The Anatomy of Wins and Losses in the NBA:
Breaking Down Key Possessions
Game 15 – Tor 99 @ NYK (16-38) 103, L 9-6 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 14 – TOR 127 vs Orl (34-21) 110, W 9-5 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 13 – TOR 109 vs Njn (22-30) 91, W 8-5 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 12 – TOR 88 vs Sas (33-17) 93, L 7-5 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 11 – Tor 105 @ MIN (10-38) 82, W 7-4 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 10 – TOR 98 v Lac (15-31) 102, L 6-4 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 9 – Tor 114 @ MIA (9-36) 82, W 6-3 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 8 – TOR 101 vs LAL (28-16) 121, L 5-3 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 7 – TOR 122 vs Was (24-19) 85, W 5-2 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 6 – Tor 104 @ WAS (23-19) 108, OT, L 4-2 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 5 – TOR 106 vs Mil (17-26) 75, W 4-1 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 4 – Tor 114 @ BOS (33-6) 112, W 3-1 … Boxscore
Game 3 – Tor 95 @ PHI (15-25) 99, L 2-1 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 2 – TOR 89 vs Atl (17-18) 78, W 2-0 … Boxscore, Full Play-By-Play
Game 1 – TOR 116 vs Sac (15-21) 91, W 1-0
Record vs >.500 Opp: 3-3 (.500)
Record vs ≤.500 Opp: 6-3 (.667)
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Key Possessions which determined the W-L result:
Some NBA games are decided during (I) a specific segment in the early stages, and (II) the final minute of play … like this one, when
Part I
2nd Quarter
10:23 … Jamal Crawford (G) subbed back in for Malik Rose (NYK 12, TOR 25)
08:38 … Andrea Bargnani (C) subbed back in for Chris Bosh
08:09-06:24 … Toronto scored on only 1 of 4 possessions; while New York scored on 5 of 6 … allowing the Knicks to get back into the game by reducing a 14 pt deficit (16-30) to just 6 pts (26-32) … on the strength of 4 consecutive FG’s by Crawford & 1 FG by Fred Jones (G) vs the Raptors’ backcourt tandem of TJ Ford (PG) & Carlos Delfino (OG)
Part II
4th Quarter
01:01 … Delfino missed the 2nd of two FTA’s (Tor 95, NYK 97)
00:40 … Zach Randolph saved a busted play by miraculously dribbling between his legs, driving into the lane (from the top of the key), and scoring 1-on-1 vs Bosh (NYK 99, Tor 95)
00:39 … Jose Calderon shot an airball on an uncontested 3 (46.6%), off a sideline out-of-bounds play (Tor 95, NYK 99)
00:20 … Bosh took only his 7th 3-pt shot of the season, and missed (Tor 95, NYK 99)
00:07 … Delfino missed a 3-pt shot (Tor 95, NYK 99)
00:03-00:00 … Nate Robinson put the game on ice by making 4 consecutive FT’s
Key Raptors:
TJ Ford (2 TO), Jose Calderon (0-1, FGA/00.0%; 0-1, 3FGA/00.0%) & Chris Bosh (0-1, FGA/00.0%; 0-1, 3FGA/00.0%)
Vital Components:
- Part I … Kris Humphries‘ ‘missed Layup Shot’ sandwiched between 2 TO’s by Ford, while Calderon & Bosh were out
- Part II … uncharacteristically poor play (i.e. execution & decision-making) by Toronto’s two best players, Bosh & Calderon
Note 1: When Bosh & Calderon DO NOT play like this … the Raptors are just an ‘average-above average’ team in the Eastern Conference.
Next Game:
vs New York, 17-38 (Sun Feb 24)
