….Raps worked it all around the clock.
I guess the Raps played a full 48 minutes of good basketball. Wow. A Raps blowout? Hassan Adams got minutes?
I don’t know….Yao, TMac and Artest all played. The Raps were short J.O. and Jose Calderon and the Raps still won against the Houston Rockets. That is just nuts.
The Raps either played a really good game or the Rockets just played a really bad one. I think it was a little of both. Andrea Batgnani took advantage with his speed and shooting ability against Yao Ming. With Andrea being a three point threat, it drew Yao out to the three point line, opening opportunities for shots down low. This led to an early 14 point lead over the Rockets. Former Raptors, Rafer Alston and Tracy McGrady were non-factors with a combined 12 points.
Jose Calderon left in the first and came back in the second quarter but then left soon after with a strained hamstring. The Rockets were able to make a run as Carl Landry hit a jumper to get within 2. Ron Artest had a hot hand for the Rockets and had three threes in the first half with his third three bringing the Rockets to within one point. Will Solomon get some extra run with the Calderon injury and had nice pass to Joey Graham down low with the easy layup. Raps as usual played a good first half and led by ten, 48-38 at halftime.
In the second half, Bargnani used his speed against Yao, beating him down to the Raps offensive end, getting some easy opportunities. Jamario Moon had a nice open slam with one minute left in the third quarter. Toronto built up their lead 68-49. Jake Voskuhl played some great defense where his defensive plays led to some great shots. The fourth quarter was just garbage time and the Raps emptied their bench. Every member of the Toronto Raptors roster had at least one basket. The Toronto Raptors just blew out the Rockets, 94-73.
Key Notes
The Houston Rockets were a horrible 28 for 82, shooting only 34%
Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh eached scored 19
Every Raptor had at least one basket
Jake Voskuhl had a good defensive game: 3 pts, 8 boards and 1 block in 17 min of action
Hopefully 2009 leads to more of this type of Raptors basketball. Orlando is up on Sunday in Toronto.
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