By: Jonathan Joubran
Can you say, heart-warming? Spirit, dedication, pure hustle, spectacular effort, brilliant hard-work, great intensity and just flat out amazing determination sums up the play of the Toronto Raptors last night in Dallas. Although Dallas without Dirk, this was the first time Toronto beat Dallas IN Dallas since December 30th, 1999.
Lets be honest, did anyone think that Toronto would get a 'W' yesterday night in Dallas, when 1) We're under manned 2) We're on the road, and 3) Dallas has the second best record in the leauge.
They went in the game with no Andrea Bargnani, Sonny Weems, and the usual Reggie Evans and Peja. Jose was game-time with a bad right ankle, and did not play... just what we needed right? Amir Johnson was game-time with a sore back with also stiches above his right eye. Barbosa was also a game-time decision with a sore knee.. but both players decided to play & their effort was terrific as each scored 12 points.
So the Raptors had an 8-man rotation coming into the game.. but the injury bug decided to strike again for us, as Jerryd Bayless rolled his ankle.. then rolled it again in the fourth quarter to leave the game. Linas Kleiza got two pointless technical fouls, to eject him from the game. So now the Raptors are left with 6 players.. with two of them playing through injuries. Barbosa, Amir, Julian Wright, DeMar DeRozan, Joey Dorsey and Ed Davis. Each player played phenominal.
Although Julian had 0 points, the effort he brought to the floor, the plays where he guarded Jason Kidd, or Terry.. Julian Wright was indeed the Toronto Raptors X-Factor for the game in my opinion. He does all the intangable things that don't get on the stat sheet that every team needs.
DeMar DeRozan was sticking the mid-range jumper yesterday night, and also drove to the hole, exactly what we need from the second-year player. DeMar had 16 points.
Joey Dorsey played great.. starting to show he was a great pick up, with 7 points and 8 rebounds.
Ed Davis was the player of the game, as the rookie shined with 17 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks! By far the best game by Ed Davis as a pro, and the best game for the Toronto Raptors this season in general.
What THEY said (courtesy of Raptors.com):
Jerryd Bayless: "It’s a great team effort. I think everyone did their job. We’ve got to continue to hold our cool, there were T’s that were unnecessary but I think it was just the emotions of the game."
Jay Triano: "We said before the game that we’ve got to take care of the basketball with guys playing out of position. I thought we did a better job, even though we had some shot clock violations, but that is us trying to use the ball on the offensive end. Ed (Davis) stepped up, Amir (Johnson) played well and I thought all three of our bigs played extremely well. I love the way that we guarded at the end of the game."
Ed Davis: "Just tried to come out and give the team all the intangibles, the little things. Rebound, block shots, run the floor. Just all the small things."
The Toronto Raptors Fanatic Zone would like to send our warmest wishes to Jose, Andrea, Sonny, Amir, Barbosa, Reggie, Peja and Jerryd for speedy recoveries.. we need you guys!
Next up for the Raptors is the Houston Rockets on New Years Eve!
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Until next time!
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