Craptors Drop 4 Straight: 100-98 Wizards

Not only did Raptor fans have to witness Caron Butler breaking Shawn Marion's ankles and then follow that up with the winning shot, they didn't even get a free slice of pizza!

So, rather than depress you by telling you the tao of how the Craps lost to the second worst team in the league, I will instead show you pictures of mirror images found in nature.

Second Last Home Game of the Season

Tonight we have... I can't even say it, the matchup is so bad. The Washington Wizards come to town for an 8 PM tip-off. Why the late start? Probably because no one wants to watch this game anyway. It's the second last home game of this horrid season, and you can watch (if you are some sort of masochist) on TSN 2 (take that! You probably can't watch it anyway!) or on channelsurfing.net, or listen on the Fan590. This game is also available on ESPN2. Something tells me this isn't what the ESPN bigwigs had in mind when they scheduled this game on national TV. More along the lines of: "Dominating froncourts of Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Bosh matched up with Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison! Plus a great guard matchup of pass-first Jose Calderon against shoot-first, -second and -third Gilbert Arenas!" Sigh... and now for a very special What to Watch Instead...

NBA.com preview

W2WI:
- Paint drying.
- Sea Monkeys.
- Grass growing.
- Something that will make you feel good about yourself.

"The Magician" Outpowers Wizards - 99-93

Andrea Bargnani turned in his fifth straight impressive offensive showing with 25 points on near-perfect 8-9 from the field including 4-5 from three and 5-5 from the line. Chris Bosh and Anthony Parker were also very effective. The Wizards were led by former (for a few seconds) Raptor Antawn Jamison who finished with 32 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals despite fouling out after playing 37 minutes. The Raptors improved to 15-21, despite finishing the game with an Ostertagean total of 20 turnovers.

NBA.com recap

Player of the Game:
Bargs was more than solid again last night, shooting a remarkable percentage in his 25-point effort while adding 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Overall a very nice night from Bargnani, playing through trade rumours that have him heading to Dallas.

Notables:
Chris Bosh - 18 points (5-16 FG, 0-2 3FG, 8-9 FT), 8 rebounds, 6 assists. Bosh had another off-shooting night but was masterful in distributing the rock, something he's done often this season. It's very nice to see him affect the game postively even when he can't score at will.
Anthony Parker - 15 points (6-9 FG, 2-3 3FG, 1-2 FT), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks. Parker has been crashing the boards recently and it's turning up huge results. Besides his scoring which is also way up, AP is averaging over 5 boards in his last four games.
Will Solomon - 14 points (7-11 FG, 0-1 3FG), 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 turnovers. Will's been playing nicely as Jose Calderon's (hamstring) fill-in starter. He's put up solid numbers, and despite 5 fouls (refs in Europe are much more lenient on guard physicality) he has kept the ball in control, which is all one can ask from him.

Full box score

Stat of the Game:
The Raptors didn't really play that well. Of course, we know a W's a W, but the only thing that really saved them was shooting. The Raps owned a +7 advantage at the free throw line (17-20 for 85% compared to 10-18 for 55.6%) and shot an impressive 54.4% (37-68) from the field compared to Washington's 46.4% (39-84). Toronto's hot shooting helped overshadow a brutal twenty turnovers (Washington had 12), and Jamison's abysmal 3-8 shooting from the line certainly helped matters as well.

Next Game: Friday, January 7th, 7:00 PM vs. Memphis Grizzles

Raptors Getting Lobbed a Softball

Tonight at 7, the Raptors will visit DC to play the 7-21 Wizards. The game is on TSN 2 (BOOOOOO), but us regular folk can catch it on channelsurfing.net or the Fan 590. The Raptors simply need to take advantage of the games where they play weaker opponents, something they have been unable to do thus far.

W2W4:
- Jose Calderon, Jermaine O'Neal, and Jamario Moon will all miss tonight's game. Jamario flew back to Alabama to be with his wife, she is due to give birth.
- Hassan Adams is a Raptor no more. He was dealt today for a future second round pick. You will be missed Hassan.
- Andrea Bargnani is averaging 21.0 points since entering the starting lineup. We will need productivity like that tonight.
- Could-be Raptor Antawn Jamison is averaging 21.7 points and 9 boards per contest against the Raps. Expect the same tonight, as he and Caron Butler carry the offense for the stumbling Wizards.