Raps Come Out On Wrong End of Barn Burner: 129 - 127 Nets

It took almost two overtimes to reach a conclusion to what can only be described as a battle. The Raptors looked like they had the game clinched, up 18 halfway through the third quarter. However, a magnificent performance by (I hate to say) Vince Carter, including the game tying three pointer and the game winning bucket, gave the Nets the win. Vince finished with 39 points and the Raptors are back to a .500 team at 6-6. Perhaps the most terrifying part of the game: Jermaine O'Neal left the game after Sean Williams' flagrant foul. He will go in for tests, his current status is a strained right knee.
NBA.com Recap

Player of the game:
Chris Bosh - 42 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists in 44 minutes. How could anyone ever criticize this man? Down the stretch, Chris hit big bucket after big bucket, including the game tying three pointer with 2 seconds left in overtime. Chris also tied his career high in points with 42. It is truly a shame that the Raptors couldn't pull out a win.

Notables:
Jose Calderon - 26 points, 15 assists, 5 rebounds in 44 minutes. A red hot 8-11 from the field and 4-5 from three point range, Jose's back! However, Jose did commit an uncharacteristic 5 turnovers. No one is flawless, but this guy is pretty close.
Andrea Bargnani - 29 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists in 49 minutes. Andrea played the most of any Raptor tonight. He set a new career high in points and played like an elite.
Full box score

Stat of the game:
Say what you want about our production numbers: yes, it is quite spectacular that Bosh, Bargnani, and Jose combined for 92 points; or that we got robbed by Vince tonight. However, our bench combined for 15 points. This results in heavy minutes for starters and the starters being relied upon for the scoring duty. In knowing this fact, it is no surprise that Andrea's three-balls in overtime were hitting the front rim: he played 49 minutes and took 25 shots! In contrast, the Nets bench went off for a respectable 31 points. It's a simple message: the Raptors need bench players to produce in order to take some of the scoring pressure off of the starters.