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Nov. 22, 2003 |
Nets-Raptors Game Notes
By InsideHoops.com
On Saturday, November 22, the Toronto Raptors battled the New Jersey Nets in the Continental Airlines Arena. The Raptors came away with an 81-80 win, their first road victory of the season. Below are the key game notes. Note that this is not a standard game recap, but just some raw, editorial-style game observations.
Prior to this game, the Raptors were 0-5 on the road this season and averaging under 68 points per game, on absolutely horrible shooting.
The game was tied at the end, but a foul on Kerry Kittles put Morris Peterson at the foul line with under one second left in the game. Peterson made the first free throw but missed the second. The Nets grabbed the rebound, called timeout, and with about half a second to work with, inbounded to Richard Jefferson, who tried a turnaround jump shot but misssed, and didn't actually get the shot off in time. So, Toronto snuck out with a win.
The Nets were without Jason Kidd, who has a sore knee. Rookie Zoran Planinic started in his place, but Robert Pack got slightly more minutes at the spot than he did. Planinic finished with four points, three assists, three rebounds and two steals, while Pack had six points, six assists, five rebounds, a steal and a block.
Kenyon Martin was the star for New Jersey, finishing with 26 points on 12-of-19 shooting, seven rebounds and one assist
Rodney Rogers played for the Nets after missing 10 games due to a bad thumb.
Vince Carter was dominant, putting up 21 points on subpar 7-for-20 shooting, dishing nine assists and grabbing six rebounds.
Raptors rookie Chris Bosh continue to show flashes of potential greatness. He can jump out of the building, can use his height, and is extremely quick. Bosh is also a great passer, and has a smooth, silky touch to his high-arcing jump shot. Tonight, Bosh's totals were 11 points, six rebounds and one assist - but that lone assist does not tell the whole story. He dishes at least half a dozen top-notch passes that should have resulted in additional assists. The kid has extremely good hands. His future is bright.
The Nets dance team officially known as Power in Motion, who I refer to as Booties in Motion, performed twice, as usual. In the first performance they danced to some silly disco song that I don't recognize. They are wearing great outfits: navy blue sweatpants and tops that expose their belly buttons (aww). I rate the outfits in the first performance an eight out of 10, the song a four, and the overall performance a five (ranking system is far too complicated to explain, and to understand it you need a PHD in math. Just trust my system.) In their second performance, they wore black glitter sweatpants and very tiny little tops. The song is an 80's classic that everyone knows and loves. It's the one that goes: "You spin me right round baby right round like a record baby right round something something." The problem is that it's not great dance music for this type of venue at atmosphere. The routine isn't hot. In the second performance, I give the outfits an eight out of 10, the song an eight for being a classic but only a four as far as a good dance beat for a basketball game, and the overall performance a five.
As for the team, New Jersey has a lot to improve upon. They're towards the bottom of the league in points per game, field goal percentage, rebounds per game and blocks per game.
The Raptors are swirling in trade rumors right now, and if any of them come true, the shape of the team will change pretty dramatically. Check the InsideHoops.com rumors page each day to follow the gossip.
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