Bucks Come to ACC

Tonight's game features the Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks - 7:00 PM tipoff, available on TSN, Fan590 and www.channelsurfing.net. The Raps have won three straight for the first time since the beginning of the season and look to win four in a row for the first time since December of 2007! Meanwhile, after Michael Redd sh-Redd-ed his knee, the Bucks are struggling mightily to hold on to their playoff berth without their sweet-shooting star guard. They've lost both games since Redd has gone down.

NBA.com preview

W2W4:
- The Bucks have had to rely greatly on youngsters Joe Alexander, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Ramon Sessions with The Redd Baron's continued injury troubles. Mbah a Moute has been outperforming expectations this year, providing an athletic, defensive presence off the bench.
- Andrea Bargnani had his first "Old Bargs" game in recent memory against the Nets. He struggled mightily against a fairly weak Nets frontcourt, finishing with just 8 points and 1 rebound. It was the first time in 16 games that Bargnani had finished with fewer than 15 points. He will certainly look to prove that Wednesday was the exception - not the hot streak.
- For the fourth time in Chris Bosh's six NBA seasons, he has been named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Bosh is averaging a career-high in points with 23.2 per game, and adding 9.7 rebound, 2.5 assists and 0.9 blocks while shooting 49.8% from the field and 80.3% from the line. As always, remarkably consistent and outstanding numbers from the franchise, CB4.

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

Game Three - Raptors at Milwaukee

Tonight the Raptors fly in to play the second of their back to back games. The game is at 8:30, available for view on TSN and for listen on the Fan590.
Hey, the Raptors are unbeaten! Watch them try to begin the season 3-0!

What to watch for:
- Richard Jefferson in a Bucks jersey. He has not been effective with the Bucks yet, however, maybe if his team were to actually get him the ball, he could produce a lot more this season.
- Andrea was brilliant off of the bench last night, providing 19 big points (and no, not all of them were jump shots). Hopefully he will be able to dominate against Andrew Bogut tonight.
- Chris Bosh is doing what he does best, dominating every aspect of the game. He is red hot and is a pleasure to watch. His numbers only seem to be better with the addition of Jermaine, and his move to power forward.
- Even with the addition of JO the Raptors have been out-rebounded in their first two games. Is it time to make an adjustment, or should Sam wait until we lose?
- Fatigue may be a factor today for the Raptors, especially with the back-to-back, as they needed to go to overtime last night, resulting in every starter and Bargnani playing 31 minutes or more, with Calderon, Bosh and Parker all playing over 40.