On Saturday, the Toronto Raptors shocked the NBA...well, at least they shocked the Detroit Pistons anyway! This team came back from 25 points down to defeat Detroit in a thriller, 120-116. Of course, as life would have it, I couldn't see the game because I was at church. It's all right though; you have to put the most important things first or you risk committing idolatry. Back to the Raptors though...the Pistons in the game scored 72 first-half points and had the Raptors down by 25 points late in the 3rd quarter. With 10:37 left in the final frame, T.O. was still down by 17 before they embarked on their furious rally. They started with a 17-6 run to make the score 110-104. After that Toronto in effect said, "Bombs away!" and started nailing 3-pointers left and right! Key contributers and stars Leandro Barbosa, Andrea Bargnani, and Jerryd Bayless went back-to-back-to-back on the next three Raptors possessions to give the team a 113-110. Free throws sealed the deal after. The star of the game wasn't Andrea Bargnani, Sonny Weems, DeMar DeRozan, or even a solid player of the likes of Amir Johnson or Linus Kleiza. Instead, it was the reserve guard Jerryd Bayless, who has had to play on the starting lineup because of a current injury to Jose Calderon. He collected a career-high-tying 31 points to go along with 7 assists and 5 rebounds. However, Jerryd was, according to the recap, "just as guilty as several of his teammates for some troubling defensive play that led to easy Detroit buckets in the first half." I guess that's how good players are born though: you learn how to battle through the tough times to get the victory. Some final notes from the game before I give out the sports links:
- The Raptors shot an unbelievable 64.3% from the 3-point line in the game.
- They also shot a torrid 62.9% overall for the entire contest. It must have been some game. Now the team gets to rest until Tuesday night when they travel to Charlotte, North Carolina to take on the Bobcats. That game starts at 7 PM on TSN. Read how Toronto achieved their AMAZING comeback!
Now, for the London Knights...it's been a rough ride for them this year. They are currently sitting at 14-14, good for 7th place in the Ontario Hockey League's Western Conference. This weekend, they lost a tough game on Thursday to the Guelph Storm in London with a score of 4-3. Here's the recap for the Guelph game. After that, the Knights hosted the Erie Otters on Friday on the night of their annual "teddy bear toss". Fans will usually bring a teddy bear or any other stuffed animal to those games and throw them onto the ice when the Knights score their 1st goal. The goodies usually benefit a local London organization such as the Salvation Army. As for the game, the Knights were humiliated 9-4 at the hands of Erie. Here's that game. The Knights finally got some good news to finish off their weekend. They defeated the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 4-2 behind goals from Jared Knight, Daniel Erlich, Chris DeSouza, and Seth Griffith. The Greyhound goals came from Rudy Sulmonte and Brett Findlay. The shots on goal for the game benefited the London Knights by a count of 51-30. (Sounds like a halftime score for an NBA basketball game!) One final note: a fight took place in the game between London's Victor Terreri and Sault Ste. Marie's Dylan King. They both received a 5 minute major penalty for the fight. Here is the recap link.
London now plays Friday vs the Owen Sound Attack to finish off their 4-game home-stand. The game starts at 7:30 PM. Also too, I have some bad news: the Miami Heat have now won 8 straight games and sit in 2nd place in the NBA's Eastern Conference. However, LeBron was booed almost every time he touched the ball in those wins, so it all evens out! Don't worry; there can still be upsets when it comes to the playoffs! Don't count out teams like the Spurs to trash Miami when those times come! Here are the recaps: Heat's Win vs Golden State, Heat's Win vs Sacramento Until the Raptors play next, take care!
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