KINGS-RAPTORS LIVE BLOG (FINAL)

Maybe it should have been Jose Calderon Bobblehead Night in Toronto -- the second-team point guard (pictured) was the fulcrum of a big fourth quarter in an 101-85 win over the reeling Sacramento Kings.

The upshot is that Calderon led the bench brigade, putting up 11 points and nine assists in 22 minutes on 5-of-6 shooting and leading a 33-16 fourth quarter that turned a close game into a rout. Anyone whose Raptors rooting interest has been rekindled of late for the first time since the early Vince Carter era no doubt was elated as they walked out of the ACC or got ready for bed after watching the game on TV.

What might get lost in the euphoria of the Raptors getting to within two games of .500 is that (A) it's the Kings (14-22, seven straight losses), who seem to look for any excuse to pull the chute; after the Raptors started the fourth with a 21-8 run, Mike Bibby was the only one who still looked interested in playing; and (B) and it probably shouldn't've been a one-point game going into the fourth quarter.

Unlike Azamat during Borat's wrestling scene, the Raptors gave the Kings plenty of air tonight, and that you could probably pin that on Sam Mitchell (good man, good lifestory, but really an assistant coach, not one for a contending team). It's kind of like The Simpsons episode where Lisa, playing in the Springfield Elementary orchestra, says that Stars and Stripes Forever is "beginner band and we're an advanced beginner band."

The improving Raptors (19-21) are an advanced beginner band, but you keep seeing elements of what they used to be -- not enough intensity on defence, lack of rhythm on offence. Granted, it's only been nine games since Chris Bosh and T.J. Ford (who was honoured with a bobblehead tonight) got back, so maybe I'm expecting too much. The confidence is coming -- just not fast enough.

Bottom line: If you had said before the game the Raptors would have 20 assists on the night two minutes into the fourth quarter, I would have guessed they would up been up 15 points, not five. Throw in 11 turnovers by Sacramento and 19 points from Morris Peterson (who had 22 on the night, including five triples), and I would have guessed they would have been up 25. Next year, when there's a couple new faces, possibly including a new coach, they would be up by 25 against a shitty team like Sacramento.

As for the next four on the homestand, only Friday's game vs. Northwest-leading Utah looks like a tough road. The Raptors have little excuse if they're not .500 by the end of next week.

FIRST QUARTER

7 p.m. We're set up for a liveblog -- I'm wearing loose-fitting outfit consisting of a Syracuse University hoodie, pyjama pants with the channel-clicker in one pocket and the cordless phone in the other, and I'm warming up some canned soup in the microwave for dinner. Yes, I'm single... why do you ask?

7:01. Nice Shakespeare reference by The Score studio host Adnan Virk. Glad someone paid close attention in Mr. Peart's English class back at Ernestown Secondary School.

7:02. After AV's intro, Chuck Swirsky offers thanks but doesn't call Virk "the baller" as is customary. Who got to you, Chuck? Who?!

7:05. As the starting lineups are introduced, someone somewhere probably goes, "Hey, isn't that the Shareef Abdur-Rahim who used to be the big star on the Vancouver Grizzlies?"

By the way, remember last year's Raptors pregame intros... Scott Carefoot's immortal line "Matt Bonner is Napoleon Dynamite" kind of sums up the whole Rob Babcock era.



7:10. It's T.J. Ford Bobblehead Night. Remember when the Blue Jays held George Bell Bobblehand Night in 1990? Me neither.

7:24. Decent start for Canada's Team -- Mike Bibby is giving the Raptors trouble, but no one else from Sacramento seems capable of creating his own shot. Chris Bosh had the first seven Toronto points, including a three-point play where they actually got inside. Raptors lead 14-12 with five minutes left in the first.

7:30. Yes, the Swirsk can be just a bit of a homer: "The Raptors going strong to the rim on every possession." Just two possessions earlier, Bosh had settled for a spot-up jumper from 19 feet. "The swagger has arrived." This comes with the Raptors up three over a team who's lost six straight. Easy there, Chuck.

7:33. Me and my big mouth --Abdur-Rahim hits a nice hook over Andrea Bargnani.

7:36. What was that about Bargnani sometimes looking like a rookie? On successive possessions, he gets trapped in the corner, then ends up throwing a bad pass out of bounds. Next trip down, illegal screen. Meantime, thanks to Bibby and Ron Artest, Sacramento has come back to tie it and take the lead.

7:39. End of the first quarter: Sacramento 25, Toronto 23.

SECOND QUARTER

7:42. Jose Calderon down the lane for a lefty layup to put the Raptors back on top. Nice.

7:45. Going to miss Morris Peterson when he's gone -- next month or next year. He's got five points off the bench.

7:47. A hard-won putback plus the harm might get Garbo out of an early shooting funk. I've been on this before about the Raptors' tendency to give away first-quarter leads in the first four minutes of the second, but tonight they went from two down to three up in that plan. Raptors lead 33-30, 8:02 left in 2nd.

7:52. What was that about the 3-point play helping Garbo get his groove back? He rescues an ugly possession with a long two from the left corner. Meantime, John Salmons, who teased the Raptors in free agency over the summer, has six points in the quarter. Raptors lead 40-37.

7:56. Good lord, the Kings' Brad Miller is playing like a guy who was visited by a ghost, Mike Wallace and the IRS all in the same day. Thankfully for the Raptors he's having no luck connecting from 15-18 feet out, since the Kings have 22 of their 43 points inside. With a bit more outside game they'd be ahead.

8:06. Halftime: Bosh and MoPete share the team lead with 11 points each (nice night for the lefties) and the Raptors lead, 48-43. It sounds like they're playing good defence since the score's in the 40s, but really, it's just a slow-paced game with little running -- Sacramento's shooting in the 50 percent range. This really should be a 10- to 15-point lead.

8:27. Third quarter underway... jaisus, were they doing Jello shooters at halftime? The Raptors' intensity is AWOL (two turnovers in the first three minutes). Meantime, this is the kind of month it's been for Sacramento -- Bibby throws an alley-oop to Kevin Martin when the Raptors are caught napping in transition, but Martin flubs the oop part and has to pass the ball back out to Bibby. Yeah, good time for Sam Mitchell to call timeout. Toronto leads 50-47.

8:33. The Kings are on a 9-0 run to go up 54-50... the Raps have four turnovers in the first five minutes of the quarter, including one where Bosh had to abort a pass to Rasho Nesterovic on the break and shuffled into a travel. This was the equivalent of Mario Lemieux making a drop pass to Larry Murphy instead of shooting in the 1987 Canada Cup.

8:36. Ron Artest has 14 tonight as Sac's lead stretches to 63-56. An 18-6 run. Really, though, the Raptors lost control when they didn't take it in the first half.

8:38. If the Raptors can come back, circle this play. Rasho fights for an offensive board, keeping a possession alive and giving Bosh a chance to score on a layup in traffic. Kings lead 63-61 with 2:42 left in the 3rd.

8:46. Bargnani hasn't been much of a factor but here's another one of those scratch-the-surface plays -- he blocks Abdur-Rahim, who for all my joking once was a premier power forward in the League. On the next trip up the floor, MoPete hits his third three, and the Raptors go ahead 66-63 as they stretch out a 10-0 run.

8:49. A couple of free throws and a Corliss Williamson basket inside have the Kings ahead 69-68 going into the final 12 minutes. It's not Stomach Punch loss territory but I'd feel sick inside if the Raptors lost this one -- they are much better, more athletic team. They just haven't played like it... they have given Sacramento too much hope. Nice tip-in from Joey Graham near the end of the quarter; too bad he's playing with four fouls.

FOURTH QUARTER

8:56. See what the second team can do here to start the fourth... lo and behold, with Jose Calderon running the point, they generate a 9-2 run to take 76-71 lead, similar to the second quarter. Still, if you had told me before the game the Raptors would have 20 assists with two minutes gone in the fourth quarter, I'd have guessed they would be ahead 15 points. Throw in a 19-point night for MoPete, and I'd have figured 20 points.

9:oo. It was a four-point swing in the first four minutes of the second quarter; it's been a nine-point swing in the first four minutes of the fourth. Jorge Garbajosa extends the lead to 81-74, first hitting a long three, then driving by Abdur-Rahim for a layup. 81-74 with 8:08 left.

9:06. MP3 for PM -- it's just going from bad to worse for the Kings, who are starting to lose the plot, as evidenced by some choppy offensive sequences. MoPete hits another triple, making it 89-77 with 5:41 left. Timeout Sacramento. Maybe they're figuring out which club to hold the post-game meeting at.

By the way, there's a first for this blog: Someone calling from the game you're liveblogging.

9:14. Swirsky intones "somebody's in the kitchen" as the lead hits 14 points with 4:13 to go. Joey Graham, meantime, throws down a two-handed dunk, as the Raptors' bench scoring hits the big five-oh. So what if that's Toronto's first basket off a turnover all night?

9:18. Swirsky and Leo Rautins have some inside joke going about him not saying his patented "salami and cheese" line, but seeing Darrick Martin lets you know this one is in the bag... Raptors win, Raptors win, Raptors win! 101-85 the final.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.