<div align="center"> <font face=""Tahoma""><font size=""4"">Toronto Raptors</font></font> (38-31) @ <font face=""Tahoma""><font size=""4"">Boston Celtics</font></font> (20-49) Venue: TD Banknorth Garden Date: Monday March 26th, 2007 Time: 7:30 PM EST Coverage: Rogers Sportnet </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Toronto Raptors are in position to win their first division title and end a playoff drought partly because of their success against Atlantic Division rivals. They'll try to continue that strong play within the division when they visit the Boston Celtics on Monday in their fourth and final meeting. Toronto (38-31) leads the second-place New Jersey Nets by 6 1/2 games in the Atlantic while last-place Boston (20-49) is 18 games back. The Raptors are 9-3 against divisional foes this season as they try to sweep the Celtics for the first time. The Raptors haven't won a division crown in their 12-year history and are looking for their first playoff berth since 2001-02. They have won six of their last eight games, including a 121-94 win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday. </div> <div align="center">Link <font face=""Verdana""><font size=""3"">Projected Starters</font></font> TJ Ford - Morris Peterson - Jorge Garbajosa - Chris Bosh - Rasho Nesterovic <font face=""Verdana""><font size=""3"">Reserves</font></font> Jose Calderon - Darrick Martin - Juan Dixon - Joey Graham - Uros Slokar - Pape Sow - Kris Humphries <font face=""Verdana""><font size=""3"">Coach</font></font> Sam Mitchell <font face=""Verdana""><font size=""3"">Injuries</font></font> Anthony Parker (sprained right ankle); Andrea Bargnani (appendectomy) <font face=""Verdana""><font size=""3"">Projected Starters</font></font> Rajon Rondo - Delonte West - Paul Pierce - Al Jefferson - Kendrick Perkins <font face=""Verdana""><font size=""3"">Reserves</font></font> Sebastian Telfair - Allan Ray - Gerald Green - Ryan Gomes - Brian Scalabrine - Leon Powe - Michael Olowokandi <font face=""Verdana""><font size=""3"">Coach</font></font> Doc Rivers <font face=""Verdana""><font size=""3"">Injuries</font></font> Wally Szczerbiak (ankle surgery); Tony Allen (torn knee ligaments); Theo Ratliff (back surgery) <div align="center"> <font face=""Tahoma""><font size=""4""> Prediction</font></font> Raptors win 102-89.</div> <font size=""4""><font face=""Tahoma"">Something to look at while you wait for the game</font></font> </div>
Propz Chutney, great game thread. I think we got this game for sure. But to win, we gotta keep Al Jefferson contained. He is a hustle player and can be a monster at times.
Luke Jackson is going to make Kobe Bryant's recent scoring streak look like childsplay. I spent probably a good 20 minutes looking at the preview. I'm sure you guys know what part exactly I'm referring to. And no, it's not her face.
You guys are going to have to try really hard to lose this game. Articles in Boston papers seem to indicate that Pierce may be calling it a season, and we officially tanked our first game (Pierce, Jefferson and West were on the bench for the entire 4th quarter while our 16 point lead turned into a 10 point loss) against the Bobcats.
Man, this is stupid. We dump the ball into Bosh and form a ring around the 3 pt. line. I'm surprised the Celtics aren't quadruple teaming him.
Raptors are playing like crap right now. We can't seem to muster up anything on offense, we're just lucky the Celtics aren't killing us by now. We're down 9 with 7:30 left in the 3rd. On a funnier note, I know it seems kind of immature but did anybody hear Chuck when he was talking about Dick Bavetta and the call he made to make up for the weak call on Pierce? He was like... "Man you gotta love him. I love Dick!"
Great... Jorge just went down with a leg injury after trying to block a dunk. First losing Bargnani, now Jorge. He's being taken off on a stretcher so its pretty serious. The Raptors are going to have to go deep into their bench for the next couple of games. I won't be surprised if Humphries gets a lot more minutes and maybe even Sow with some minutes.
Anyone see Bill Russell out there tonight for the Celtics? Wait .. that was just Al Jefferson with Chris Bosh playing all-star defense. My mistake.
My gosh man, must TJ make every single shot down the final stretch. Pass the ball, what a greedy player. Geez..
<div class="quote_poster">hollagr8 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">My gosh man, must TJ make every single shot down the final stretch. Pass the ball, what a greedy player. Geez..</div> THATS WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING FOREVER! Garbo is done for the year for sure....man we are having some bad luck.
Wow, he shoots so many times till the raptors around him don't think he's going to pass and when he does it throws everybody off. He's a good one on one player, but a terrible team player. What the heck was he thinking during the entire game. It's ridiculous. They always talk about moving the ball, moving the ball. That was not moving the ball in the final 4 minutes. Geez. TJ is such a ball hog. Best of luck to the recovery of Garbo. I really hope nothing is broken or his ankle. Injuries like that take at least 3 months to heal.
Dude, this game was lost because Bosh was completely outplayed by Al Jefferson. End of story. Man, the second of this season has been so depressing.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Dude, this game was lost because Bosh was completely outplayed by Al Jefferson. End of story. Man, the second of this season has been so depressing.</div> Actually, I don't care if we lost this game, it was how we lost. How can we have a point guard that takes every shot at the end of the game when the makeup of this team is about passing the ball. That was not passing the ball. Geez, even when we win games and TJ does it for us, it's still not how this team is made up of. TJ must make passes, not throw out the ball when he's double teamed and hope people are there. I don't care how many points he scored in the final 4 minutes, all those ridiculous plays that he made when he draws the foul and the ball goes in. He really has to watch that movie called Hoosiers, cuz he really is NOT a team player. He wants to be a hero all the time. Not good TJ, not good. I know this part belongs to the another thread but it really irks me man. If we didn't have Calderon we would be 10 games below 500, with TJ running this kind of point.
See this where the word "scapegoat" immediately comes to mind. What were you watching for the first 3 quarters of the game? Did you not notice that Bosh got an iso on almost every play (that implies someone passed it to him) and couldn't do shnitzel against Al Jefferson? He was just throwing up bricks. And, if you actually want to go a little deeper (try to follow me here), did you not notice how everyone just sat around the 3 pt. line waiting for Bosh to do something, when it was clear he was struggling? Or wait, how about our defensive effort, the fact that we were outrebounded (45 to 35), or our terrible shooting percentage (39 % from the floor) You say you're annoyed by how we lost. I don't think you understand how we lost.
Did i sense an "OVER-CONFIDENCE" from this raps tonite? Perhaps after demolishing the nuggets, raps felt they could win against any team in the NBA without bringing the energy. TERRIBLE. Felt bad for Jorge, hopefully the injury isnt as bad as it looked..... but mehh, big blow for the raps... Well, bosh better step up now, afterall he's making $20 million a year. We gonna need everyone to step now, otherwise forget about getting the #3 seed in the conference. As for TJ Ford, i got nothing to say. I hope BC is watching closely. For those ppl critizing Sam's system, can u honestly say now after watching this game that TJ Ford will excell in a better system?? Dude played terribly for 3 quarters, then wants to bring the team back in the 4th... come on now TJ.... basketball aint meant to be played that way.... Jose is not healthy enuff yet, otherwise Sam would have gone with him more in this game. I say, trade TJ Ford in the off season, SIGN Jose to a multi year extension, and get a decent backup. END OF STORY.
