RAPTORS' CLIFFHANGER EPISODE VS. DALLAS

It set in the dying minutes of their last-second 97-96 loss to the Dallas Mavericks yesterday that every so often Toronto Raptors phenom Andrea Bargnani is going to remind you that he's still a gangly 21-year-old.

While Dirk Nowitzki, whom Il Mago is often compared to favourably (even the man himself said so), was bringing the NBA's best team back from a 16-point deficit, Bargnani was mixing moments of brilliance with ones that betrayed his inexperience. There were a couple threes, a ballsy turnaround 12-footer in the lane in the late going, to name a couple highlights.

On Dallas' winning basket with nine-10ths of a second left, you probably noticed both Chris Bosh and Morris Peterson left the low post to cover Nowitzki out at the 3-point line -- giving Josh Howard an path to the basket for a layup. However, Bargnani had also fouled up a split-second earlier, taking himself out of the play by leaving the key and drifting toward the corner to cover a Mavericks player who wasn't getting the ball under any circumstances. Dallas only needed two points to win, so don't you concede the open three there, considering it's a lower-percentage shot than an open layup?

About a minute earlier, as you might have seen on the highlights, Bargnani was guarding Dirk so closely that he could hear him humming his favourite David Hasselhoff song, and the Mavs star just piledrived him and dunked to cut Toronto's lead to 94-93. On the ensuing Raptors possession, Bargnani missed badly on a three, and early in the shot clock, no less. Not to go all Harry Neale on the guy and claim to know what he was thinking, but you wondered if he was geeked after being dunked on.

Those plays that came in the final act of a rousing but ultimately disappointing loss seemed to sum up the state of the Raptors. It (whatever it is) is coming -- for instance, at the start of the season, Bargnani wouldn't have even been on the floor for a last-second play. The ACC was full, the place was raucous, and by going down to the final second with Dallas, the Raptors showed they should be winning over more people, even if they are just 17-21 and only tied for first in the Titanic Division.

Still, don't get blinded to the obvious. Chris Bosh (24 points, 15 rebounds) didn't get enough touches in the fourth quarter, and the Raptors still had problems executing coming out of timeouts -- those are issues to take up with coach Sam Mitchell, though.

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