Raptors Fly to Orlando

Wednesday night at 7:00 the Raptors fly in to Orlando to play the Magic.
For view: TSN 2 TSN 666, channelsurfing.net
For listen: The Fan 590

The Magic have a lot of things going for them this season. They sit atop the Southeast Division with a healthy 55-18 record, they are winners of their last 6 straight, and have not lost a home game in the month of March.

Well here's the bad news, Orlando, the month of March is over! You opened up February with a loss at home, prepare to crumble under the awesome power of the Raptors!

The Raptors have won 4 games in a row, their longest streak of the year, and effectively dropping the 'C' (for now) that preceded their name. They are coming off of a glorious overtime win over Los Bulls, due in large part to the play of Jose Calderon and Chris Bosh, coupled with the energy of Pops Mensah-Bonsu Possum's Phone Ban.

The Raptors will try to split the season series tonight. The Magic are currently up 2-1.

W2W4:
- Dwight Howard grabbed 18 rebounds on Monday night, making him the youngest player in NBA history to record 5,000 career rebounds. If he didn't do it Monday night, he will do it Wednesday night. Dwight Howard owns the Raptor key.
- On another Dwight related note, this season vs. the Raps Howard has averaged 29 points and 10 rebounds per contest. HOWEVER, Dwight Howard has not yet met Pops Mensah-Bonsu Possum's Phone Ban KryptoDwight.
- Ex-Raptor Rafer Alston is the newest member of the Magic. He will most likely try to get revenge on the Raps and try too hard, resulting in embarrassing himself.

Four Straight! - 134-129 Raptors, OT

In a game in which defence was non-existent, the Raptors' firepower - mostly consisting of Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon - was too much, overcoming the Bulls backcourt of Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose, who combined for 60 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. The Bulls made some scary runs and had two excellent chances to win the game in regulation, including a missed layup by Rose, but the Raptors took over in the extra frame to win their fourth straight game for the first time since December of 2007.

NBA.com recap

Player of the Game:
Jose keyed the Raptors' offense brilliantly. He tied a Raps franchise record with 19 assists, poured in an efficient 22 points on 8-11 field goals, 2-3 threes, and (surprise!) a perfect 4-4 from the line, and also contributed 3 steals. Jose was the consummate playmaker and led the Raptors to victory the only way he knows how.

Notables:
Chris Bosh - 31 points (10-21 FG, 0-1 3FG, 11-11 FT), 15 rebounds, 2 assists. CB was dominant down low, pounding the ball into the lane and drawing foul after foul. He also returned to the CB we know and love on the glass, picking up 4 offensive boards.

Andrea Bargnani - 28 points (10-20 FG, 3-6 3FG, 5-6 FT), 6 rebounds, 2 assists. Bargs seems to be taking lessons from Chris, as he's become more adept at getting to the line, where he converts an excellent 83% of his attempts. Il Mago's season numbers are up to 15.5 points and 5.5 rebounds a game.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu - 13 points (5-8 FG, 3-5 FT), 4 rebounds, 1 block. Matt Devlin calls him "Big Daddy," but Raptors fans should herald the arrival of "Possum's Phone Ban" - the Raps' energizer. He had two thunderous dunks that helped give the Raptors some crucial momentum - one off an offensive rebound and one after a block, running the floor and throwing it down as the trailer for an and-1. This man is here to stay.

Full box score

Stat of the Game:
Every Raptor recorded at least one rebound, helping the Raps outrebound the Bulls 42-32, including 13-9 on the offensive end.

One last note: It's great to be back, Raptors fans (whoever is left, that is...).

Raptors Host the Bulls

Today at the horrendously awkward time of 3:30, our beloved Raptors will play the Chicago Bulls.
For view: CBC and channelsurfing.net
For listen: Fan 590
The Bulls, or Los Bulls as they are referred to this season, sit second in the Central Division and seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 36-38 record. Los Bulls are going for their fifth straight win, however they are just 12-26 on the road, a far from impressive record.
The Raptors have won three games in a row (to the Clippers, the Bucks, and the Thunder. The streak sounds a lot more impressive if the teams aren't mentioned)! In doing so they have tied their longest streak of the year. Despite this sudden surge, the Raps still own a 27-45 record, second only to Washington for the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

What To Watch For
- Los Bulls present a balanced scoring game with speed and toughness. They can score from the inside with Tyrus Thomas, and the newly added Brad Miller (I refuse to recognize Joakim Noah as a skilled basketball player), or they can step out and threaten from beyond the three point line with Ben Gordon and John Salmons and penetrate with Derrick Rose. Any team that can bring both Gordon and Kirk Hinrich off the bench means business.
- On their current win streak, the Raptors are averaging 109.0 points while allowing just 92.7 points. For all of the non math people out there, that works to a differential of 16.3 points per game. Hopefully they will come out with a non-Raptoresque intensity level.
- Quincy Douby is now the latest addition to the Raptors! The D-League call up joins other Raptor D-Leaguers Nathan Jawai, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, and Patty O'Bryant. The Raptors are now 27% D-League, and just 9 of the original 15 Raps from the beginning of 2009 remain on the team. Who will be the next to go?

Raptors Win 3 In A Row!!!

Well Raptor fans, we did it!
What has been a brutal 35 day blogging strike has now come to an end thanks to the 112-96 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight. This was the Raptors third straight win after losing 10 of 11 games.

Today we here at PHH are proud of many things. Firstly we are proud of our Raptors for winning 3 games in a row (sigh, remember when we thought we were going to be playoff contenders this season?).
Secondly, we are proud of ourselves. It is now evident that our strike did, in fact, send a message to the Raptors. That, my friends, is specious reasoning at its finest.

Lastly, we are proud to announce the end of our grueling strike!

See you all for Sunday's pre-game!

I swear I'm a D-League All Star and In BC We Trust.