MVN - Most Valuable Network

Raptors Build and Keep Big Lead in Defeat of Mavs

Chris Bosh came out strong, scoring the game’s first five points as the Raptors took an early lead, but the Mavericks would come back to take the lead at brief lead before Antony Parker hit a three-pointer on the baseline to give Toronto a 13-10 lead with 4:47 to go in the first quarter. The Raptors then used a 15-2 run to start the second quarter to build a 17-point lead against the Mavericks. Only difference between this meeting and the last two with Dallas was that Toronto did not blow this big lead, defeating Dallas 92-76, holding the Mavericks to a season-low point total. The Raptors answered every Mavericks one with one of their own, as every time the Mavs made a run to try to cut the deficit under 10 points, the Raptors answered with a run of their own, remembering last year’s two losses where they blew 20+ point leads to the Mavs.

The Raptors held Dirk Nowitzki and the high powered Mavs offense to 38.5% shooting from the floor, with Nowitzki scoring only 13 points on 6 of 15 shooting, while grabbing 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Jason Terry led the way for Dallas with 21 points, while Josh Howard added 19 points and 6 rebounds, albeit on worse shooting(8/17) than Nowitzki. For Toronto it was the same duo that led the way in Toronto’s victory over another Texas team on Sunday, Chris Bosh and Kris Humphries. Humphries came off the bench with another solid effort, recording a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, including scoring 8 of the Raptors 17 fourth quarter points. Bosh scored 17 points and added 5 rebounds, while Jose Calderon added 12 points and 7 assists.

It was a big mental victory for the Raptors, as they again came out and dominated an elite Dallas team for the third time in two seasons. This time they got over the hump though, as after blowing 20+ point leads in the first two the Raptors clamped down and answered any run the Mavs made with one of their own, securing a big win for the Raptors, minus T.J. Ford.

Ford Update: Ford was released from the Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta today after and was at the Air Canada Centre on the Raptors bench by the second quarter of the game. Ford left the Atlanta hospital and flew to Toronto in the afternoon after being discharged, he came and watched the Raptors victory in person, bringing the Raptors some extra motivation and positive energy to keep the Mavs down and grab the victory for their fallen teammate. But back to T.J. and the early reports are saying that he suffered another stinger, the injury that caused him to miss time in the playoffs last season and more recently 6 games this season. While all CT scans, x-rays, and other tests came back negative it was a horrifying site, and further tests will be done to evaluate the situation more thoroughly. Also, there was another touching note to this story, as Hawks F Al Horford, the player that delivered the inadvertent blow to Ford’s head that caused the injury, visited Ford in during Ford’s stay in the hospital. The two talked for a couple hours, and it shows great character on Horford’s part to come and make sure that Ford was fine, especially as the rest of the Ford’s teammates had already left on a plane to Toronto. But for now the news appears to be all good after last night’s scary scene, but as this situation continues to develop I will post further updates. Here’s a couple of stories with further details:

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5itQE_TYQ-dxfsNChehvkQmuzfYfg

http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=164015

Medical explanations: Okay, so I thought I would take some time to explain T.J Ford’s medical conditions and what exactly a stinger and Ford’s condition of spinal stenosis in further detail. First of all, Ford has a condition called spinal stenosis, which basically means that his spinal canal is narrowed. Now since the spinal cord is narrow this means that the nerves in the spinal canal have limited room, which can lead to nerve pinches or stingers. Stingers are injuries where the nerves between the neck and the arm pinch together, which causes pain and numbness when can linger several hours or several days.

Preview: The Raptors travel to Indanapolis to face the Pacers on Friday night, as they hope to extend their current three-game winning streak, tied for their longest all season, to a new season high streak. The Raptors faced the Pacers in Toronto on November 16, earning a 110-101 victory at the Air Canada Centre. Indiana never trailed in the first half, but lost the lead 57 seconds into the second half, and from that point on the Raptors never trailed en route to the home victory. The Pacers were on a losing slide then, as the defeat in Toronto was their sixth straight after opening the season with three wins. Indiana has played pretty well since then(8-5), beating the Bulls tonight in Indianapolis, 117-102 behind 22 points off the bench from Mizzou’s Kareem Rush to gain a victory over the yes, still struggling, Bulls. The Pacers have actually played better away from home this season, going 5-6 in their games at the Conseco Fieldhouse this season. If the Raptors can effectively limit Danny Granger like they did in their first contest they stand a very good chance, especially if they can avoid one of their slow shooting starts. Toronto has won three straight and now is the time to get beyond this team’s inconsistency, as they are better than this and need to start playing like it, and with Bosh and Bargnani back the Raptors are primed to make a run and try to push the Celtics, whom they face at home on Sunday. The Celtics hold a 6.5 game lead in the division and while Toronto actually has the fourth best record(12-10) in the pathetic Eastern Conference they can further separate themselves from the pack and make attempt a run at a higher seed or even possibly Boston.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 13th, 2007 at 12:28 am and is filed under Pre and Post Game, Analysis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.