Game Two: Orlando vs Toronto

• Same lineups to start the game for both sides tonight. No small ball, probably later.
• TJ Ford forces a 27 foot three point attempt from the sideline. 24 second violation.
• Hedo with good position on Parker, taps back up the offensive rebound. No good. Rebound Parker. He can’t allow Hedo to get that low.
• Dwight Howard goaltending on a Rasho 4 footer. 2-2 all after 2 minutes
• Turnover, Jameer Nelson fastbreak to Hedo. Nice dunk. Turnover again, Maurice Evans tapped the post entry pass to Rasho away, it falls to Turkoglu in the corner of the court. Turkoglu just ran the whole floor and dunked again. He ran right down the middle, all five Raptors players turned their heads to him, nobody tried to stop him. Easy dunk. Turnover again, Lewis with a fast break dunk. Terrible sequence from the Raptors. Timeout Mitchell. The Raptors haven’t come out to play.
• Lewis blows by Bosh, dishes to Howard for the dunk
• Jameer Nelson with a lovely looping fastbreak pass to Hedo for the layup. Miss. Loose ball falls to Howard. Layup.
• Another quick shot by Toronto. Another defensive rebound, fastbreak and bucket from Orlando.
• TJ Ford has enough, takes it right to the rim, draws the foul and get
• 16-6. Bargnani shoots a quick three, defensive rebound, Hedo has it now. He’s strolling up the court, Bosh comes out, he turns up the gas and goes right to the rim. Layup.
• Another turnover. Up ahead to Nelson, cross court to Evans. Foul.
• Interesting stat from the Raptors. They’ve lost 10 of the last 15 quarters, being ouscored by 4.5ppg during the first quarter.
• Turnover by Bosh. Fastbreak three from Evans, offensive rebound, Hedo again with great position. This time he rips it away from Bargnani. Double foul on the tussle. Orlando ball. 20-6.
• Harp trap by Parker and Bargnani as they force Hedo into a turnover. He travelled.
• Bosh hits an 18 footer over Howard off the Calderon feed. Jose hesitated on his own shot attempt but got lucky that Bosh was in that much space.
• Defensive rebound Hedo. He rolls through the middle of the floor again, shake and bake at the top of the key, blasts by Parker, goes left into the lane, for the layup. Foul. Two FTs.
• Nelson to the rack for two. Nice move.
• Calderon three from the Bosh offensive rebound
• Nelson shoots the three over Jose. No good. He’s confident though. Little jab step, no hesitation.
• Bosh wants it, doesn’t get it, still doesn’t get it, get’s it, turns and faces up Dwight Howard, Dwight is two steps back. Bosh hits the cutter Delfino for the layup. Goaltending call on Dwight.
• Nelson roams into the paint, loses the hanlde, finds his way, kicks it to the corner to Evans. Three pointer.
• Bosh again, draws the foul on Dwight. He’ll head to the line.
• Jose Calderon looks much better tonight. He’s buzzing around looking to create. He’s getting closer to Nelson and playing better D. Bright start. He hit a jumper too, Raps need that.
• Calderon showing some full court pressure. Dooling handles it well. Screen and roll with Hedo, pass to Hedo in space, he drives it into the paint, draws the defense, kicks it to the shooter. No good.
• Jose Calderon has it, kicks it ahead quick to Delfino, Delfino drives into the paint and kicks it out, Jose passes up the three, drives into the paint and throws it 25 feet directly in between two of his teammates who were about 14 feet apart. Turnover. Bad turnover. He had a layup.
• Dwight Howard with a quick turn into the paint and the dunk. Bosh got caught on the help defense there. Nice pass by Bogans
• Dwight with a right handed jump hook over Bosh out of the low post, off glass, off the rim. Defensive rebound Toronto.
• Dooling on the iso with 10 seconds remaining in the quarter. He drains the 17 footer.
• End of One. 35-17 Magic. Thoroughly and totally outplayed the Raptors.
• Dooling blocks Calderon, 24 second violation. That was all because Delfino passed up an open jump shot. His fault.
• Delfino with the defensive rebound and contested three. He was trying to make up for it in one play. Missed jump shot.
• Adonal Foyle defensive rebound, outlet pass, stolen by Moon. To Calderon, to Bosh, Bosh goes right at Adonal Foyle and draws the foul. He’ll head to the line, hits both.
• Calderon picks up his third. Jeez, 10 minutes to go in the second. He came in off the bench. He only play 6 or so minutes.
• Adonal Foyle beats Bosh on the low block. Bosh shoots over Foyle. Hits it. Little competition here. Foyle goes right back to the low post, lovely bounce pass in traffic to Hedo, he drops it. Unlucky. Lovely pass to the cutter for a layup.
• Kapono hits the three. That’s a good sign. Timeout. 37-26 Orlando. Nice run by the Raptors to start the second quarter. They have to get this thing back to single digits.
• TJ Ford with a great drive into the paint finding Chris Bosh right under the rim. Foul Orlando. Dwight Howard comes back on.
• Toronto have had their small ball lineup on the floor here in the second but that was against Foyle, not Dwight Howard. Bosh misses the first FT. Hits the second. Small ball has been effective.
• Bogans replies with a three. Howard collects his 8th rebound.
• Pick and roll between Hedo and Dwight, the Raps converge, Rashard pops outside and is wide open for the three. No good.
• Kapono hits another J on the baseline
• Jamario Moon is on Hedo, Hedo goes right past him, drives inside and sets up Dooling for the three. It’s good.
• Great post position defense from Bosh. When the ball was at the top of the key, Bosh covered over the top of the Dwight. The Magic swung the ball to the wing, Dwight tried to seal Bosh, Bosh spun off and got on the baseline side of Dwight, got a hand out. Dwight tries to seal him again, he clears out the middle of the floor, Bosh gets his leg back in front of Bosh, gets a hand out. Dooling had the ball on the wing, tries to force the ball, Bosh gets over the top. Steal. Nice defense. Never gave up. Howard pushed him out of the way three different types but Bosh kept his body in the right place at all times, stopped the dunk and created a turnover.
• Kapono just got hit in the side of the face, by the ball, from a pass from a teammate. He wasn’t paying attention.
• TJ Ford jumps right into Howard, bangs into him and finishes the layup over him. This is the old TJ Ford, this is very good to see. He’s done this three times in the quarter now, the first two where drive and kicks, this one was his first shot attempt when going right at Howard.
• Orlando are up 46-36 with five and a half to play. Orlando have played small ball all through the second. Back to back lane violations on Howard’s FTs. The first was by Toronto, the second by Howard.
• Bosh catches it from 17 feet just off the left elbow. He drives right into the paint, bumps into Howard, gets fouled by Evans, fades away with the off balance jumper, gets the bounce and the foul. Hits the FT.
• Delfino hits the layup after the TJ Ford steal and push. That’s a 23-11 run by Toronto here in the second.
• Both teams trade baskets
• Toronto Timeout with 2 minutes 30 to play. Orlando lead 53-48.
• High screen and roll between Bosh and TJ Ford. Nothing in it. Tj resets on the wing, drives into the paint, he’ll have to force the 13 footer. Miss. Offensive rebound Chris Bosh and he gets hit in the face for his troubles. He’ll take two. He’ll hit two.
• Howard gets low on Chris Bosh. He beats Bosh down, turns baseline, right jump hook off the glass again.
• Chris Bosh hits a three on the other end. He has 23 points now
• Howard has great position again. He’s 5 feet from the rim, he turns into Bosh, bangs into his chest. Bosh takes the hit and forces Dwight to take a fallaway instead of a layup. Good defense by Bosh. Miss.
• Tie game at 55-55. Bosh comes out. Rashard Lewis is at the line for two and hits one. Mo Evans bails out the Raps with a three.
• TJ Ford has the isolation play. He drives by Nelson, gets fouled, that’s three on Nelson, and TJ will take two and hit two. 59-57 Orlando.
• Halftime
• We’re starting to see a mano-o-mano battle between Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh develop here. Bosh has been incredible scoring 23 points in the first half. Howard has been dominant in the paint, scoring 13 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and intimidating several shots around the rim. It’s been a pleasure to watch Chris Bosh try to defend Howard, using his quickness, positioning and anticipation to close off the paint.
• The Raptors small ball effort in the second quarter really changed the game around. It did exactly what Sam Mitchell wanted it to do, it created space for Bosh and gave Bosh the matchup he could take advantage of. Suddenly the Raptors have some momentum and confidence. The first quarter was pretty dire from the Raptors, all of those silly turnovers. Very uncharacteristic from the Raps. They did well to regain their composure and get back in their game.
• Start of the third
• Bargnani battles Dwight off the glass and collects the defensive rebound. Toronto ball. They have the lead 61-59. Bargnani just drew the foul on Hedo. Jamario Moon with the three from the corner off the Chris Bosh drive.
• Now Chris Bosh beats Howard to the backboards. Bad shot by Toronto, Orlando come back the other way. Nelson plays it to the trailer Hedo Turkoglu, the defense runs out, Hedo passes it back to the suddenly wide open Nelson for the three.
• Chris Bosh with a 16 footer from the wing over Rashard Lewis
• Foul by Moon on Dwight Howard. He’ll head to the line. 4 team fouls on the Magic in the first four minutes.
• Bargnani with that Larry Bird like step back three in the face of the defender. No good. Defensive rebound Orlando. Jameer Nelson drives into the paint on the other end, draws the foul on Bargnani, his fourth and hits two at the line. Jameer having another quality game.
• Dwight Howard runs the floor hard and gets the layup
• Rashard Lewis fakes the three in the corner, goes baseline, heads to the rim, misses the layup. Vicious follow up dunk by Dwight Howard. Timeout.
• Orlando lead 69-66. Howard starting to yield more influence.
• Bosh with a flop in the lane against Dwight and gets an offensive foul against Howard
• 77-71 Orlando with a little over three to play
• Jamario Moon is only 1-7 now. The Magic began cheating off him a lot. Sam pulled him. Had no choice, well no good choice.
• Delfino called for the carry. Turnover. 1:26 to play in the third. 81-76 Magic. Arroyo is running the point for Orlando. Bosh alters Dooling’s layup attempt, miss. Defensive rebound. Raptors ball.
• Rashard Lewis with a spin move off the post over Delfino for the easy two. Orlando up 87-76. Same play, double team, open three for Dooling, miss.
• Kapono hits a three, that makes it 23 for Kapono. 87-80 with 9 minutes to go
• Bosh heads to the bench for a breather before the stretch run
• Lewis again off the post. This time he backs Delfino down, turns into the middle for the right handed jump hook. Easy basket. He doesn’t miss those.
• Timeout Toronto. Sam’s lineup without Bosh is worrisome. Not a lot of scoring out there. It’d be great if Bosh could get a rest. Good use of the timeout, stretch it out a bit.
• Calderon jumper
• Bargnani with a clutch two, a long J over Gorat
• Bargnani blocks Dooling’s shot
• Bargnani with another step back three, all good. Toronto pull the game back, Orlando lead 89-87. They did with Bosh on the bench. Great sequence for the Raptors.
• Bosh checks back in. More great footwork by Bosh in the post, getting Dwight off balance enough to trouble the catch. Fumble out of play, Raptors ball.
• Bosh came over and blocked the shot, the ball falls to Howard, foul Bosh. Howard gets one to go.
• Bosh misses an 18 footer. Magic miss on the other end. Kapono rebound. Calderon hits a 16 footer off the dribble, he has 12.
• Turkoglu on the drive into the paint, onto the left hand. Bosh comes over and alters the shot. Missed layup. Follow dunk Dwight Howard.
• In bounds pass from the baseline into Bosh 12 feet from the rim outside the lane, dribbles right towards the middle of the paint, spins back left, rises up for the lefty layup. Foul. Two FTs good. One point Orlando lead, 92-91.
• Bogans with a three from the corner after some nice ball movement from the Magic. Nelson teed it up off the dribble. Orlando has a four point lead with four to play.
• Bargnani fires a three to beat the clock, no good
• Bogans hits a three on the other end. That’s a 6 point swing. That hurts. Timeout Toronto. Great pass by Hedo Turkoglu to find Bogans despite the double team.
• Delfino with a three from Bosh’s penetration, great kickout. 98-94 Magic
• Bogans drives and dishes to Howard for the dunk. 3 second call came first. Turnover. Raptors ball.
• Calderon drives, goes baseline, hangs in the air, kicks it out, sprints to the corner, gets the pass back, three pointer, good.
• Chris Bosh with another block. Turnover, Raptors go the other way. Kapono banked, no good. Bosh and Howard under the glass battling for the rebound, tipped once by Bosh, twice by Bosh, falls to Kapono. No his foot was out of bounds, turnover. Magic ball.
• Orlando are up 98-97 with two and a half to play
• Dwight Howard has 29 and 20 boards. Bosh has 29 and 9.
• Delfino on the switch ended up on Dwight Howard on the post. Foul.
• Hedo posting Parker, changes his mind, faces up, takes the J, air-ball. Offensive rebound and reverse layup by Lewis.
• Jose Calderon comes right back down and hits a three. Tied at 100
• Bosh was doing everything to hold Dwight off the glass there. He couldn’t get the ball, he just didn’t want Dwight to get it. Heads up play by Anthony Parker come down into the paint and grab that rebound. Dwight had the advantage, Bosh did just enough to hold him away from the ball.
• Delfino drives into the paint, fouled, two FTs coming, misses the first, hits the second. Toronto up one with a minute four to play.
• Hedo quick three, miss, Nelson penetration to Lewis in the corner for the three, miss. Bosh chases down 22 feet for the rebound dives out of bounds for the ball, tries to save it, throws back to halfcourt to an Orlando player. Orlando reset. Dwight attacks the rim, foul. Timeout Orlando.
• Magic inbounds the ball. 35 seconds left. Turkoglu catches it top of the key, gets a screen and roll with Dwight, goes the other way, goes right, hard to the paint, high layup off the glass, it’s good. Orlando lead. That shot almost went over the backboard, that’s how high off the glass the layup was.
• Toronto ball from halfcourt. 30 seconds.
• Bosh drives to the hoop, Dwight Howard blocks the shot. Magic get the loose ball. Actually maybe Howard didn’t block that, that might have fallen out of Bosh’s hand before Howard reached it. Bosh made a hard drive right and rose up in the lane. The ball bobbled loose before Howard got there, it hit off his elbow but I think Bosh lost control first.
• Delfino with a driving layup with 10 seconds after two FTs. Haha, the board was wrong. Orlando called a timeout, the refs suddenly started looking at the big zero on the board next to available timeouts. SVG had a 20 though. Raptors almost forced a 5 second violation, reason for the timeout.
• Here we go, Orlando to inbound. Hedo to Lewis, offensive foul on Dooling. Calderon went flying to ground. Dooling hit Calderon in the face fighting for position, nothing intentional, Calderon went down like a sack of bricks. Raptors ball.
• Sam runs great plays out of a timeout. Let’s see what he does, rememeber the back screen and alley oop for TJ Ford against Atlanta? Let’s see what they do. Here we go. Anthony Parker to inbounds, 9.3 seconds to go. Toronto have it in the frontcourt by the three point line on the inbounds. Calderon high screen and roll, dishes it to Bosh, he hesitates, then takes the 19 footer over the outstretched hand of Dwight Howard. No good. Lewis rebound. Orlando win.

Great game. Two special players going head to head and leading their teams. Orlando held homecourt but Toronto have figured out how to play against this team. Small ball worked extremely well for Toronto tonight (Rasho played 2 minutes overall). They need to stay with this. There’s promise in this loss.

Dwight Howard had a sensational night, being the first plyaer to have back to back 20-20 games since Kevin Garnett in 2004. Two excellent defensive plays in the last minute. In the end, he controlled enough of the game to get his team the win. Bosh battled valiantly but it wasn’t to be.