Raptors Make It 4 In A Row, Beat 76ers

(Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors)

Philadelphia 76ers 90  Toronto Raptors 106

The Toronto Raptors have been in the news over the summer for obvious reasons related to Chris Bosh going to Miami.  More recently they have been in the news for having traded point guard Jarrett Jack, David Anderson and Marcus Banks for Jerryd Bayless and veteran Peja Stojakovic from the New Orleans Hornets.  The Raptors were winners of 3 in a row coming into tonight's game versus Philadelphia, with their newly acquired players suiting up for the first time.

For a Raptors fan, such as myself, the game could not have started any better.  The Raptors never trailed during the 1st quarter shooting 65% with 10 assists in a "run and gun" style of play, which I think, should be their trademark. Newcomer Jerryd Bayless came off of the bench and played well, even hitting the buzzer beater to end the quarter.  Philidelphia seemed exhausted from their overtime loss the night before against the Washington Wizards and only shot 42%.

The second quarter offered much of the same, complete domination by the Raptors who were shooting 57% keeping Philadelphia shooting 42%.  By half time, Bargnani had 15 points and crowd favorite, Reggie Evans, had tied the team franchise record for rebounds in the first half of play, with 15.  The announcement was made and the ACC Arena, which as usual was in a frenzy, made it clear they appreciated their undersized rebounding talent.

However, in typical Toronto fashion, the second half had the fans holding their breath with a major a case of deja vu.  Toronto lead by 22 points at one point and were now up only 14 while Philadelphia chipped away, making their come back.  Moving away from scoring in the paint which got them the lead, and now settling for jump shots, the Raptors found themselves up only 10 points with only 5:00 minutes left in the game.  Had it not been for consecutive offensive rebounds, the Raptors would not have been able to pad the lead, winning the game by 16 points.

Reggie was the story of the night, tieing Chris Bosh's record of 22 rebounds in a game, behind former Raptor Donyell Marshall's 24.  Andrea Bargnani is continuing to prove himself as the go to player on this team, scoring 24 points in just over 30 minutes of play.  Newly appointed starting point guard Jose Calderon had 16 points and 9 assists, while his new back up Jerryd Bayless finished with 13 points, making him the third highest scoring Raptor of the night.  Peja Sojakovic finished with 7 points in less than 10 minutes of play,

Tonight's win is the 4th in a row for a team that looks like they have finally found some rhythm and a style of play that best suits the roster.  The next 4 games wont be as easy as they face the Celtics, the Hawks, the Wizards and finish with the Oklahoma City Thunder.  Games most would have considered a write off, perhaps now, may not be so cut and dry.  We will just have to wait and see.