Felt really good about this road trip for the Raptors, unlike the earlier one. Was determined to stay away from this game, but that 10? pts has been nagging at me all day. No one in their right mind would give the Raptors a chance in this game, unless they were chasing the dragon that is... :142smilie
Bottom line...Dallas will come to play after the struggle last game, and they had better come to play because the Raptors will. Actually, Mavs have not been at top form in 2nd half for 3 games now.
Chris Bosh got a lot of rest last nite and the Raps have a really deep bench and are built for b2b games. Calderon is playing like a starting point guard right now, Bargnani is starting to play like a top draft pick who is 7' tall and athletic (who will help Garbajosa in guarding Novitski, as Garbo has done in international competition successfully in the past), if the Raps are behind they will keep playing hard or someone else will come off the bench, hungry for minutes.
I'm not trying to talk up the Raptors here, tho they are improving nite by nite. I would love to play the Mavs, but would rather eat dirt than lay 10 pts in the NBA, unless the team was an absolute waste. Also, the Raps are playing some real defense now, it seems that playing defense takes longer to come together with a new team (and in this case, with international players).
Mavs won 10th in a row last nite, but blew a 17 pt 4th quarter lead before pulling ahead later in the game. I don't see this game as much different, and will take the 10 pts (which has dropped a bit late in the day).
Posted Record: 6-2 (+3.71 units)
Breakdown:
2-0 overs
1-0 unders
2-0 ATS Raps
1-2 ATS vs Raps
Bottom line...Dallas will come to play after the struggle last game, and they had better come to play because the Raptors will. Actually, Mavs have not been at top form in 2nd half for 3 games now.
Chris Bosh got a lot of rest last nite and the Raps have a really deep bench and are built for b2b games. Calderon is playing like a starting point guard right now, Bargnani is starting to play like a top draft pick who is 7' tall and athletic (who will help Garbajosa in guarding Novitski, as Garbo has done in international competition successfully in the past), if the Raps are behind they will keep playing hard or someone else will come off the bench, hungry for minutes.
I'm not trying to talk up the Raptors here, tho they are improving nite by nite. I would love to play the Mavs, but would rather eat dirt than lay 10 pts in the NBA, unless the team was an absolute waste. Also, the Raps are playing some real defense now, it seems that playing defense takes longer to come together with a new team (and in this case, with international players).
Mavs won 10th in a row last nite, but blew a 17 pt 4th quarter lead before pulling ahead later in the game. I don't see this game as much different, and will take the 10 pts (which has dropped a bit late in the day).
Posted Record: 6-2 (+3.71 units)
Breakdown:
2-0 overs
1-0 unders
2-0 ATS Raps
1-2 ATS vs Raps
