In their best defensive effort of the season (perhaps the victory in Indiana was better), the Toronto Raptors put the clamps on the Dallas Mavericks for a 95-74 victory. A day after Andrea Bargnani said the Raptors were “the worst team in the NBA,” Toronto came out looking like an inspired group. Perhaps that was a result of Bargnani’s comments, or perhaps it was a result of Bargnani’s absence from the lineup…
Here are some thoughts on the game:
The Raptors will look to end a six-game losing streak when they host Vince Carter and a Mavericks team that has been hanging tough without Dirk Nowitzki.
What a frustrating ball game to have watched if you’re a Raptors fan. A piss poor effort out of the gates basically handed the Mavericks a double digit lead, and though the effort level definitely picked up as the game went along, the Raptors were stuck between a deficit of nine to 13 points for the majority of the second half, prompting Jack Armstrong to utter the phrase of the night: “either make it exciting or put me out of my misery.”
Here are some thoughts on the incredibly frustrating game:
Start time: 8:30 PM ET
Channel: TSN
Probable starting lineups
Toronto: Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, Landry Fields, Andrea Bargnani, Jonas Valanciunas
Dallas: Darren Collison, O.J. Mayo, Jae Crowder, Brandan Wright, Chris Kaman
Injury report
Toronto: Kyle Lowry suffered a right ankle sprain last night and will sit out tonight’s game.
Dallas: Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion are out tonight, Roddy Beaubois is questionable. UPDATE: Elton Brand is also out because his wife is giving birth. (Hat tip: @mikeclothier)
Random thoughts
On Wednesday, we heard Bryan Colangelo say that Jose Calderon wasn’t thrilled about the Raptors’ acquisition of Kyle Lowry. Tonight, ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting that Calderon’s representatives have told the Raptors “that Calderon welcomes their attempts to trade him.”
