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Magic Start Off Hot, Hold Off Raptors 114-100

A very interesting starting line-up by Sam Mitchell, as he started all three of his big men in Chris Bosh, Rasho Nesterovic, and Andrea Bargnani.  Bosh guarded Rashard Lewis, Nesterovic guarded Dwight Howard, and Bargnani guarded Hedo Turkoglu.

The Raptors started off in man-to-man coverage, and then switched a two-three zone briefly, but went back to man after the Magic nailed two wide-open three-pointers.  It seemed nothing the Raptors did on defense worked, as the Magic hit their first seven shots, pulling out to and 18-8 lead just 3:51 in, including four three-pointers, two by Jameer Nelson.

In fact, it was Nelson and Maurice Evans who killed the Raptors early, as they scored 16 of their team’s first 25 points, the Magic extended their lead to 25-14 with 5:37 left in the first quarter.  T.J. Ford struggled mightily in the early going, as he missed his next four shots after making his first jumper, while getting thoroughly outplayed by Jameer Nelson.

It would just get worse from here for Toronto, as they would continue to not be interested in playing any defense, as the Magic shot an absolutely ridiculous 16-for-20 from the field (80%).  The Magic extended their lead to 43-23 at the end of the first quarter, closing out the quarter on an 8-0 run

And what does Sam Mitchell say to this deficit? “We feel like we’re going to get back in the game”  What, your team let the opposing team shoot 80% from the field, I mean that’s about what the Magic would shoot if your team wasn’t even on the court there, and everything is OK?

The Magic continued their hot shooting, making five of their first six shots in the second half to increase their shooting percentage to 80.76% and their lead to 54-31 4:01 into the second quarter.

But then the Magic would finally cool down, missing 9 of their final 11 shots in the first half, allowing the Raptors to get back in the game.  After Dwight Howard finished a three-point play with 6:16 left in the first half to give the Magic their largest lead of 24 points, the Raptors would go on a 14-3 run over the final 5:58 of the first half.

The run was triggered by a most unlikely of source in Jason Kapono, as he nailed two wide open three-pointers while scoring 8 consecutive points for the Raptors, helping them cut the lead to 60-45 at the half.  Honestly, they should have been able to cut the lead down even more, but they failed to score on two of their final three possessions in the first half (not counting Anthony Parker’s last-second heave).

Anthony Parker and Rasho Nesterovic led the way for Toronto, both scoring 12 points, with Kapono’s 8 points off the bench being the next best production the Raptors got.  Bosh and Ford struggled, with Bosh scoring 7 points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field, with Ford adding only 2 points on 1-of-7 shooting.

The Raptors continued their run in the second half, starting the second half on a 6-2 run, with Chris Bosh finishing a three-point play 1:49 into the third quarter to bring the lead to single digits at 62-53 for the first time since 5:14 was left in the first quarter.

From here on, play was pretty even throughout, although the Raptors were only able to cut the Magic lead under 9 points once with 2:27 left in the third quarter at 78-71 on Anthony Parker’s back-door cut to the basket.

Jason Kapono came off the bench to again spark Toronto, hitting a three-pointer 1:36 into the fourth quarter to cut the Orlando lead down to 88-83, with Kapono again scoring 8 points off the bench in the second half.  But Dwight Howard and the Magic would answer, going on a 10-0 run over the next 2:57, with Howard scoring 6 points on the run and dominating down low.

The Raptors were never were never able to cut the lead under double-digits for the rest of the way, falling 114-100.  Anthony Parker led the way, scoring 24 points and grabbing 7 rebounds, while Rasho Nesterovic added 16 points and 8 rebounds.  Chris Bosh scored 21 points while grabbing 6 rebounds, but was forced to sit out six key minutes in the second half after picking up his fourth foul of the third quarter.  Jason Kapono added 18 points off the bench for Toronto.

For the Magic, 6 of their 8 players scored in double-figures, with Dwight Howard leading the way with a monstrous performance, scoring 25 points while grabbing 22 rebounds and blocking 5 shots.  Jameer Nelson added 24 points and 7 assists, while Hedo Turkoglu added 21 points to go along with 6 assists and rebounds.  Maurice Evans added 14, while Rashard Lewis added 13 points, while Keyon Dooling added 10 points off the bench.

Beyond the first quarter the performance really wasn’t that bad, and honestly, you can’t expect the Magic to shoot 80% for a quarter and a half, like they did in this game.  Also, Bosh was in foul trouble and even though he scored 21 points it was a very quiet 21 points.  Also, the point guard duo of Ford and Calderon was quite frankly terrible. combining to shoot 4-of-20 from the field (20%), while combining for only 14 points and assists, while being thoroughly outplayed by Jameer Nelson.

Honestly, I don’t expect any of the above, especially the Magic shooting 80% for nearly 40% of the game.  But the Raptors need Bosh, Ford, and Calderon to step up big in the next game, while doing a better job of playing one-on-one defense, and they should be right back in the series.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 20th, 2008 at 2:37 pm and is filed under Toronto Raptors. 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.