| And everyone can now breathe a huge sigh of relief that it wasn't the Raptors who helped end Orlando's now 15-game losing streak. Were you aware that their one and only win was in overtime against the Knicks? Yes, that's right, Orlando really, really sucks. In so many, many ways. For example, you think the Raptors have got point guard problems? Tyronn Lue is apparently John Gabriel's definition of an upgrade from Darryl Armstrong, and Rod Strickland is their darkhorse free agent saviour. Let's take a look at the combined stats of Ty and Rod vs. Alvin Williams alone:
Alvinator 6-11 for 15 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers
Ty + Rod 3-15 for 8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 7 turnovers
Now, Milt Palacio did stink up the gym again, so there's no question that we could still use some help at the guard position, but it sure looks like Alvin has recovered his confidence and is ready to contribute in the way he is expected to. There were a few dicey moments: a few badly missed shots, and a tumble over Strickland that tweaked one of those uninsurable ankles, but still a solid effort that gave us four starters in double figures. And when was the last time we saw that? The odd man out was Lamond Murray, who got tossed by the refs for having no game.
Oh yeah, and then there was that head-to-head family thing between Vince and T-Mac. Both guys pretty much sucked for three quarters. Typical for Vince, since he can't seem to produce two big games in a row. Typical for T-Mac, who just can't seem to get his head in the game when surrounded by such a shitty team. But the fourth quarter lived up to the billing as McGrady shoved a horseshoe up his ass and chucked up a bunch of shots that bounced off the ceiling lighting and still went in, while Vince dropped some dimes and hit the one basket that really counted.
The big mystery of this game is why the hell Tracy dished off to Tyronn Lue for the final shot, which was inevitably missed. He'd ignored his team for the last 11 minutes and 57 seconds, and hit everything he'd spit up, so why change strategy now? My theory is that T-Mac decided that Vince's mediocre shooting night was due to the fact that Vince was playing team ball, and decided that this was the one battle in the head-to-head that he hadn't won yet. So he passed the ball. Fucking idiot. And then he lost, so he didn't win that battle either.
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