After losing 100-64 in Boston, the Raptors flipped the script on the Celtics pulling out a big win. The Celtics were just one night removed from a tough overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, and their weariness showed with 13 first-half turnovers. The Raptors were able to leak out in transition and outscored the Celtics 12-3 in fast break points and finished with more rebounds and more points in the paint. The Raptors never trailed and once led by 16 points. DeMar led the Raps with 21 points, and Amir went for 12 points and 12 rebounds. "I thought the guys took it to heart, they had pride, they remembered how they spanked us down in Boston and bounced back from it," said Dwane Casey. "The resilience they showed was impressive."
Raptor Highlight of the Night; Amir Johnson gets the block then throws down the oop in transition
Game 29- vs Lakers (L 94-92 / 9-20 / streak L1) Sunday February 12, 2012.
I was at this game, and despite the Raptors loss it was an exhilarating game. Kobe brought the Lakers back into the game with a three-pointer with just under a minute left, then gave the Lakers the lead off a steal and assist to Metta World Peace. After Calderon capped off his career-high 30-point night with a free-throw line jump shot to give the Raptors the lead with 16 seconds remaining, Kobe had the ball in his hands with seven seconds left. Kobe knew what to do with it. Kobe faded away in the corner and swished a jumper right in front of the Raptors bench with 4.2 seconds left. The Raptors proceeded to fudge consecutive inbounds plays and the Kobe shot ended up being the winner. Calderon finished with six assists to go along with his 30 points and sparked a comeback after the Raps trailed 24-8 in the first quarter. The Raptors shot 54.5% from three and outscored the Lakers 11-2 in transition in the loss. Pau Gasol scored 16 points and pulled in 17 rebounds, but Kobe was the hero despite shooting just 9-23 from the floor.
Raptor Highlight of the Night; James Johnson beats the buzzer with a coast-to-coast dunk
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| Kobe drills the winner with 4.2 left (Star) |
Game 30- vs Knicks (L 90-87 / 9-21 / streak L2) Tuesday February 14, 2012.
The Raptors bothered New York defensively and forced Lin to commit eight turnovers, but a sloppy game led to a 10-1 Knicks run and a huge three-pointer by Jeremy Lin at the buzzer. Lin also nailed a three-point play to tie the game at 87 just one play earlier. Lin finished with 27 points and 11 assists in perhaps his most memorable performance yet. The Raptors limited second-chance opportunities and Linas Kleiza played excellent defence on Amar'e Stoudemire, who was mostly ineffective though he finished with 21 points. Jose Calderon scored 25 points, and Linas Kleiza had 15 points and 11 rebound. A tough loss will have the Raptors reviewing just what went wrong with a stalled offence and allowing too much penetration on defence.
Raptor Highlight of the Night; Raptors force a turnover and hit DeMar for the fast-break dunk
The Week Ahead
Wednesday, Feb 15 - vs San Antonio Spurs. 7pm
Friday, Feb 17 - vs Charlotte Bobcats. 7pm
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