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| by: Nelson Granados | February 18, 2009 6:23 PM | comments: (0) |
There’s something about the first game back from All-Star weekend that screams, rejuvenation!
It feels like a fresh start for the Toronto Raptors tonight at home against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The “unofficial” second half of the season gets underway and the Raptors will be sporting a new look team. Shawn Marion, or “The Matrix” as he is also known, will make his debut along with Marcus Banks.
Unfortunately, All-Star forward, Chris Bosh will be sidelined with his ongoing knee sprain, so the full effect of this trade won’t really be felt just yet.
So the penultimate team in the Eastern Conference is five-and-a-half games out of a playoff spot with 27 games left in the season entering a key stretch of games. After tonight, the Raptors will play a home and home against the New York Knicks, one of the teams they must leapfrog in the standings, followed by a winnable game against Minnesota, before closing out the month in Phoenix.
I am channelling my inner optimist, hoping that this season can still be saved, if only so Torontonians can experience some sort of playoff excitement from one of their major teams.
So it begins tonight. Maybe these Raptors can recreate the same magic that led the 2002-2003 squad to an incredible turnaround. Maybe this team can go on a miraculous run to make it into the playoffs in the final stretch of the season. Maybe TSN2 and Rogers Communications can kiss and make up and basketball fans across the province can actually watch their team play.
I know, I’m asking too much.
n.granados@hotmail.com
Ty Warman, Tomer Berman, Ryan Bolta, Cory Clements and Nelson Granados blog about all things sports for Metro.
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