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The Rick Report: Game #4
Toronto Raptors 77 Dallas Mavericks 71
Toronto 3-1
November 7th, 2003
Let's scrap this whole "Renew" theme. Obviously the right catch phrase for this Raptor season should be: A Win Is A Win. This was the fourth wince-inducing game in a row but Raptor fan go home happy for the third time. We can live with it I guess, but just think how bad these games are going to get when we start playing Miami or the Knicks.
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| This was Dallas's lowest-scoring game in 6 years. Leo Rautins kept harping on the awesome Raptor defense. I'm not so sure. Dallas playing the previous evening in Washington and this was their third game in four nights. They looked pretty dead-legged in that final quarter. It seemed as if every one of their jump shots came up short at the end. The Raptors had a five-day rest before this game.
Leo also kept saying that the Raptor offence would improve as the season moves on. Uh, Leo, aren't you being a bit of a homer? When Dallas misses it's due to the great Raptor defense, when Toronto misses it's because it's early in the season and the offence isn't clicking yet. Let's not forget that All-Star point guard Steve Nash did not play due to a shoulder injury too.
Thus far in this season I would have to vote Milt Palacio as the Raptor's most entertaining player. No one but Atlanta's Stephen Jackson has the uncanny ability to veer between spectacular and spectacularly bad on each trip down the court. During the final few possessions he managed to create a nice give-and-go for an open jumper that Vince stuffed home, took an offensive foul without the ball, chucked a pass a good 5 feet above Mo-Pete's head, and made a sweet break-away lay-up to ice the game. There should be some sort of Milt Palacio drinking game invented to make things even more interesting.
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