Toronto @ L.A. Clippers

[alcstarheel]

Toronto @ L.A. Clippers
Time: 10:30 PM ET
TV: --

[Check my Stats]

With Eric Gordon out this has to be a W. Even if Kaman plays we have to win this game going into Phoenix, Denver and Utah.

[Cobb]

If only Blake Griffin wasn't injured. He and Bosh would be fun to watch.

[Doc]

Please don;t pull another Memphis game.

[Check my Stats]

I don't think the Clippers have the offensive firepower that the Grizzlies do. Also if Bosh drops 25+ he will tie Vince Carter's record of 8 straight games of 25 points, I would love to see him take a record like that away from Vince.

[headliner]

It's becoming more painful to watch the raptors play on the road.

[BasX]

Belinelli!

[Sun Tzu]

I'm surprised the Clippers blew it even though they had a huge lead at half time.

[Built Ford Tough]

I missed the first quarter and the first couple of minutes of the 2nd quarter as I was watching the end of the Maple Leaf games so keep that in mind when reading my post game thoughts. Anyways, here we go.

 

- Marco Belinelli was great tonight. From what I gather, he was pretty much the difference maker for Toronto tonight. He really sparked them in the 2nd quarter and he played an integral role in cutting that 20-something point lead to 9 at the half. I absolutely love his fearlessness on the court. He is aggressive on offense and is always looking to create something. He is a lot better at creating off of the bounce than I thought he was. I knew that he was adequate at creating off of the bounce but he is a lot craftier than I anticipated him to be. I knew about his great jumper and he showed that tonight going 5/8 from deep. Just a great performance from Belinelli tonight and he was definitely the X-Factor. Hopefully this performance earns him some more minutes heading forward.

 

- Chris Bosh was a monster on the glass tonight again. Offensively he wasn't in the same rythym that he has been all season long, although he did have a stretch in the 2nd and 3rd quarters where he put the Raptors on his back, but that didn't take away from his efforts defensively and especially on the glass. He was getting all of the tough rebounds and really came away with some key defensive rebounds down the stretch. In the Spurs game the Raptors would get stops but didn't finish the possession by getting the rebound and it killed them, tonight, Bosh made sure that wouldn't happen. I also liked his willingness to be a sponge on offense. He did a pretty good job of getting the defensive attention focused on him and getting his teammates good looks as a result. He had a good all around game of 21/14/6.

 

- Jose Calderon might have just played his best game of the season. He was mixing up his offense very well and keeping the Clippers defense on their heels. I liked that he was playing aggressively, but still managed to stay in control. Sometimes when Jose is trying to be more aggressive he tends to get out of control. His jumper is the key to his offense though. When it is falling it opens everything up for him. The Clippers had to respect his jumper tonight so it opened up the drive and he made good use of it. Good game from Jose tonight.

 

- Hedo had a very gutsy effort. You could just tell that he was not even close to 100% as it looked like just getting up and down the court was a struggle for him so major props go out to him tonight. I really love his playmaking from the wing position. Him and Bosh are beginning to develop some really great chemistry and that is going to be very dangerous heading forward.

 

- I already mentioned Belinelli but I also really liked what Amir Johnson did off of the bench. He seems to have a great understanding of his role now and aside from forcing a couple things offensively he played within himself. He isn't the biggest guy but he always battles down low. Good game from him tonight finishing with 7/7.

 

- Andrea Bargnani's rebounding is just attrocious though. I know that he is a bad rebounder, but it is just pathetic when your starting center gets his first rebound of the game with a minute left in the 3rd quarter and even worse when he only finishes with 2 all game. He woke up in the 2nd half though and his offense gave the Raptors a much needed boost. I would like to see him start putting together some consistency though. He always seems to have a mediocore 1st half and a strong 2nd half, or vice-versa. When the Raptors get a strong 48 minutes from Bargs they are a dangerous team.

 

- Chris Kaman played really well. I knew that Kaman was a good player as I used to actually follow the Clippers before they turned into this dysfunctial mess of a team, but I didn't realize how good he actually is. His offensive game is a lot more refined then I remembered. He did a very good job of establishing position and use his bigger frame to get what he wanted offensively. He seems to have really improved his jumper and those turnarounds from the post were really nice. I think think that he could be a darkhorse for the All-Star game this season with Yao injured, Shaq in the East and Al Jefferson playing like he isn't fully recovered from the ACL (?) injury. I really liked his game today. He would be a very good complimentary player on a contending team.

 

- Baron Davis must be infuriating to watch as a Clipper fan. From the way that the commentators were talking it seemed like he was just having his way with Calderon in the first quarter, but he just seemed to lose interest at the snap of a finger. One minute he looks like the Baron Davis, top point guard in the league, and the next he looks like Baron Davis, the most overpaid player in the league. If he gets motivated this team would be so much better.

 

- Raptors defense came through late in the game again. They went on something like a 23-2 run over the last 6 or 7 minutes and that really sealed the game. The Clippers only managed to score 15 points in the 4th quarter and 35 in the 2nd half compared to 54 in the 1st half. Its pretty simple really, when the Raptors play with intensity defensively and on the glass they are a dangerous team. When they play uninspired defense they are an average team. I have been impressed with their defense late in the last 2 games. The next step is to be able to play inspired defense for a full 48 minutes so that they aren't forced to erase these large deficits every night.

 

Well, that is enough rambling on my part. It was an ugly win, but I will take it. This was a must-win game for the Raptors and now I would be fine with them dropping the next 3 games and finishing this trip and 5-7.