The Nemesis
Semper Tyrannus
There was some kind of contest or something that took like 4 buses worth of fans down to Detroit for the game. They were talking about it at the half, including that Masai rode down with the fans.
Raptors Discussion: v72| ECQF | (1) Raptors vs (8) Wizards | Raptors win series 4-2 and advance to EC Semi-Finals
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There was some kind of contest or something that took like 4 buses worth of fans down to Detroit for the game. They were talking about it at the half, including that Masai rode down with the fans.
Mitchy
#HFOutcasts
Schennanigans
Registered User
Demar was ridiculously clutch tonight. And that dunk. He just willed himself to score. Nobody was going to stop him. Team is lights out, balls to the wall engaged right now. Team looks so focused.
The Nemesis
Semper Tyrannus
I don't particularly care about the whole US headlines thing, but it's funny to note that being the first team to clinch a playoff spot apparently doesn't qualify as being worthy of making ESPN's list of major NBA headlines.
Cloned
Begging for Bega
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The Raps could win the Championship and the headline would be "Golden State snags second place" with the side story being the Raps winning.
IceColdBear
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I've criticized Demar over the years, but man, he means so much to this franchise.
This season has really opened my eyes - the guy is always working on improving his game, and the fact that he wants to be a lifelong Raptor is huge.
Best Raptor of all time by far.
This season has really opened my eyes - the guy is always working on improving his game, and the fact that he wants to be a lifelong Raptor is huge.
Best Raptor of all time by far.
stickty111
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Budsfan
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Game Preview: Raptors vs. Rockets | Toronto Raptors
Game Preview: Raptors vs. Rockets
Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com
Posted: Mar 09, 2018
Houston Rockets (51-13) @ Toronto Raptors (47-17)
When: Friday, March 9th, 7:30 P.M. ET
Where: Air Canada Centre
Broadcast info: SN/SN1, TSN1050
LAST MEETING
Toronto last saw the Rockets in Houston, defeating the home team 129-113 in early November. DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points to lead the Raptors, who used a huge 45-point second quarter to build a 76-64 lead at the halftime break. Toronto never looked back in the second half, and Houston never got closer than five points down the stretch as the Raptors snapped a six-game Rockets winning streak. James Harden led all scorers with 38 points, making a perfect 19-for-19 from the free throw line in the loss.
LEADING INTO TONIGHT'S GAME
Injury report: OG Anunoby (sprained right ankle) is listed as out and Delon Wright (sprained right big toe) as doubtful for Friday's game. For the Rockets, Ryan Anderson (left hip soreness) is listed as doubtful, and Brandan Wright (right knee soreness) is not with the team.
Playoffs clinched: The Raptors defeated the Detroit Pistons 121-119 in overtime on Wednesday, becoming the first NBA team to secure a playoff berth. This is the earliest date Toronto has ever qualified for the postseason and the fewest number of games played (64) to qualify.
Home court: The Raptors take on the Rockets on the Air Canada Centre floor on Friday, where they are an NBA-best 27-5 this season. Toronto is averaging 112.8 points per game at home, and 11.7 thee-point field goals. The Rockets lead the NBA in made three-pointers per game, averaging 15.5 per contest.
EXTRA ASSISTS
Dominant DeRozan: DeMar DeRozan played one of the best games of his career against the Pistons, punctuated by a thunderous dunk with 4.6 seconds remaining that became an immediate frontrunner for Dunk of the Year. DeRozan scored 42 points (16-for-28 field goals) to go with four rebounds and six assists in 43 minutes. In overtime, with the game on the line and the ball in his hands, DeRozan again drove to the hoop, passing to Fred VanVleet for a long two to give Toronto the lead -- and the win -- with a second remaining.
Passing point guard: Kyle Lowry had a 15-point, 15-assist double-double in Wednesday's victory in Detroit. This was a season-high in assists for Lowry, and it snapped a streak of 446 consecutive games for Toronto without a player reaching 15+ assists. The Raptors as a whole had 33 assists on 45 made field goals, moving the team to 40-10 on the season when recording at least 20 assists in a game.
Rockets on fire: Houston comes to Toronto having won 17 straight games. The Rockets defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 110-99 on Wednesday, behind James Harden's 26 points. Harden is averaging a league-high 30.9 points per game to go with 8.9 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.93 steals per game. It has been all but impossible to stop him this year, so the Raptors will do their best to slow him. Harden has scored at least 20 points in a half 25 times this season.
zeke
The Dube Abides
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big test tonight.
Let's see how the 2 teams actually match up, player to player....
The Big 2
Demar: 34.1mpg, 29.5usg%, 56.4ts%, 14.2pie, 22.3per, +7.3netrtg, +2.6bpm, +2.33rpm
Harden: 35.7mpg, 36.0usg%, 62.4ts%, 19.3pie, 30.2per, +10.9netrtg, +10.9bpm, +6.90rpm
Lowry: 32.1mpg, 21.7usg%, 58.8ts%, 13.6pie, 19.4per, +7.4netrtg, +5.9bpm, +4.55rpm
Paul: 32.1mpg, 24.7usg%, 61.0ts%, 16.8pie, 24.9per, +13.4netrtg, +7.5bpm, +7.04rpm
The Rockets' Big 2 are....really fricken good. obviously. Our guys are good, but not that good.
That being said, these are two diametrically opposite teams - their big 2 dominate usage to a massive degree, while the Raps are one of the most spread out usage teams in the league.
The Other Starters
Ibaka: 27.3mpg, 19.3usg%, 57.8ts%, 9.9pie, 15.0per, +7.6netrtg, -0.3bpm, +0.43rpm
Anderson: 27.5mpg, 14.5usg%, 59.3ts%, 7.8pie, 12.6per, +5.9netrtg, +0.2bpm, -0.43rpm
Jonas: 22.4mpg, 21.6usg%, 62.3ts%, 14.3pie, 21.0per, +5.9netrtg, +1.1bpm, +0.87rpm
Capela: 27.3mpg, 20.0usg%, 65.5ts%, 15.5pie, 25.0per, +10.8netrtg, +2.8bpm, +2.66rpm
OG: 20.5mpg, 12.3usg%, 57.2ts%, 5.6pie, 9.8per, +11.5netrtg, +0.7bpm, +1.01rpm
Ariza: 34.6mpg, 14.0usg%, 59.4ts%, 8.0pie, 12.5per, +7.8netrtg, +2.1bpm, +1.19rpm
The rest of the starters are....actually pretty comparable. Capela has the edge on Jonas, Ibaka the edge on Anderson, while OG is pretty much a baby Ariza.
Bench
Poeltl: 18.4mpg, 14.7usg%, 64.7ts%, 9.3pie, 17.1per, +11.2netrtg, +3.1bpm, +1.19rpm
Nene: 14.9mpg, 18.8usg%, 62.0ts%, 9.7pie, 16.8per, +16.8netrtg, -0.9bpm, +2.28rpm
Siakim: 20.3mpg, 15.8usg%, 54.4ts%, 10.4pie, 14.7per, +9.4netrtg, +2.6bpm, +1.78rpm
Tucker: 27.7mpg, 9.9usg%, 53.6ts%, 5.7pie, 8.0per, +11.1netrtg, -0.2bpm, +0.31rpm
Miles: 18.6mpg, 21.8usg%, 57.4ts%, 8.8pie, 15.1per, +8.3netrtg, +0.8bpm, +0.70rpm
Moute: 26.6mpg, 12.8usg%, 60.2ts%, 6.6pie, 9.9per, +13.0netrtg, -0.1bpm, +2.36rpm
Wright: 20.4mpg, 17.5usg%, 57.1ts%, 11.4pie, 16.2per, +8.3netrtg, +2.6bpm, +1.78rpm
Green: 21.6mpg, 21.8usg%, 55.3ts%, 7.2pie, 13.0per, +4.9netrtg, -2.8bpm, -1.03rpm
VanVleet: 19.5mpg, 19.3usg%, 54.2ts%, 11.0pie, 15.3per, +14.2netrtg, +1.8bpm, +4.05rpm
Gordon: 31.7mpg, 24.8usg%, 57.3ts%, 9.0pie, 15.2per, +11.8netrtg, -1.4bpm, +1.13rpm
Some conflicting data here.....by netrtg the 2 benches actually look pretty comparable.....but by both the pers/pies and the bpms/rpms, the raps' bench have a pretty massive edge.
Extras
Bebe: 8.6mpg, 12.3usg%, 65.9ts%, 9.9pie, 16.9per, +5.1netrtg, +5.1bpm, +0.82rpm
Black: 10.11mpg, 16.6usg%, 57.2ts%, 6.0pie, 14.0per, -7.2netrtg, -1.5bpm, -2.58rpm
Powell: 15.8mpg, 19.3usg%, 49.6ts%, 5.8pie, 9.0per, +0.6netrtg, -2.4bpm, -3.33rpm
Johnson: 22.4mpg, 16.5usg%, 49.2ts%, 6.9pie, 8.4per, -5.5netrtg, -3.7bpm, -4.05rpm
Bebe is actually useful, while Black is an out and out liability.
And, shockingly, as bad as Norm has been, Joe has been much worse.
The general consensus is that the Rockets are in a different class than the Raps, but imo there's some legit good reasons to believe the rosters aren't all that far apart overall.
Let's see how the 2 teams actually match up, player to player....
The Big 2
Demar: 34.1mpg, 29.5usg%, 56.4ts%, 14.2pie, 22.3per, +7.3netrtg, +2.6bpm, +2.33rpm
Harden: 35.7mpg, 36.0usg%, 62.4ts%, 19.3pie, 30.2per, +10.9netrtg, +10.9bpm, +6.90rpm
Lowry: 32.1mpg, 21.7usg%, 58.8ts%, 13.6pie, 19.4per, +7.4netrtg, +5.9bpm, +4.55rpm
Paul: 32.1mpg, 24.7usg%, 61.0ts%, 16.8pie, 24.9per, +13.4netrtg, +7.5bpm, +7.04rpm
The Rockets' Big 2 are....really fricken good. obviously. Our guys are good, but not that good.
That being said, these are two diametrically opposite teams - their big 2 dominate usage to a massive degree, while the Raps are one of the most spread out usage teams in the league.
The Other Starters
Ibaka: 27.3mpg, 19.3usg%, 57.8ts%, 9.9pie, 15.0per, +7.6netrtg, -0.3bpm, +0.43rpm
Anderson: 27.5mpg, 14.5usg%, 59.3ts%, 7.8pie, 12.6per, +5.9netrtg, +0.2bpm, -0.43rpm
Jonas: 22.4mpg, 21.6usg%, 62.3ts%, 14.3pie, 21.0per, +5.9netrtg, +1.1bpm, +0.87rpm
Capela: 27.3mpg, 20.0usg%, 65.5ts%, 15.5pie, 25.0per, +10.8netrtg, +2.8bpm, +2.66rpm
OG: 20.5mpg, 12.3usg%, 57.2ts%, 5.6pie, 9.8per, +11.5netrtg, +0.7bpm, +1.01rpm
Ariza: 34.6mpg, 14.0usg%, 59.4ts%, 8.0pie, 12.5per, +7.8netrtg, +2.1bpm, +1.19rpm
The rest of the starters are....actually pretty comparable. Capela has the edge on Jonas, Ibaka the edge on Anderson, while OG is pretty much a baby Ariza.
Bench
Poeltl: 18.4mpg, 14.7usg%, 64.7ts%, 9.3pie, 17.1per, +11.2netrtg, +3.1bpm, +1.19rpm
Nene: 14.9mpg, 18.8usg%, 62.0ts%, 9.7pie, 16.8per, +16.8netrtg, -0.9bpm, +2.28rpm
Siakim: 20.3mpg, 15.8usg%, 54.4ts%, 10.4pie, 14.7per, +9.4netrtg, +2.6bpm, +1.78rpm
Tucker: 27.7mpg, 9.9usg%, 53.6ts%, 5.7pie, 8.0per, +11.1netrtg, -0.2bpm, +0.31rpm
Miles: 18.6mpg, 21.8usg%, 57.4ts%, 8.8pie, 15.1per, +8.3netrtg, +0.8bpm, +0.70rpm
Moute: 26.6mpg, 12.8usg%, 60.2ts%, 6.6pie, 9.9per, +13.0netrtg, -0.1bpm, +2.36rpm
Wright: 20.4mpg, 17.5usg%, 57.1ts%, 11.4pie, 16.2per, +8.3netrtg, +2.6bpm, +1.78rpm
Green: 21.6mpg, 21.8usg%, 55.3ts%, 7.2pie, 13.0per, +4.9netrtg, -2.8bpm, -1.03rpm
VanVleet: 19.5mpg, 19.3usg%, 54.2ts%, 11.0pie, 15.3per, +14.2netrtg, +1.8bpm, +4.05rpm
Gordon: 31.7mpg, 24.8usg%, 57.3ts%, 9.0pie, 15.2per, +11.8netrtg, -1.4bpm, +1.13rpm
Some conflicting data here.....by netrtg the 2 benches actually look pretty comparable.....but by both the pers/pies and the bpms/rpms, the raps' bench have a pretty massive edge.
Extras
Bebe: 8.6mpg, 12.3usg%, 65.9ts%, 9.9pie, 16.9per, +5.1netrtg, +5.1bpm, +0.82rpm
Black: 10.11mpg, 16.6usg%, 57.2ts%, 6.0pie, 14.0per, -7.2netrtg, -1.5bpm, -2.58rpm
Powell: 15.8mpg, 19.3usg%, 49.6ts%, 5.8pie, 9.0per, +0.6netrtg, -2.4bpm, -3.33rpm
Johnson: 22.4mpg, 16.5usg%, 49.2ts%, 6.9pie, 8.4per, -5.5netrtg, -3.7bpm, -4.05rpm
Bebe is actually useful, while Black is an out and out liability.
And, shockingly, as bad as Norm has been, Joe has been much worse.
The general consensus is that the Rockets are in a different class than the Raps, but imo there's some legit good reasons to believe the rosters aren't all that far apart overall.
BlueForever75
Registered User
- Oct 4, 2017
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Will hurt but we still have Powell to defend. He still does that well even though he isn't scoring much. I see Powell in starting lineup tonight and it being a statement game guarding Harden. As for Delon, I believe Van Fleet will cover in his absence and do a standup job.
It will definitely be a great test for the Raps tonight. Looking forward to what Lowry does since Houston is his former team and he was interested in going back last off-season only for Houston to balk at it. Prove it game for Lowry I believe.
stickty111
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- Jan 23, 2017
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Suntouchable13
Registered User
2 elite teams. Man, it would be so good if they end Houston's win streak.
stickty111
Registered User
- Jan 23, 2017
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We have beat them before. We can beat them again.
One thing is for sure though, Raps wont get any calls from the officials.
Ignatius Reilly
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- Nov 25, 2010
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Best in the east against the best in the west. (at least numerically, for now).
I would love for us to end their streak.
Bad news about OG and Delon.
Good news is Norm is looking better lately. And the Rockets have got to be terrified of the Jonas 3!
Fingers crossed for a great game, for our guys to show their stuff and for the refs to.... be in the background.
I would love for us to end their streak.
Bad news about OG and Delon.
Good news is Norm is looking better lately. And the Rockets have got to be terrified of the Jonas 3!
Fingers crossed for a great game, for our guys to show their stuff and for the refs to.... be in the background.
AcerComputer
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- Aug 4, 2014
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Anyone notice on ESPN under teams, the raptors logo is greyed out instead of Red or Black. While all the other teams have colour (except Brooklyn as they use Black and white only). weird.
The Nemesis
Semper Tyrannus
The grey version is one of the official alternate takes for the Raptors logo.
Toronto Raptors Alternate Logo - National Basketball Association (NBA) - Chris Creamer's Sports Logos Page - SportsLogos.Net
I suspect they may have chosen it so that it stands out in the set, especially vs the high number of red logos around the league and the black-and-white logo of the in-division Nets.
Suntouchable13
Registered User
The Nemesis
Semper Tyrannus
AcerComputer
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- Aug 4, 2014
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The Nemesis
Semper Tyrannus
Because the main logo is the roundel with "Toronto Raptors" written around it'll look like crap when it's tiny.
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