khandor’s sports blog

When crunch time happens in a NBA game, it’s the team which can respond with the best Offensive/Defensive/Rebounding execution that usually triumphs.

Philadelphia 76ers 114
TORONTO RAPTORS 101
Complete Game Info

In yesterday’s contest:

After Toronto cut Philly’s lead to 7 points, mid-way in the 4th quarter…

[Full Play-By-Play]

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

TORONTO RAPTORS

06:26 [TOR 87-94]

Calderon 3pt Shot: Made (3 PTS) Assist: Jack (7 AST)

Team Timeout : Regular

06:26

TEAM

PG

OG

SF

PF

C

Start

End

Diff

Dur

PHI

Holiday

Green

Iguodala

Young

Brand

94

100

-1

2:22

TOR

Calderon

Jack

Wright

Bosh

Bargnani

87

94

+1

#1. Iguodala Fade Away Jumper Shot: Made (16 PTS)  Vs Wright [tough contested shot]

06:02 [PHI 96-87]

05:45 [TOR 89-96]

#1. Calderon Pullup Jump shot: Made (5 PTS)

#2. Brand Fade Away Jumper Shot: Made (12 PTS)  Vs Bosh [tough contested shot]

05:20 [PHI 98-89]

05:03

#2. Bargnani 3pt Shot: Missed

05:02

Bosh Rebound (Off:4 Def:8)

Brand Foul : Personal (5 PF)

05:01

04:49 [TOR 91-98]

#3. Wright Layup Shot: Made (5 PTS) Assist: Jack (8 AST)

#3. Holiday Layup Shot: Made (16 PTS)  Vs Jack [+ Bargnani, tough contested shot]

04:29 [PHI 100-91]

04:12 [TOR 94-100]

#4. Calderon 3pt Shot: Made (8 PTS) Assist: Jack (9 AST)

04:04

Jack Foul : Personal (2 PF)

Brand Substitution replaced by Dalembert

04:04

Green Substitution replaced by Williams

04:04

TEAM

PG

OG

SF

PF

C

Start

End

Diff

Dur

PHI

Holiday

Williams

Iguodala

Young

Dalembert

100

109

+7

2:42

TOR

Calderon

Jack

Wright

Bosh

Bargnani

94

96

-7

#4. Williams Driving Layup Shot: Made (12 PTS)

03:51 [PHI 102-94]

Holiday Foul : Personal (1 PF)

03:35

03:32

#5. Calderon Foul : Offensive (3 PF)

03:32

Calderon Turnover : Foul (3 TO)

#5. Holiday 3pt Shot: Made (19 PTS) Assist: Iguodala (9 AST) Vs Bosh [+ Calderon, Switching Man-Zone Defense]

03:13 [PHI 105-94]

02:55

#6. Bosh Driving Layup Shot: Missed

Dalembert Rebound (Off:0 Def:1)

02:53

#6. Holiday Driving Layup Shot: Made (21 PTS)  Vs Jack [+ Bargnani, tough contested shot]

02:34 [PHI 107-94]

02:33

Team Timeout : Regular

02:27

#7. Calderon 3pt Shot: Missed

Dalembert Rebound (Off:0 Def:2)

02:26

#7. Iguodala Jump Shot: Missed

02:06

Dalembert Rebound (Off:1 Def:2)

02:05

#8. Dalembert Fade Away Jumper Shot: Made (6 PTS)  Vs Bosh

02:03 [PHI 109-94]

the Raptors responded by scoring on only 3 of their 7 ensuing possessions …

i.e. J2; J3; O-Reb-LU; J3; OFF PF/TO; DLU; J3 [Conversion = 42.9%] 

while the 76ers responded by scoring on 7 on their next 8 possessions …

i.e. FA-J2; FA-J2; LU; LU; J3; DLU; J2; O-Reb-J2 [Conversion = 87.5%].

Specifically, what happened during these 15 possessions to cement the victory for the 76ers? 

FOR PHILADELPHIA

- Andre Iguodala hit a tough fade-away jump shot vs Antoine Wright … primarily because Iguodala is a better basketball player than Wright, with a higher skill level, overall and superior athleticism

- Elton Brand made a tough [i.e. highly contested], fade-away jump shot in a right block post-up situation vs Chris Bosh

- Jrue Holiday made 2 terrific drives to the basket vs Jarrett Jack [Primary Defender] and Andrea Bargnani [Secondary Defender/Made unsuccessful shot block attempt]

- Holiday made a big 3PT shot when the Raptors were scrambled on defense, switching between Man-2-Man and Zone coverage

- Samuel Dalembert [Primary defender] and Iguodala [Secondary defender] did a good job contesting Chris Bosh’s driving layup attempt without fouling

- Dalembert secured a big offensive rebound and made a solid jump shot vs Chris Bosh

FOR TORONTO

- Jarrett Jack was repeatedly beaten off the dribble by Jrue Holiday

- Andrea Bargnani missed a 3PT shot

- After keeping the Raptors in the game with 2 big made jump shots, Jose Calderon made an uncharacteristic Turnover [Offensive PF] and missed a 3PT shot 

- Chris Bosh was ineffective … after re-injuring his ankle during the early stages of the 4th quarter [10:19], leaving to have it re-tapped, and then re-entering the game at the 7:54 mark … and surrendered a difficult fade-away jump shot to Elton Brand and an uncontested jump shot to Samuel Dalembert [after giving up an offensive rebound]

IN GENERAL

- Philadelphia’s two 5-man units of …

a. Holiday + Williams + Iguodala + Young + Brand
b. Holiday + Williams + Iguodala + Young + Dalembert

were too athletic and dynamic for the Raptors’ quintet of …

Calderon + Jack [?]+ Wright [?] + Bosh [re-injured?] + Bargnani [?].

LOOKING AHEAD

If the Raptors are going to maintain their current 6th place standing in the Eastern Conference, working through their upcoming 4-game west coast road trip, they will need to:

1. Have the services of a healthy Chris Bosh;

and,

2. Use a different combination of players to finish games.

If the Raptors do not have these 2 things occur, however, their fans will need to brace themselves for the rocky road ahead …

which just might see this team:

i. Lose, at least, 3 of their next 4 games;

ii. A. Have to battle the Chicago Bulls for the 8th and final playoff position, coming down the stretch, and the right to be eliminated from the post-season by the Cleveland Cavaliers/#1;

or,

ii. B. Perhaps miss the playoffs entirely;

and, then,

iii. Have a very difficult time retaining the future services of Chris Bosh, as he heads towards unrestricted free agency this coming summer.

—————————-

Related:

Raptor alarmed by lack of team focus

Every year since the 2000-2001 season, each of the two teams which have reached the NBA Finals (i.e. the Champion and the Finalist) have also finished the regular season schedule with a Quality Rating (QR) of 34, or better, and a Quality Index Rank (QIR) of #11 or better (when compared to all playoff teams that year) … i.e. What it takes to win the NBA Championship.

If the NBA Playoffs were to start today, this is what the list of legitimate contenders to win the championship actually looks like:

LEGITIMATE CONTENDERS TO WIN THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP [as of Sun Feb 28 2010]
TEAM	W-L REC	WIN %	PDR	PAR	RDR	QR	QIR	ECPT-QIR	WCPT-QIR
Cavaliers	46-14	.767	1	5	1	7	1	1
Magic	40-20	.667	3	6	5	14	2	2
Lakers	45-15	.750	2	8	5	15	3		3
Spurs	33-24	.579	8	9	3	20	4		4
Thunder	35-23	.603	9	7	5	21	5		5
Jazz	38-21	.644	4	13	5	22	6		6
Blazers	35-27	.565	11	4	10	25	7		7
Bobcats	28-29	.491	14	2	12	28	8	8
Heat	29-31	.483	14	3	12	29	9
Celtics	36-21	.632	6	1	23	30	10	9
Bulls	31-28	.525	19	14	4	37	11	10
Bucks	30-29	.508	13	11	14	38	12	11
Hawks	37-21	.638	6	12	24	42	13	12
Grizzlies	30-29	.508	18	23	2	43	14
Pistons	21-38	.356	25	10	9	44	15
Mavericks	39-21	.650	12	15	18	45	16		13
Nuggets	39-20	.661	5	22	22	49	17		14
76ers	22-36	.379	21	17	14	52	T-18
Clippers	24-35	.407	25	16	11	52	T-18
Rockets	29-29	.500	16	21	18	55	T-20
Hornets	31-29	.517	20	19	26	55	T-20
Suns	37-24	.607	10	29	20	59	22		15
Wizards	21-36	.368	23	20	20	63	23
Knicks	20-38	.345	22	25	29	66	24
Raptors	31-27	.534	17	26	24	67	25	16
Kings	20-39	.339	25	27	16	68	26
Timberwolves	14-47	.230	29	28	17	74	27
Nets	6-53	.102	30	18	27	75	28
Pacers	20-39	.339	28	24	28	80	29
Warriors	17-41	.293	24	30	30	84	30
LEGEND: W-L REC – Won-Loss Record; WIN % - Winning Percentage; PDR – Points Differential Ranking; PAR – Points Allowed Ranking; RDR – Rebounding Differential Ranking; QR – Quality Rating [i.e. PDR + PAR + RDR]; QIR – Quality Index Ranking [i.e. No. 1-30]; ECPT-QIR – Eastern Conference Playoff Teams Quality Index Ranking; WCPT-QIR – Western Conference Playoff Team Quality Index Ranking; Blue Shade – Eastern Conference Playoff Teams; Red Shade – Western Conference Playoff Teams.

There are only 9 teams in the hunt with a little more than 1 month’s worth of games left to be played.

4 in the Eastern Conference:

Cleveland Cavaliers [#1]
Orlando Magic [#2]
Charlotte Bobcats [#8], and
Boston Celtics [#9];

and,

5 in the Western Conference:

Los Angeles Lakers [#3]
San Antonio Spurs [#4]
Oklahoma City Thunder [#5]
Utah Jazz [#6], and
Portland Trail Blazers [#7].

When the numbers are crunched … 

NBA 2009-2010 PRE ALL-STAR BREAK TEAM EFFECTIVENESS RANKINGS [as of Thu Feb 11 2010]
TEAM	W-L REC	WIN %	PDR	PAR	RDR	QR	QIR	OFF POSS/G	DEF POSS/G	O-PPP	O-PPP RK	D-PPP	D- PPP RK	PPP DIFF	PPP DIFF RK
CAVALIERS 1	43-11	0.796	1	2	1	4	1	103	104	0.99	T-2	0.91	T-5	0.08	1
CELTICS 4	32-18	0.640	5	1	23	29	9	103	105	0.96	T-7	0.89	T-1	0.07	2
MAGIC 2	36-18	0.667	3	7	5	15	2	104	106	0.97	T-5	0.91	T-5	0.06	T-3
LAKERS 1	41-13	0.759	2	9	7	18	T-4	109	108	0.95	T-12	0.89	T-1	0.06	T-3
JAZZ 3	32-19	0.627	6	12	9	27	T-7	106	106	0.97	T-5	0.92	T-8	0.05	T-5
NUGGETS 2	35-18	0.660	4	22	18	44	T-13	109	109	0.98	4	0.93	T-12	0.05	T-5
SPURS 5	30-21	0.588	6	8	3	17	3	105	104	0.96	T-7	0.92	T-8	0.04	T-7
SUNS 7	31-22	0.585	10	29	25	64	T-22	110	112	1.00	1	0.96	T-23	0.04	T-7
THUNDER 6	30-21	0.588	9	5	4	18	T-4	107	107	0.92	T-18	0.89	T-1	0.03	T-9
HAWKS 3	33-18	0.647	8	11	20	39	11	105	105	0.96	T-7	0.93	T-12	0.03	T-9
MAVERICKS 4	32-20	0.615	12	15	20	47	T-16	105	107	0.96	T-7	0.93	T-12	0.03	T-9
BLAZERS 8	31-24	0.564	11	4	6	21	6	102	101	0.96	T-7	0.94	T-16	0.02	T-12
HEAT 7	26-27	0.491	13	6	15	34	10	103	104	0.94	T-15	0.92	T-8	0.02	T-12
RAPTORS 5	29-23	0.558	17	26	24	67	25	106	108	0.99	T-2	0.97	T-29	0.02	T-12
BOBCATS 6	26-25	0.510	13	2	12	27	T-7	105	104	0.91	T-22	0.91	T-5	0.00	T-15
HORNETS	28-25	0.528	19	19	26	64	T-22	106	107	0.95	T-12	0.95	T-19	0.00	T-15
KNICKS	19-32	0.373	21	24	27	72	27	108	109	0.94	T-15	0.95	T-19	-0.01	T-17
WARRIORS	13-40	0.245	24	30	30	84	30	113	116	0.95	T-12	0.96	T-23	-0.01	T-17
BULLS 8	25-26	0.490	22	14	8	44	T-13	109	108	0.88	T-27	0.90	4	-0.02	T-19
BUCKS	24-27	0.471	15	13	18	46	15	109	106	0.90	T-24	0.92	T-8	-0.02	T-19
ROCKETS	27-24	0.529	16	18	16	50	19	110	107	0.92	T-18	0.94	T-16	-0.02	T-19
PACERS	18-34	0.346	28	25	28	81	29	110	111	0.90	T-24	0.93	T-12	-0.03	T-22
76ERS	20-32	0.385	20	16	13	49	18	106	106	0.92	T-18	0.95	T-19	-0.03	T-22
GRIZZLIES	26-25	0.510	18	23	2	43	12	110	107	0.93	17	0.96	T-23	-0.03	T-22
CLIPPERS	21-31	0.404	26	17	16	59	20	106	106	0.90	T-24	0.94	T-16	-0.04	T-25
WIZARDS	17-33	0.340	25	21	20	66	24	107	107	0.91	T-22	0.95	T-19	-0.04	T-25
KINGS	18-34	0.346	23	27	11	61	21	111	110	0.92	T-18	0.96	T-23	-0.04	T-25
PISTONS	18-33	0.353	27	10	10	47	T-16	105	100	0.87	29	0.96	T-23	-0.09	T-28
T-WOLVES	13-40	0.245	29	28	14	71	26	112	110	0.88	T-27	0.97	T-29	-0.09	T-28
NETS	04-48	0.077	30	20	29	79	28	105	105	0.86