Raptors Win Another Thriller - 91-87 Raps

On the second night of a back-to-back, playing against a very energetic Bucks squad in their home opener, the Raptors actually led for much of the third and fourth. But the Bucks made their run, and it looked like our Raps were out of gas. After Anthony Parker missed a three that could have iced the game and put us up by four, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (remember him?) made a hook shot in the lane to regain the lead. In their zone, Jose got the ball back and calmly knocked down a tres with about 21 seconds left to put us up two. Michael Redd then missed a jumper that would have tied the game, Moon grabbed the board, was immediately fouled and made his freebies. Redd followed with a layup to bring the Bucks back to within reach, but the Raptors called a timeout and got the ball in to Calderon, whose two free throws were the dagger.

Read the Raptors' recap

Player of the Game:
No doubt last night, it was Jose. Dropped a career-high 25 points and dished out 9 assists. Shot 8-15 from the floor, 3-4 on threes and 6-6 from the line. He actually committed six turnovers (when was the last time that happened?) but that's certainly an anomaly, and we can chalk it up to fatigue.

Notables:
Chris Bosh - 20 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists on a night when he looked tired and was hounded all night by Bucks defenders. It's a credit to his improvement as a passer that on such a tough night he is still extremely effective, and his passing has opened up his own scoring - it makes it much tougher for other teams to double up on him when they know he can dish it to Jose, Parker or JK for a three.
Jamario Moon - 15 points, 2 rebounds. Missed some ill-advised shots, but he made them when it counted, scoring 5 points in the last two minutes of the game on a three and two free throws. It would be nice to see him a little more active on the boards.
Anthony Parker - 11 points, 4 steals, 3 assists. Solid as always, played great defence alternating between Richard Jefferson (who had 9 points) and Michael Redd (who had 19).
Jermaine O'Neal - unfortunately is in the "Notables" section largely for bad reasons. Actually had a pretty decent game stat-wise, posting 11 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, but fouled out with 5:24 left to play and had 4 turnovers. While he hasn't played badly despite his fouls, he needs to work on taking care of the ball (and granted, tonight everyone was off their game) and staying on the floor, as his defence has been sensational.

Full box score

Stat of the Game:
The Raptors again shot very well from behind the arc, going 50% (8-16) and from the line, going for 88.5% (23-26). It's important, especially on the road, to make open shots and free throws, and last night our boys did what they needed to do.

Next game: Wednesday, November 5th vs. Detroit Pistons