


*Click on logos for boxscores
Arenas Buries Raptors at the Buzzer (96-93 Wizards)
December 26, 2009
DeShawn Stevenson shot the Wizards out of the game in the first place, but it was Stevenson who shot them back into it as he and Washington's big three came from behind to steal a game from the Raptors. It's not coming off as a surprise anymore that the Raptors would lose a lead in the final quarter and blow their chances of winning a game. Toronto allowed four of the Wizards' five starters to score at least 20 points or more, which in turn allowed the Wizards to bounce back from a double digit lead that the Raptors had throughout the first two quarters.
"It's always frustrating to let a team back into after you think you played a good part of the game really well," said Raptors centre Andrea Bargnani, who led the way for Toronto with a 21 point 14 rebound double-double. Bargnani's teammate Chuck Terrell echoed those statements, but also cited poor free throw shooting by the Raptors as a part of the problem. "We lost by three points and we went 13 for 21 from the line... I think we can all do the math," said an upset Terrell.
Toronto had managed to keep DeShawn Stevenson in check for most of the game, forcing him to shoot 6/16 from the field prior to the fourth quarter and held a 75-66 lead heaing into the fourth. However, the combined efforts of Caron Butler and Stevenson managed to quickly erase that deficit mid way through the quarter, as Butler racked up three quick steals which all led to points for the Wizards at the other end. Stevenson also hit 5 of his 7 shots down the stretch to give Washington their first lead of the game, 90-89 with 1:42 left. Chuck Terrell tried to stop the run with a dunk to give the Raptors the lead once again, but a Gilbert Arenas three pointer followed by a Bargnani jumper knotted the game up at 93 apiece with 12.3 seconds remaining. Arenas however was up to his old tricks in the waning seconds of the game as he elevated over Jose Calderon for a buzzer beating three pointer that netted the Wizards the victory.
Notes:
-The Raptors and Wizards were both 3-7 in their last 10 games prior to this game.
-Washington has now taken a series lea of 2-1 between Toronto.
-The Raptors will hope to even out the series for the season as they play Washington for the fourth and final time on December 31st.

Gilbert Arenas displayed his late-game heroics once again, this time against the struggling Raptors.
Player of the Game

Caron Butler
Pts - 21
Rebs - 1
Asts - 4
FG - 8/11
Stls - 4


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Raptors WIthout Marion Struggle to Rebound (97-82 Sixers)
December 27, 2009
The downward spiral continues with Toronto as they are now 0-3 without their all-star forward Chris Bosh. Shawn Marion, Bosh's replacement for the injured forward was absent this game along with Nathan Jawai presumably due to a pending trade involving those players. The Toronto struggled mightily to keep up with the Sixers after the first half when most of the Raptor starters became fatigued due to their huge lack of depth with Marion unavailable to play.
Toronto's lack of big men let the Sixers big men walk all over them, as Philhadelphia pushed the game out of reach with their offensive rebounding. Overall Toronto had outrebounded Phihadelphia as neither team shot very well from the field, but second chance opportunities was what put the Sixers on top as they had 16 offensive rebounds. "It doesn't matter how many guys we have available to play, the bottom line is that we got killed on the glass offensively," Raptors coach Jay Triano had stated after the game with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "It was an ugly offensive game from both sides, but if you let the other team outhustle you and beat you at the little things, you're going to end up humiliating yourself."
In addition to their lackadaisical effort on the defensive glass, Toronto allowed the Sixers to capitalize on their dribble penetration. The Raptors handed out 34 freebies at the free throw line to the Sixers but Philhadelphia could not fully capitalize at the charity stripe as they only hit 25 of them. This was a sharp contrast to Toronto's usual defense, as they allow teams to shoot over 50% from the field and have committed the least amount of fouls this season.
Notes:
-The Raptors last met with the Sixers on November 2nd, beating them 103-96.
-Toronto is now on the outside looking in as they have slid to 9th place in the Eastern Conference after this loss.
-ESPN reports that a Shawn Marion deal is close to being announced around the time of the game, so Marion was ineligible to be in uniform.

Thaddeus Young impacted the game heavily with his 6 offensive boards.
Player of the Game

Elton Brand
Pts - 25
Rebs - 13
Asts - 5
FG - 11/21
Off. Rebs - 3


It's Official - Marion Dealt to Portland
Webster, Heller and Frye Heading Up North

Mike Ulmer - raptors.com
December 27, 2009





Although there have been rumblings all week that Shawn Marion could be dealt to a number of different teams, it was officially announced almost immediately following the Sixers game that Marion would be moved to the Trail Blazers along with sophomore big man Nathan Jawai to Portland in exchange for power forward Channing Frye, shooting guard Martell Webster and combo guard Antoine Heller.
Insider sources had initially reported that Marion was extremely close to being sent to Denver in exchange for J.R. Smith, but the deal ultimately fell apart when Colangelo also asked for Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza to be included in the deal.
"Our depth was the number one priority when it came to deciding where Marion should go," Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo said. "Our bench productively was not up to par this season, so we felt that we needed to acquire more than one player in an exchange for Marion that would mutually benefit both teams."
Marion was reportedly unhappy with his offensive role with the Raptors, as he curently averages 12.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists a night. "It really was unfortunate that we had to deal Marion, he's a player that I have a history with; I intitially drafted him in Phoenix and traded for him from Miami, but in the end it wasn't really working out," Colangelo explained.
The Raptors are near the bottom 5 in three point field goal percentage which was why Colangelo feels that Martell Webster is a key component in this trade. Webster however is a largely unproven commodity that also spent most of last season on the inactive list due to a foot injury. "I mean on paper if you look at his stats (9 games played, 3 points per game) he's a pretty unimpressive player," Colangelo said. "But if you look at his situation, he was in a major log jam at the small forward/shooting guard positions and was never given a chance to really show what he can do. He fits the bill for the shooter that we need right now and I wouldn't be surprised to see him perform well in a sixth man role for us."
Channing Frye has shown more stable production, as he is averaging 7 points a game and 3.3 rebounds per game as a back-up for Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge. "He's another player that doesn't get a lot of playing time to show what he can do,"said Colangelo in his assessment of Frye. "With Bosh out I think Frye can be a pretty solid substitute since they both play a somewhat similar game and at the same time prove that he can continue to build on that once promising rookie season that he had."
The X-factor of the trade could prove to be rookie Antoine Heller, a 6'6 point guard out of Santa Clara. Heller has recently come on strong for the Blazers as he has started the last 10 games for the Blazers and is averaging 5.3 points per game and 2.1 assists per game, but has averaged 12.3 points per game and 4.1 assists as a starter. Colangelo was adamant about including the 21 year old in the deal as he had previously expressed interest in acquiring Heller on draft night, although Toronto currently has a log jam at the guard positions. Heller however shows a ton of promise which explains why he was drafted as the 6th overall pick in the draft by Portland.
All three players should be ready by thursday when the Raptors visit the New York Knicks.



Martell Webster (left) will hope to break out with Toronto. Antoine Heller (middle) is an interesting young guard but faces an uphill battle in the Raptors depth chart. Channing Frye (right) should bring some relief at the power forward spot for the time being.


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New Look Raptors Impress in First Game (101-78 Raptors)
December 29, 2009
It wasn't the newest players in a Raptors uniform that garnered the most attention throughout the game, but it was Jose Calderon and Chuck Terrell who stole the show. Terrell and Calderon combined for 44 of the Raptors 101 points as Toronto snapped their three game losing skid with a sense of urgency.
New Raptors Channing Frye and Martell Webster both had solid debuts, but what was most significant was Toronto's usually porous defense limited New York to only 37% shooting. "With Channing and Martell, we're now a very long and athletic team," said Rodney Carney, who finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds on 5 of 7 shooting. "A lot of the times before we couldn't run as much because we couldn't get any stops."
Never once was the momentum in New York's favour. With New York's weak offensive performance throughout all four quarters, they struggled to keep up with Toronto until Toronto's lead finally mounted high enough to blow them game wide open. The fourth quarter was mainly garbage time, but Frye and Webster remained in the game to help get a better feel for Toronto's playbook. "The offense is pretty simple," Webster said as he finished with 9 points and 5 rebounds off the bench despite going 0/4 from beyond the arc. "I think it's only a matter of time before I get my legs back into my shot and start knocking down shows again."
Notes:
-Chuck Terrell registered a career high 4 steals. He also registered his career high of 30 points against the Knicks on November 17 and loves to play against New York as he averages 23.3 points per game against them.
-Knicks' leading scorer Al Harrington is out for 7 more weeks with a bone spur injury.
-The series between the Knicks and the Raptors is now in the Raptors favour as they lead the series 2-1.

Toronto displayed a ton of hustle on the defensive end tonight.
Player of the Game

Chuck Terrell
Pts - 23
Rebs - 5
Asts - 2
FG - 8/20
Stls - 4


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Wizards Claim Series Against Raptors (116-95 Washington)
December 31, 2009
The Raptors just can't seem to figure out the run and gun Washington Wizards as they were absolutely swamped by the Wizards' late game push. Both teams did what they did best, and that was try to out-score the opposing team, but it was the Wizards who managed to one-up Toronto in the turnovers department, forcing them to mis-handle the ball 18 times. The front court of Chuck Terrell, Andrea Bargnani and Channing Frye combined for 11 of those 18 turnovers. "We were able to keep up with them until they started getting in the passing lanes," Raptors forward Reggie Evans said. "That really threw off our rhythm."
Each quarter featured drastic swings of momentum where one team would score several uncontested baskets consecutively. This was mostly due to the amount of ball thefts that were made during the game, as Toronto racked up 9 steals while Washington had 11. Washington eventually took a 20 point lead thanks to an 18-5 run in the third quarter, but Toronto's free throw shooting helped them battle back to keep within striking distance.
After a Martell Webster three pointer, the Raptors only trailed 95-88 half way into the final quarter but Washington immediately heated up from down town. DeShawn Stevenson hit his only two three pointers of the game in combination with another three ball by Nick Young to put the Raptors instantly out of reach and sealed the season series at 3-1. "If you look at our three point shooting (8/26) and compare it with their three point shooting (9/21), you can tell that they hit their shots when it mattered and we didn't," explained Chuck Terrell. "We shot about the same three point percentage until the fourth quarter when we tried to answer back with our own three pointers but we missed almost every one of them."
Notes:
-Strangely enough, the Wizards and the Raptors seemed to have switched positions. With Caron Butler injured last month, the Wizards were below .500 and in 9th place while the Raptors were above .500 and sitting at 7th place. Now that Bosh is injured, the Raptors are below .500 and in 9th place while the Wizards are now 7th in the East and above .500.
-The Wizards are now on a mini four game win streak, two of the wins coming at the expense of Toronto.
-This is Patrick O'Bryant's first DNP-CD since November 17 against the Charlotte Bobcats.

To showcase just how terribly Toronto handelled the ball... Even Brandon Haywood came up with a few steals.
Player of the Game

Caron Butler
Pts - 26
Rebs - 7
Asts - 5
FG - 11/24
Stls - 3
Raptor of the Week

Andrea Bargnani
With Bosh out, Bargnani has turned into a devasting double-double machine and the quiet go-to man for Toronto. While his shooting percentage has fallen a tad, it's still impressive considering that he shot 50%+ with Bosh in the lineup and it's only natural that his percentages dip because he has become more of a focal point for opposing defenses. His 9 attempts from beyond the arc this week also shows that he's trying to regain comfort form behind the arc, but he has continued to stay inconsistent from that area. For the most part, Bargnani is and was a solid force for Toronto, but he definitely can't do it alone as the Raptors continue to sink lower in the Eastern Conference without their all-star power forward.
PPG - 18.5
RPG - 12.8
APG - 2.5
FG% - 45%
3pt% - 33%
*Note: These are only averages for the week.