vs Turkoglu/DeRozan/Wright/Belinelli…not going to be good. I suspect Ray Allen will be getting some premium looks at the rim and shoot his way out of his early funk. Pierce will be Pierce, he has been a God-send for me in one of my fantasy leagues so far. This is going to be bad as well.
The Edge: Boston

The Forwards: This might be our best match-up considering how Bosh has bulked up and isn’t as easily bullied in the paint. Garnett has owned us the last couple of seasons, but Bosh will give him a surprise tonight, I believe. Bargnani has had a couple lackluster games in a row, but Perkins represents someone who he can abuse on the perimeter. I look forward to watching Amir (#FreeAmir) battle in the paint tonight, he is the kind of guy we need battling Garnett/Perkins in the paint on both ends of the floor.
The Edge: Even

Simulation

Visser’s sims are 12-4 this year and this time the crystal ball is predicting a 115-107 Raptor loss:

The Raptors fought back from a 28-point halftime deficit but fell short, losing to the Celtics 115-107 in Boston. Chris Bosh did everything possible to make it respectable, finishing with a season-high 39 points and grabbing 16 boards.

Aside from Bosh, Toronto got 17 from Hedo Turkoglu and 11 off the bench from Jarrett Jack. The Raptors were out-rebounded 44-35, with Amir Johnson the only player other than Bosh to grab at least five boards.

Paul Pierce led Boston with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting and Rajon Rondo had eight points, five boards and 12 assists. The Celtics had a big bench effort, with Eddie House (18), Marquis Daniels (12) and Sheldon Williams (11) all scoring in double digits.

I have to go with the SIM, the Raptors don’t match-up well, they aren’t playing with any sort of purpose, the game wont even be close. Hopefully we don’t wear ourselves out tonight and leave something in the tank for Sunday at home to the Suns. Happy Thanksgiving to the folks down south.

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