Blake Murphy Sports Writing

Title: What We Can Draw From Raptors vs. Celtics IV
Date: January 25, 2008
Original Source: The On Deck Circle
Synopsis: The Raptors squared off with the Celtics for the fourth time that season, and their win was cause for reflection.

The magnitude of defeating the Celtics on Wednesday night has still not entirely dawned on me. Maybe it’s because, at least for that night, the Celtics seemed human. Or maybe it’s because we’ve seen them four times already, and the scope of their greatness is now assumed rather than appreciated. Maybe the constant media attention has made us all a little impervious to the Boston love train. But as I write this I shake my head and realize that this team, the 33-7 Boston Celtics, was, before Wednesday, on pace to tie the NBA record for wins in a season. Say they’ve overaccomplished, had an easy schedule, or have simply started hot and will cool off, and I will tell you this: Based on their record, defense, offense, and by all other deductions, they are one of the best teams the NBA has ever seen…in the first half of a season. And we beat them.

Now a good team and a semi-established franchise, the Raptors’ reputation didn’t really need a win like this. It was certainly not shades of us defeating Jordan and the Bulls in the midst of their best (and one of our worst) seasons. And some may claim that the Celtics are overrated or the Raptors underrated, but my opinion remains: We needed this win.In our first real statement game of the 2007-08 season, we needed this. And the Raptors came through. After three losses, one heart-breaking and the other two blowouts, the Raps needed to salvage one win in the season series to claim their legitimacy as an East contender. They’ll likewise need to beat Detroit on March 26 after going 0-2 against them so far in order to maintain that legitimacy. They’ll have to take one of two remaining games against Orlando, too, and split the upcoming pair against the Wizards. Still, The Raptors made a huge statement Wednesday in what could be a turning point for the season, just the type of confidence booster this team (and some of its key contributors) needed to get on a roll ala last year’s January.

The biggest surprise of the game was Andrea Bargnani’s reestablishment as a scoring threat, posting 20 points along with 7 rebounds, an impressive total for him. Il Mago shot the ball well and recognized teammates, too, dropping a career high 7 dimes. The best part of Andrea’s performance happened off the floor after the game when he told Leo Rautins that he was not pleased with his performance. Instead, Andrea thinks, he needs to get even more aggressive at the beginning of games and continue to work harder on the glass. His defense was still suspect, but his trigger finger is back and if Andrea can continue to score and rebound like he did Wednesday, the Raptors really can beat anyone in the league. Oddly enough, that’s the exact comment I made about Bargnani in my mid-season review–the Raptors need Andrea to play like 2006-07 Andrea for them to be a legitimate contender.

Also impressive was the play of Carlos Delfino. Largely criticized for his shot selection and poor percentages all season, he went five of five from downtown for 15 key points, fueling the Raptors 3-point brigade. Anthony Parker continued his great play, too, scoring 23 to bring his January average up to 15.7 (on 50% shooting).

While Jamario struggled with shot selection, the strong play of Andrea and ‘Los allowed him to play just 25 minutes of solid D. Hopefully this trend continues and we can get Jamario down to a more managable and appropriate 20 minutes a night. The other weak point for the Raptors was that, other than Delfino, the bench was largely unimpressive, combining for 5-5-5 in 34 minutes between four players. Sam will need his team to run 8-deep to beat deeper contenders like Detroit and the West powers.

Back to the bright side, Jose and Bosh did exactly what we all now take for granted, performing at an All-Star level. Bosh dominated for long stretches, dropping 23 and 7 against KG and shooting 8 of 11 from the floor. Though he had 7 turnovers, Bosh commanded the ball at key times and generally showed he can be the floor general we need him to be. Jose continued his strong push for All-Star consideration, picking apart the Rondo-House-Allen guard combination en route to an 8/10, 24 point, 13 assists, 3 steal performance. Those are Steve Nash numbers, folks. He also completely owned the fourth quarter at both ends of the floor, getting steals and driving to the hoop at will. If Jose continues this stellar play it will be hard to ignore him for the February Classic and tough to ignore his (second) bid for the Most Improved Player award.

As a team, the Raptors were remarkably efficient: 58% shooting, 15/21 from the arc, 19/19 from the stripe. I’m not sure how Hollinger calculates true shooting percentage, but the combination of those shooting numbers probably gives the Raps a true shooting percentage of 104% for the night.

The game didn’t come without things to work on though. The Raps gave up a ludicrous 16 offensive boards and turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 18 times. On most nights the Celtics would take advtange of that and cruise to victory, and Toronto won’t escape many games allowing opponents to shoot 49.4%. These are the same issues Mitchell has been preaching all year, so hopefully the team is getting it and Wednesday was an abberation in the rebounding and turnover numbers.

Moving forward, the Raptors can take three things from this game:

1. Get Andrea the ball early and often. Getting him involved quickly can get him involved on the glass and in the general flow of the game better, and it comes without cost since Bosh, Parker, and Calderon are smart enough to find their shots later on. Andrea is the X-factor for the Raptors season as a whole.

2. Someone on the bench has to step up rebounding the ball. Whether it be Rasho or Baby Huey, someone needs to be getting to loose balls on the defensive end when Bosh isn’t on the floor. Delfino does a good job of this, but Huey, Rasho, and Kaponovich are all inconsistent “getting after it.”

3. Confidence. Hopefully this is the turning point, a signal to the players of just what they are capable of when they play 48 minutes.

No, the shots won’t fall at that rate every night. And no, opponents won’t squander 16 offensive rebounds and 49% shooting most nights. And no, the Raptors won’t consistently be able to survive without production from their biggest asset, their depth. But for one night the Raptors showed the world what they can do with 5 of the 8 main cylinders firing. The Raptors can hang with, and beat, the best team in the NBA.

And nobody noticed. Which is the way this team likes it.