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There are a number of ways I could put a negative spin on last night's win over the Bobcats if I wanted to. I could point out that the Bobcats were 1-13 in road games going into the game so it's no great shakes to beat them in Toronto by four points. I could mention that Charlotte had only scored 100 or more points in seven of their previous 29 games so the fact that the Bobcats scored 103 points last night indicates that the Raptors' defence still isn't very good. I could even speculate that if Tyson Chandler was in the lineup, he probably would have been the game-changer that would have allowed the Bobcats to complete the upset.
But I don't want to do any of those things, because last night's game was fucking awesome.
Last night's 107-103 victory over the Bobcats was just one of those super-entertaining games where I don't think I would have been all that upset if the Raptors had lost because it was so fun to watch. Sure it was sloppy at times (the teams combined for 32 turnovers — 22 of those by Charlotte) and chippy at other times (how about Marcus Banks' super-aggressive box-out of Gerald Wallace?) but I ultimately found it to be the most riveting game of the Raptors' season since they shocked the Cavaliers in their first game.
There were ample highlights to this game for fans of both teams. For Raptors fans, it was the monster performance of the Killer Bs, Bosh and Bargnani, Marco Belinelli's running buzzer beater at the end of the third quarter, and Bargnani's clutch three-pointer to give the Raptors a four-point lead with 10 seconds left. For Bobcats fans, it would have to be the offensive fearlessness of Stephen Jackson, the temporary unstoppability of Raymond Felton and the always-entertaining, balls-out play of Gerald Wallace. Even if you were a fan of the losing squad, there was no way you felt bored watching this game.
Bargnani's exuberance after his clutch trey had to have put smiles on a lot of your faces. It was great to see him finally come up big in a crucial moment like that, and his leaping, smiling response was a welcome change from the stoic, almost-dopey-looking expression he usually has on his face. Apparently, the heart of a competitor who wants to win does, in fact, beat in his chest.
This five-game winning streak is important not just because it brings the Raptors within a game of .500, but because it has instilled them with a confidence and swagger they've been lacking all season. They're going to need that swagger to have a chance of winning at least two of the next five games (at Celtics, vs. Spurs, at Magic, at Sixers, vs. Boston). The Raptors have a 1-11 record this season against teams that are currently seven or more games over .500, and Philly is the only team that they face in the next five games who aren't in that category. So there's a distinct possibility the Raptors could follow this five-game winning streak with a 1-4 run or a spirit crushing five-game tailspin.
But you know what? I no longer assume that's what is going to happen during this next stretch. It doesn't hurt that the Celtics will most likely be without Paul Pierce and could also be missing Kevin Garnett to injuries in one or both of these games. Perhaps more importantly, this team has finally started to develop an identity as a team that will battle you right to the closing buzzer whether you're the Nets or the Magic — and that's what good teams do.
Talent isn't enough to win in this league — hell, this team has had plenty of talent all along. There needs to be chemistry and spirit and hustle and toughness. Those elements were lacking before this winning streak. Now, guys like Jarrett Jack and Sonny Weems and Amir Johnson and Antoine Wright — yes, the same Antoine Wright who I thought might be the worst player in the NBA earlier this season — are bringing those elements to complement the stars. They're diving for loose balls, battling for tough rebounds, making the unselfish pass to the open teammate. This is what winning teams do — not that Raptors fans would have necessarily known that until recently.
And so we enter the new year on a high note. 2010 will be the ninth calendar year for RaptorBlog.com and I enter this new year actually a little bit excited about this team for the first time in a long time. Maybe that should be my New Year's resolution: to actually allow myself to be optimistic about the future of this team.
Ahhh, who am I kidding? I suck at New Year's resolutions. Check in with me five games from now and we'll see how I'm doing.
Update: Here are the RaptorBlog clutch stats (last two minutes of the fourth quarter or all of overtime, neither team ahead by more than five points) after last night's game. Toronto had a crunch-time lineup of Jack-Belinelli-Wright-Bosh-Bargnani last night, and Bargnani's big trey was the first one he had hit in 16 clutch minutes this season.
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