Howard Gets Better Of Bosh Again
The mood in the Toronto Raptor fan base was like a bunch of angry citizens that wanted change. To calm the restless natives it was key the Raptors got off to a better start then in game 1. But not just a start these people want a win and are in desperate need of it. To deliver that win that the fans were craving the Raptors would have to play defence at a level they had not done in quite some time. Chris Bosh would also need to answer the challenge that had been laid down by his friend Dwight Howard in Game 1. If you want to have the nickname Superman you better get the job done when it matter most. Howard did just that in game number 1 with a monster double double of 25 points and 21 rebounds.
Well so much for the fast start fans wanted Magic had a 12-2 run and a 14-4 lead thanks in part to Raptor turnovers. T.J Ford was off to a rocky start and Raptor fans were restless early. Raps were struggling and making uncharacteristic turnovers. Orlando truly looked dominate and Raptors were struggling to get any kind of offence what so ever. Jameer Nelson was taking Calderon off the dribble with ease and Ford had been awful. The best point guard in this series to this point was Jameer Nelson by a mile. Magic were up huge again shooting 54% in the quarter and they had a 35-18 lead. Raps meanwhile were shooting 33% not good at all.
Raps would start second a little better but already in a huge whole again. Jose Calderon would pick up his 3rd foul and be forced to leave. T.J would return and was playing better which honestly wasn’t hard. But Jason Kapono was keeping Raps in this game. From there it was Ford and CB4 getting Raptors moving the right direction. Stan Van Gundy would call a couple time outs to try to stop the Raps run. They had a 10-3 run going and were closing fast. A Kapono 3 pointer and amazingly the Raps were back to with in just 4. Hedo Turkoglu had a flagrant one foul on Chris Bosh and Raps were with in 3. There was an initial thought Hedo had been tossed but it was not the case. Chris Bosh was given all he had with 2 fouls against him he took a chance and drew a charge. Chris Bosh hit a 3 pointer as well he was on fire and Raps had drawn even on a Delfino lay up. But this quarter was all about Bosh. Raps were down just 2 at the half after a truly inspiring second quarter rally lead by CB4. The Raptors were really in danger of being totally koed in this series for good. But that quarter may have saved the Raptors and a few jobs.
Could Raps carry over the Momentum. Good start for Bargnani as he hit first two shots and raps had first lead of the series.Raps lead would be short lived as the Magic pushed back and capped off by a Howard power put back jam causing Sam Mitchell to burn a time out. The Magic would continue the run extending there lead to nine on a Jameer Nelson 3 point shot. But seconds later he picked up his 4th foul sending him to the bench. Magic would be looking to hold that lead while he was out as he has been huge for Magic so far in this series. Dwight Howard was picking up the slack for his Magic. But Howard picked up a tech for talking smack after a Howard dunk. To the displeasure of the Magic crowd. Raptors battled back to with in 5. Despite CB4 being a non factor with just 4 points in the quarter after having a monster first half.
4th started on a sour note for Toronto with back to back turnovers on their first 2 possessions of the quarter. Magic made them pay both times scoring. But the Raptors would rally behind Jose Calderon and the would get this game close with clutch shots from Calderon and company. But the game would come down to 4 plays down the stretch. The first was Ironically a basket made by Hedo Turkoglu. That basket gave the Magic a one point lead. Chris Bosh would then have a chance to take the lead but Howard would block the shot or did he foul Bosh. Referees said it was a clean block and Magic had the ball. An offensive foul on the inbound play with 9.6 seconds left would give the Raptors on last chance to win it. The ball again in Bosh’s hands he would get an open look at a jumper but would miss and The Raptors lose 104-103 going down 2-0 in the series as they head home to Toronto for Game 3. Again the bad start could be pointed to for Toronto as reason they lost. But they did an incredible job to get back in this game and had a chance to win it. They came just one play away from a victory. Howard had 20/20 night again with 29 point and 20 rebounds. Bosh had 29 and 10 for Toronto. Kapono Calderon and Delfino were all great off the bench the 3 combined for 54 points off the bench. After leading the team in scoring in game 1 Anthony Parker at 0 points in game to. The starts beyond Bosh struggled. Sam Mitchell promised changes for game 3 and the way Ford and Bargnani played they are the likely candidates to change. Rasho may get moved to bench as well as Raptors seemed to elect to play small and Rasho was not used hardly at all on this night.
Tags: Carlos Delfino, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, Jason Kapono, Jose Calderon, Magic vs Raptors, NBA PLAYOFFS, T.J Ford
April 23, 2008 at 1:25 am |
F@#k recapping the game, it came down to what we could create in the clutch coming out of a timeout and the best we could do is give it to an exhausted PF at the 3-pt line. Mitchell is a disgrace. I think we’ll win games 3 and 4, I think we’ve shown that we’re capable of beating the Magic as long as Mitchell doesn’t f@$k up any starting lineups. The home crowd will definitely be a big boost.
April 23, 2008 at 1:35 am |
But I have a logo for my game recaps and everything. I always do the recap leave the break down for next day when cooler heads kick in. I sense your frustration I feel it too. Not sure if you saw Bosh’s post game comments but I think the idea of that play was for him to drive it rather then shot but based on the non call at 30 sec mark he did not trust refs to give him the call. So you can blame Sam if you like but in this case I think the blame gets shared with CB4. I just bleeped your swearing cause I am not a fan of it here. But I think it is clear what your saying just don’t want to be accused of corrupting the youth of the world.
April 24, 2008 at 12:51 am |
Bargnani was horrendous on defense in the 1st Quarter … and was the check who gave up Hedo’s 94′ layup run that got Bosh so upset.
What AB gives up on Defense & in terms of Rebounding just is not off-set by what he brings to the table on Offense.
Bosh, Humphries & Rasho SHOULD be the 3-man BIG rotation vs Orlando.