khandor’s sports blog

If the Raptors [13-17/.433; 2nd, Atlantic] can go into Detroit on Wednesday night and win a game against the Pistons, it will be a big step in the right direction:

Tinted glasses won’t help Raptors’ situation

December	Opponent	Minimal	Practical	Optimal
Fri 18	vs Nets, 2-24/.077	W, 1-0, 12-17	W, 1-0, 12-17	W, 1-0, 12-17
Sun 20	vs Hornets, 11-13/.458	W, 2-0, 13-17	W, 2-0, 13-17	W, 2-0, 13-17
Wed 23	@ Pistons, 11-14/.440	L, 2-1, 13-18	L, 2-1, 13-18	L, 2-1, 13-18
Sun 27	vs Pistons, 11-14/.440	W, 3-1, 14-18	W, 3-1, 14-18	W, 3-1, 14-18
Wed 30	vs Bobcats, 10-14/.417	L, 3-2, 14-19	L, 3-2, 14-19	W, 4-1, 15-18
January	Opponent	Minimal	Practical
Sat 02	@ Celtics, 20-4/.833	L, 3-3, 14-20	L, 3-3, 14-20	L, 4-2, 15-19
Sun 03	vs Spurs, 13-10/.565	L, 3-4, 14-21	L, 3-4, 14-21	W, 5-2, 16-19
Wed 06	@ Magic, 19-7/.731	L, 3-5, 14-22	L, 3-5, 14-22	L, 5-3, 16-20
Fri 08	@ 76ers, 6-19/.240	L, 3-6, 14-23	W, 4-5, 15-22	W, 6-3, 17-20
Sun 10	vs Celtics, 20-4/.833	L, 3-7, 14-24	L, 4-6, 15-23	L, 6-4, 17-21
Mon 11	@ Pacers, 9-14/.391	L, 3-8, 14-25	L, 4-7, 15-24	W, 7-4, 18-21
Fri 15	@ Knicks, 8-17/.320	L, 3-9, 14-26	W, 5-7, 16-24	W, 8-4, 19-21

with a re-match set to occur, in Toronto, on Sunday, December 27.

Home court wins against the Nets, Hornets and Pistons should almost be a given during this stretch of 12 games.

An away court victory, however, against the Pistons, is a barometer of a different sort.

Despite a modest W-L record and having to cope with a string of injuries to key players [i.e. Rip Hamilton/Out; Ben Gordon/Out; and, Tayshaun Prince/Out], Detroit is a solid team:

* 5th in Points Allowed per game [94.7]; and,
* 4th in Rebounding Differential per game [+3.8].

There are 7 key games during this stretch which could go either way:

Game 1, @ Detroit Pistons
Game 2, vs Detroit Pistons
Game 3, vs Charlotte Bobcats
Game 4, vs San Antonio Spurs
Game 5, @ Philadelphia 76ers
Game 6, @ Indiana Pacers
Game 7, @ New York Knicks

and play a siginficant role towards deciding the eventual fate of Chris Bosh, Jose Calderon, Andrea Bargnani, Jay Triano and Bryan Colangelo with the Toronto Raptors.

Mark them off on your daily calendar, as they play out.

If the Raptors end up going 7 for 7, then you can expect them to challenge for a playoff spot this season.

Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Boston Celtics, Bryan Colangelo, Charlotte Bobcats, Chris Bosh, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Jay Triano, Jose Calderon, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs, Toront Raptors

This entry was posted on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 4:41 pm and is filed under Analytics, Basketball, NBA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.