vs Toronto Raptors (25-27) vs San Antonio Spurs (35-18) Wednesday February 18, 2004 7:00 pm EST Venue: Air Canada Centre Probable Starting Lineups PG: Alvin Williams (TOR)/Tony Parker (SAS) SG: Vince Carter (TOR)/Manu Ginobili (SAS) SF: Morris Peterson (TOR)/Bruce Bowen (SAS) PF: Donyell Marshall (TOR)/Tim Duncan (SAS) C: Chris Bosh (TOR)/Rasho Nesterovic (SAS) <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">San Antonio (35-18) at Toronto (25-27) 7:00 pm EST TORONTO (Ticker) -- The San Antonio Spurs try to remain unbeaten on their season-high seven-game road trip on Wednesday when they face the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre. The Spurs have won the first four games of their 20-day trek and entered the All-Star break with an overall five-game winning streak. They won a season-high 13 straight games from December 5-28. ----------------- San Antonio is 17-11 on the road and is three games behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for the lead in the Midwest Division. ---------------- The Spurs have won have won their last four meetings with the Raptors, including a 73-70 home victory on December 17. Toronto has not defeated San Antonio since January 17, 2001. </div> Click here for the complete NBA.com Preview Keys to the Game From a Raptors perspective <ul> [*]Contain Tim Duncan: Any NBA fan knows what this guy can do, the Raptors need to do anything they can to prevent Tim Duncan from having a huge game. Last game against the Raptors (Dec. 17th) Tim Duncan had 30 points and 13 rebounds. [*]Smart Moves: The Raptors need to make smart decisions on offense, the Spurs have an excellent defense that holds their opponents to only 83ppg, and the Raptors average a dismal 85ppg on offense. This will be an extremely tough game if the Raptors continue to force jump shots. [*]Defensive Intensity: The Raptors are a good defensive team, while the Spurs aren't a great offensive team, its important that the Raptors play well on defense to limit San Antonio's chances on the offensive end, especially in transition. [/list] <font color="red">thefranchise3's Prediction:</font>Yesturday the Raptors played a dissapointing game losing to the Bulls, and only shooting 30%. They are 3-6 in the second game of back-to-backs, and the opponent can't get much tougher than the San Antonio Spurs. Spurs by 10.
I know ... Those muther<font color="red">EDIT</font> are ruining our chances !! .. Seriously, it's something Stern and his group has to improve before they think of expanding to Euorop and those things... It has hurt many many teams !! .. <font color="red">You know better, please refrain from profanity when posting -thefranchise3 </font>
The NBA has the worst officiating out of any major sport, it's pathetic, and what's even worse is the NBA isn't even doing anything about it.
Vince just injured his ankle when he came down from a jump shot and landed on Bruce Bowen's foot. I really hope he's okay, I want to see him play when the Raptors make the trip to Miami in the first week of March. Losing Chris Bosh and Vince in the same game... that hurts. Raptors are up 71-63 with 7:30 left in the 4th, can they keep it together without Vince and Bosh?
V_Carter15 u couldn't say it better....... K now GG has to step it up and get what the raptors need...
for all the people who have doubted Vince as a frail athlete...i guess this is a perfect example showing his weakness....twisting an ankle on a regular jumpshot
Tough lost! I thought we had this one.... We were leading.... but then just lost it! Raps loose by 4. I wouldnt say we lost because VC and Bosh were out, because we were doing ok (not great) but ok after VC got injured, I kind off saw this lose, because Raps always do the same think, we play great in 1,2, and 3rd period, but in the 4th, we just end up short... and sometimes, we do horrible in 1st half and in 2nd half, we play great! i dunno why, Raps cant let this happen anymore! its causeing them games!
Did any of you notice Chris Bosh getting pissed off at Carter? When bosh went to the bench after he hurt his ankle, Carter threw a towel on his head and bosh wipped it right back at him!! He then gave Carter a pissed off look. What the heck was that all about??
Tough lost! I thought we had this one.... We were leading.... but then just lost it! Raps loose by 4. I wouldn?t say we lost because VC and Bosh were out, because we were doing ok (not great) but ok after VC got injured, I kind of saw this lose coming, because Raps always do the same thing, we play great in 1, 2, and 3rd period, but in the 4th, we just end up short... and sometimes, we do horrible in 1st half and in 2nd half, we play great! I dunno why, Raps can?t let this happen anymore! It?s causing them games! I've seen this happen too many times! Let?s just hope the Raps pull it together, and hopefully when everyone?s healthy again, we'll pass the .500 mark! (LOL)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting v_carter15:</div><div class="quote_post">for all the people who have doubted Vince as a frail athlete...i guess this is a perfect example showing his weakness....twisting an ankle on a regular jumpshot </div> In his defense, I wouldn't call landing on someone else's foot, then rolling his ankle his fault. If the injury involves an action of another player you can't blame the person getting injured (in this case, Vince). The Raptors are in trouble if Vince and Bosh are out for any lengthy period of time. They've got a tough schedule coming up: At home against New Jersey and Sacramento, then an away game against New Jersey. Without Vince or Bosh I would never expect them to win those games.
Damn, the raptors just cant get a break on the injury side of things. Plus the teams they're going to face aren't going to give them an easy ride so I can expect a loosing streak from here on.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting v_carter15:</div><div class="quote_post">for all the people who have doubted Vince as a frail athlete...i guess this is a perfect example showing his weakness....twisting an ankle on a regular jumpshot </div> did you even see the play? it happens to lots of players. i has nothing to do with being a frail athlete...its a dangerous play that can happen to anyone. tough loss...not so much because we lost to the spurs...you kinda count these games as losses anyways...tough because we lost bosh and vince in the same game. now we gotta play jersey twice and sactown in our next 3, probably without bosh, vince and jalen. that hurts pretty bummed right now
