Spurs-Raptors Preview

[duncan228]

http://www.nba.com/games/20080211/SA...scoreboardhome

Spurs-Raptors Preview
By MIKE VOTTA, STATS Senior Writer

The Toronto Raptors are at their best when their offense is efficient, but that's hard to pull off against San Antonio.

The Raptors will be trying to build on a string of impressive offensive performances on Monday when they host the Spurs.

Toronto (27-22) won 105-82 at Minnesota on Sunday for its fifth win in eight games. Andrea Bargnani scored 16 points and Jose Calderon had 15 and 10 assists for his second consecutive double-double, as the Raptors reached triple figures for the seventh time in eight games.

T.J. Ford contributed 13 assists. He and Calderon, who has posted at least 10 assists in eight of his last nine games, combined for more assists than the Timberwolves had combined.

"We just tried to get everyone involved,'' said Calderon, who has 19 double-doubles. "We just tried to find the wide open guys and not force it. ... Everybody made the extra pass, that's how we beat this team tonight.''

Toronto shot 50.6 percent against the Timberwolves and has shot at least 50 percent in its last five wins and six of its past seven victories. The Raptors are 12-2 when shooting better than 50 percent, but they also have been held under 40 percent their last five defeats.

Points and high-percentage shots likely won't come easy against the Spurs (32-17), one of the best defensive teams in the league. San Antonio is holding opponents to just 91.3 points per game and 45.3 percent shooting, and none of its last six opponents have shot 50 percent.

The Raptors have only shot 50 percent twice in 24 all-time games against the Spurs and have reached triple digits just four times. They have lost nine of 11 against San Antonio, but won 83-73 on the road on Dec. 28.

The Spurs lost 98-90 in Boston on Sunday, ending a four-game winning streak. Tim Duncan had 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, and Manu Ginobili scored 21 points for the Spurs, who fell to 4-3 on their current nine-game road trip.

"We have an opportunity and a great shot by (Michael Finley) that rattles in and out to tie the game down the stretch,'' Duncan said. "Then two turnovers in a row and they get two offensive rebounds. Just too many mistakes that bit us down the stretch there.''

Point guard Tony Parker missed his sixth straight game with a sore left ankle.

The Spurs should be a tough test for the Raptors, whose last three opponents - including Miami and the Los Angeles Clippers - are all in last place in their divisions. Toronto bounced back Sunday after a disappointing 102-98 loss to the Clippers on Friday.

"(Friday) was a tough game,'' said Bargnani, who is averaging 19.8 points - nearly double his 10.0 season average - and shooting 50.7 percent his last five games. "We played good almost the whole game, then lost at the end on very bad luck. We did a good job to stay focused as they came back today.''

[duncan228]

Spurs.com
(Article overlaps with NBA.com's.)

http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/080211.html

Spurs vs. Raptors Preview

Probable Starters

Vaughn
Guard
4.9 PPG
Ginobili
Guard
19.2 PPG
Bowen
Forward
5.5 PPG
Duncan
Forward
19.7 PPG
Oberto
Center
5.0 PPG

Injury/Inactive Report
Brent Barry (strained left calf) is out
Tony Parker (left ankle inflammation) is out.

Toronto (27-22) won 105-82 at Minnesota on Sunday for its fifth win in eight games. Andrea Bargnani scored 16 points and Jose Calderon had 15 and 10 assists for his second consecutive double-double, as the Raptors reached triple figures for the seventh time in eight games.

T.J. Ford contributed 13 assists. He and Calderon, who has posted at least 10 assists in eight of his last nine games, combined for more assists than the Timberwolves had combined.

Toronto shot 50.6 percent against the Timberwolves and has shot at least 50 percent in its last five wins and six of its past seven victories. The Raptors are 12-2 when shooting better than 50 percent, but they also have been held under 40 percent their last five defeats.

Points and high-percentage shots likely won't come easy against the Spurs (32-17), one of the best defensive teams in the league. San Antonio is holding opponents to just 91.3 points per game and 45.3 percent shooting, and none of its last six opponents have shot 50 percent.

The Raptors have only shot 50 percent twice in 24 all-time games against the Spurs and have reached triple digits just four times. They have lost nine of 11 against San Antonio, but won 83-73 on the road on Dec. 28.

The Spurs lost 98-90 in Boston on Sunday, ending a four-game winning streak. Tim Duncan had 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, and Manu Ginobili scored 21 points for the Spurs, who fell to 4-3 on their current nine-game road trip.

Point guard Tony Parker missed his sixth straight game with a sore left ankle.

The Spurs should be a tough test for the Raptors, whose last three opponents - including Miami and the Los Angeles Clippers - are all in last place in their divisions. Toronto bounced back Sunday after a disappointing 102-98 loss to the Clippers on Friday.

Spur in the Spotlight
Tim Duncan
Tim Duncan had 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists against the Celtics on Sunday.

Did You Know...
18,797 fans witnessed Tim Duncan’s 22-point, 15-rebound performance as San Antonio defeated Toronto 91-72 on 11/1/02 … the game marked the Spurs first in the AT&T Center … Spurs forward Matt Bonner was acquired from Toronto in a deal for Rasho Nesterovic … Tim Duncan scored a career-low five points vs. Toronto on 3/26/99 … the Raptors 98-92 win over the Spurs in Toronto on 12/5/99 was their first win vs. San Antonio in Toronto in the five-year history of the match-up … the Spurs set a franchise record for lowest field goal percentage when they shot 23.9% on 2/7/02 … the Raptors won the game 80-74 in overtime.

[ancestron]

so how do we feel about this one?
I don't know what to think anymore.

[e20dylan]

i think we lost pretty bad to raptors last time we played them. pretty sure it was a blow out. hopefully we come with some passion after that celtics game

[duncan228]

We played them Dec. 28, lost by 10.
83-73

[ancestron]

83-73 to the raptors. ouch.
was that a manu-less or tony-less game?

[boutons_]

Spurs shot 31% vs Raps in December, that's where 73 pts @ATT comes from.

[rascal]

This is a tough game for the spurs. They may have an emotional letdown playing so soon after the tough Boston game.

A win will be really impressive.

[Radiosparks]

I guess we have to see how they respond. It should be interesting to say the least. However, I think the Spurs will finish the trip strong. So, I'm calling tonights game Spurs 87 - 80 win.

[703 Spurz]

Toronto probably wins this one by 2 or 4 pts

[T Park]

Very confident the Spurs pull one out here.

Pop's chewed their ass pretty good. Prob pissed about a tough loss.

The championship teams always responded well after losses, and if they come out and play solid to good, that will show a bit.

Time to start gettin serious.

[duncan228]

The Sports Network:

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default...ws/preview.htm

SAN ANTONIO SPURS (32-17) AT TORONTO RAPTORS (27-22)

(Sports Network) - The defending-champion San Antonio Spurs continue their season-long nine-game road trip when they visit the Toronto Raptors tonight at Air Canada Centre.

This is the second and final meeting of the campaign between the squads. On December 28th, Jason Kapono had 15 points and grabbed three rebounds as Toronto knocked off San Antonio, 83-73, at the AT&T Center. The Raptors snapped a five-game series losing streak with the victory.

San Antonio is 8-3 at Toronto and has won two in a row as the visitor in this series.

The Spurs are 4-3 on the swing and will try and get back on the winning track this evening. Paul Pierce poured in 35 points as Boston outlasted San Antonio, 98-90, on Sunday at TD Banknorth Garden.

Tim Duncan finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for the Spurs, who had their four-game winning streak halted. Manu Ginobili finished with 21 points, while Michael Finley netted 19 off the bench in the loss.

San Antonio is 12-12 on the road this season. The Spurs will visit LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena in the finale of the road trip.

Toronto tries to win back-to-back games, as it opens a three-game homestand on Monday night. Andrea Bargnani scored 16 points and Jose Calderon ended with 15 points and 10 assists to help the Raptors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 105-82, at the Target Center.

Chris Bosh added 14 points and T.J. Ford contributed 13 assists to go along with seven points for the Raptors, who have won two of their last three games overall. Kapono collected 12 points and Anthony Parker scored 10 in the win for Toronto, which shot 50.6 from the field.

The Raptors are 14-10 at home this season. They will also host New Jersey and Orlando on the current homestand.