Basketbawful

Monday, January 23, 2006

Raptors lose to Lakers: A fair and balanced recap.

The Raptors were handed a 122-104 loss at the hands of the Lakers, almost entirely due to former lottery pick Rafael Araujo's sore shoulder.

The Raps enjoyed a comfortable 63-49 lead at the half. But the Raptors failed to find an adequate replacement for the injured Araujo, allowing Kwame Brown and the Lakers backcourt to score a combined 97 points and coast to the easy win, despite defensive specialist Jalen Rose forcing Kobe Bryant into 18 missed shots and 3 turnovers. Bryant received a technical in the the 4th, frustrated by the fact that he missed 18 shots and wasn't doing anything newsworthy.

Lamar Odom hit a crucial 3-pointer in the 4th to give the Lakers a 100-93 lead. Chris Mihm had a clutch 12 points and 8 boards.

The real story here is Araujo's future. A legit injury is frightening news for the Raptors, who are 12-13 after starting the season with 15 consecutive losses. It will be a struggle to replace Araujo's 2.1 ppg, which was sorely missed tonight.

The other big story tonight is Chris Bosh scoring 18 points, moving him into 8th place among the Raptor's all time leading scorers. You go boy!

The only significant news tonight. Trust us.

3 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Pretty funny concept.

1/23/2006 2:52 AM

Anonymous said...

Toronto looked lost without Araujo's leadership, athletic prowess, physical dominance and mental toughness. Oh and don't forget the intangibles...

1/23/2006 9:59 PM

Anonymous said...

nicely said, craig. how could toronto expect to win with jalen rose being the only player with tons of ridiculous tattoos? did kobe even play in this game?

1/24/2006 11:22 AM