Co-Blogger Neil Acharya was on hand Wednesday for just a typical day in the life of your Toronto Raptors -- which is to way the franchise's ironman was honoured and benched simultaneously, and they beat one of the Eastern Conference's top teams, the Cleveland Cavs, beat 'em but good.With all the craziness that Morris Peterson has seen and been through with the Raps, Wednesday had to rank as one of the strangest. On a night when the first 10,000 fans received a MoPete mini statue commeoratiing him as the Raptors Iron man, Mo took a seat on the bench ending his streak of 371 games after a partially torn tendon tear was revealed in his left elbow.
The Good for the Raptors:
- Joey Graham had his best game since the Nov. 8 game vs. Philly. Incidentally, that was also the last time the Raps won a game.
- Andrea Bargnani probably hit one the biggest shots of his infant career, nailing a three to put the Raps ahead in the teeter-totter third quarter. It may not be much, but it’s a confidence builder and that goes a long way for a rookie coming off the bench.
- When the starting lineups and coaches were announced, there was a smattering of boos for Sam Mitchell, who seems to be on the ropes as Raptors coach, especially on call-in radio shows. Donyell Marshall received a warm welcome by Raptor fans who have also done the same for Matt Bonner and Charlie V. Fans should see the flip side of this on Dec 15 when the Nets visit town.
- Although the Raps are a dismal 3-8, nine of the other 14 teams in the Eastern Conference have four wins or less. So if Raptors can manage to rattle of two conference victories in a row, tonight in Atlanta and Sunday at home vs. Indiana, people may be humming a different tune in the Big Smoke.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neil__acharya@hotmail.com.
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