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A game but under-gunned Sixer squad was just what the doctor ordered to stop the Raptors' bleeding at 5 games.
Raps sat out Philly native Kyle Lowry for the 2nd game and DeMar DeRozan snapped out of his recent funk with a season-high 35, 9 rebounds and a couple of steals. He was a perfect 10-10 from the line.
Lou Williams had 21, Patrick Patterson 15 and starting PG Vasquez had 12.
Nerlens Noel showed he's a diamond in the rough with 17 points and 7 boards. Ish Smith chipped in with 19.
Yeah, it was the Sixers, but it was good to see the team playing closer to the kind of ball they were playing earlier in the season - sharing the rock and being aggressive on D.
Next up, Sir LeBron and company. Early buzz is Lowry may not dress for that one either. If so, I expect it'll eat at him maybe more than missing playing in front of his home town people. But if he needs the time, now's the time to take it. We want all hands firing on all cylinders when crunch time comes.
Raps clawed their way out of a 19-point 3rd quarter hole to take a brief lead in the 4th but ultimately fell to a hot Cleveland squad.
Sir James led the Cavs with 29. Irving chipped in 26 and Love 22.
Valanciunas and Williams led the Raps with 26. Williams set a Raptors record by scoring 21 in the 4th.
LeBron got a little testy when Valanciunas delivered a hard foul - deemed a flagrant 1 - and pushed away JV's hand when he offered to help James up.
For the 3rd straight game, Toronto sat starting PG Lowry. It was an entertaining game and although the Cavs took the season series 3-1, I get the distinct impression they can be had.
Raps couldn't survive another early meltdown that saw them down 26 points in the first half. They clawed their way to within 6 but couldn't sustain the momentum.
Yet another game in which Toronto typified the girl with the curl. When they're good, they're very good. When they're bad, they're horrible. They were both.
Spurs were just good. They seem to be rounding into playoff form, despite sitting Ginobli who wasn't feeling well. Kawhi Leonard was a force, with 24 points and 11 boards. Tony Parker potted 23 and added 9 dimes while Danny Green shot the lights out from distance, going 5-6.
Amir Johnson had his best outing of the season with 14 points and 11 boards for the Raps. Kyle Lowry looked closer to his old self, scoring 32 and DD added 21.
Raps have 18 games left to try to find the consistency, focus, and attention to D they'll need if they're going to make any playing noise.
First game I listened to in a while, been busy with work, was out of town for the Knicks game, then fractured my wrist. Anyways they'll still win the division which guarantees themselves a top 4 seed. And as Paul Jones and Sherm said on the postgame show last night this years team really isn't a viable championship team contender anyways, and even if we get to the ECF and lose to the Hawks, that'll still be a good year. But Cle, Atl, and CHI (with a healthy rose) are the only serious threats out of the East anyways. Wiz are too up and down and will have a 5 seed.
It was a lucky Friday 13th for Toronto as it finally stopped a 16-game losing streak to the Heat. Kyle Lowry looked like his old self with 19 points, 8 boards, 8 assists and 5 steals. Everybody had a pretty solid game.
Tyler Hansbrough started in place of Jonas Valanciunas who was home celebrating the birth of his first child. Nice that the Raps managed to give the newbie a W.
Wade and Dragic led the Heat with 25 and 18, respectively.
It was a tough loss for the Heat who are struggling to hang on to the last playoff spot in the East. But it was a much-needed boost for the home side, fighting their own personal demons the past month.
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