<div align="center">@ <font color="navy">The Washington Wizards (26-18)</font> @<font color="purple">The Toronto Raptors (19-27)</font> Time: 7:00 PM Eastern Place: Air Canada Center TV: Local</div> <div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="navy">Wizards Head Coach</font></font> <font color="navy">Eddie Jordan</font></div> <div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="navy"> Wizards Projected Starting Lineup</font></div></font> <div align="center"> <font color="navy">(Gilbert Arenas, Jarvis Hayes, Jared Jeffries, Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood) </font></div> <div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="purple">Raptor's Head Coach</font></font> <font color="purple">Sam Mitchell</font></div> <div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="purple">Raptor's Projected Starting Lineup</font></font> <font color="purple">(Rafer Alston, Mo Peterson, Eric Williams, Chris Bosh, Rafael Araujo) </font> </div> <div align="center"><font size="5">Bench Factors</font> (<font color="navy">Juann Dixon</font>,<font color="purple">Donyell Marshall</font>) </div> <div align="center"><font size="5">Key Matchup</font> (<font color="navy">Gilbert Arenas</font>, <font color="purple">Rafer Alston</font>)[/i] <font color="navy">Gilbert Arenas:</font> 24.2 ppg, 5.1 apg, and 4.2 rpg <font color="purple">Rafer Alston:</font>14.0 ppg, 7.0 apg, and 3.1 rpg</div> <font size="5">Keys to the Game</font> <font color="navy">Washington:</font> <ul> [*]Come Out Strong- Washington has lost 3 in a row, they need to come out strong and look to prove a point tonight. There is no reason why they shouldn't win. [*]Ball Movement- Ball movement is going to be critical in this game. Arenas needs to get the ball around. He needs a good assist to turnover ratio in this game, which should come naturally as of late, he has been very good on keeping down the turnovers with Hughes out. [*]Strong Game from AJ- Jamison has had some nice games lately, continue that against 2nd year man Chris Bosh. Try to take to him off of the dribble. [/list] <font color="purple">Toronto:</font> <ul> [*]Rafer- Rafer is coming back from a suspension. He has had problems with the organization all year long, he can't let that bother him. His play will be critical to the Raptors success. He needs to make Gil Arenas take bad shots and force some TOs. [*]Come Out Firing- The Wizards have lost 3 in a row, if the Raptors come out firing and start the night out hot, it could demoralize the Wizards and lead the Raptors to an early win. [*]Team Play- With Rafer coming back from suspension for poor conduct towards the team, how will they react together and play as a team? Or will Rafer turn it into a me-before-the-team attitude type of game? [/list] <font size="5"> Prediction</font> Washington is on a 3 game slide. Toronto won their last game. Washington is the better team, and I think they can easily beat Toronoto, it just depends on what Washington team shows up tonight, I take Washington by 5.
Wow...this shows who runs the team in the clutch, Arenas..not Jamison. How did Arenas get ejected? I will post recap and boxscore once I get some time.
Well it's not just about clutch, Juan Dixon can't run an offense, and the Wizards were already without Hughes, so losing Hughes and Arenas, the best 2 clutch players, and the 2 primary ball handlers, what is to be expected? EJ should've used Steve Blake because he wouldn't have faltered under the ball pressure, and he could've helped a lot more in the game for the Wizards than Dixon, but either way it's fine with me...
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> The early departure of Gilbert Arenas gave Jalen Rose a chance to shine. Rose scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter as the Toronto Raptors came back from a 22-point deficit for a 103-100 victory over the Washington Wizards, who have lost a season-high four straight games. The Raptors, who stormed back for the second straight game, tied a franchise record for biggest comeback victory and ended a six-game losing streak in the series to avoid a season sweep.</div> Is it me or does this really show why GA is our MVP? He is just so clutch in the 2nd half... Game Recap Box Score
