Raps Lose Fourth in Last Five - 106-96 76ers

For pretty much the first time this season, Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Bosh were dominant inside in the same game - and even with a nice game from Bargs off the bench the Raps couldn't overcome a balanced game from Philly. CB4 turned in 30 and 12 while JO had 19, 11 and 2 blocks, and Bargnani continued his string of strong games with 15, 5 and 2 blocks of his own. Philly was led by Elton Brand with 25, and they totalled five players with double digits in scoring, and seven players with at least 7 points. In all, the Sixers came out with more energy, confidence and hunger than the Raptors, and our record currently stands at: average. 4-4.

Raptors Post Up

Player of the Game:
Chris Bosh continued to play like a surefire All-Star, topping the 30-point barrier once again, adding 12 rebounds, 2 assists, one steal and one block while shooting 10-15 from the floor and 10-13 from the line. At least even in this rough stretch we know there's nothing wrong with Mr. Franchise.

Notables:
Jermaine O'Neal - 19 points (6-13 FG, 7-7 FT), 11 rebounds, 2 blocks. For the first time this season Jermaine turned in a second solid performance in as many games. It's great to see he's shooting well and has his confidence back - now we just need to put up the W.
Andrea Bargnani - 15 points (6-11 FG, 1-3 3FG, 2-2 FT), 5 rebounds, 2 blocks. Continued to be solid offensively off the bench. Perhaps Andrea is, in fact, better suited to being instant offense from the pine rather than the pressure of starting. No matter the reason, production from Andrea is something to be happy about.
Roko Ukic - 2 points (1-2 FG), 3 assists, one steal in under 4 minutes. If he had played 48 minutes, he would'e put up a triple double! But in seriousness, solid numbers in whatever action he can get is a good sign from Hot Cocoa Roko as he looks to regain the backup point guard title from Will Solomon, who was decent again last night with 9 points, 2 assists and 2 turnovers. For Roko's sake as well as Jose's, hopefully he can produce meaningfully in more significant minutes.

Full box score

Stat of the Game:
The Raptors, while doing a decent job on the glass (minus-3, 40-37), played Swiss Cheese Defense, allowing Philadelphia to shoot 53.7% from the floor (43-80) and 54.5% from three-point land (6-11). In their court, the Raps shot just 42.5% from the field (34-80) and a very uncharacteristic 23.8% on threes (5-21). It's simple, fellas: pick up the defense and hit your shots. Let's regroup for Miami.

Next game: Sunday, November 16, 1:00 PM vs. Miami Heat