By RB.com Minister of Disinformation B-Huge.

Let's set the table first. The Raptors are down 5 points with under 10 seconds remaining. They need a miracle finish to pull this game out. Alvin Williams attempts a 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds left in the game and Jazz guard Raul Lopez fouls him. Perhaps Lopez thought Coach Sloan was telling him to insanely foul everything that took a shot.

The Alvinator makes all three of his shots. Now all the Jazz have to do is inbound the ball and the game is pretty much done. Instead of a typical finish Raptor fans get something that reminds them of Reggie Miller versus the Knicks or Larry Bird versus the Pistons. When inbounding the ball Andrei Kirilenko forgets that Milt Palacio is not a man; he's a little piece of iron. Palacio steals the ball! Palacio steals the ball! (And this will be the last time ever that Milt Palacio gets compared to Reggie Miller, Larry Bird, and John Havilcek all in the same paragraph). Timeout is called with 2.8 seconds left. In the huddle Coach O'Neill points across the floor to Kirilenko and screams, "He's worried. You cut him. You hurt him. You see he's not a machine."

The ball is inbounded to Donyell Marshall miles from the basket. Kirilenko panics, perhaps due to a sudden bout of roid-rage, and leaves Vince Carter alone under the basket. Marshall to Carter, and the easy lay-up puts the game into overtime. Surely the Raptors are the team of destiny tonight. Uh no. Kirilenko gathers himself and declares, "You will lose."

And they did. Raja Bell buries a wide open 3-pointer. Kirilenko blocks his sixth shot of the game against Carter and less than a minute later makes a back-breaking 3-point play. Jarron Collins ices the game with a couple free throws. The Raptors fall back to .500, about where they were before the "other Chicago trade" was made. The only Christmas present this reporter ended up getting was two chances to make unfettered Rocky IV references in a week.