NBA.com Preview | Game Notes

Probable Starters

TOR – Jerryd Bayless (G), DeMar DeRozan (G), James Johnson (F), Andrea Bargnani (F), Aaron Gray (C).
CHA – D.J. Augustin (G), Gerald Henderson (G), Corey Maggette (F), Tyrus Thomas (F), Bismack Biyombo (C)

Key Injuries

TOR – Jose Calderon (right ankle sprain) – day-to-day
CHA – None

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Here’s what I’m keeping an eye on tonight as the Raptors close out a back-to-back against the Bobcats in Charlotte.

Monitoring Il Mago: Andrea Bargnani logged 39 minutes last night in yesterday’s OT win over the Grizzlies, easily ...

NBA.com Preview | Game Notes

Probable Starters

TOR – Jerryd Bayless (G), DeMar DeRozan (G), James Johnson (F), Andrea Bargnani (F), Amir Johnson (C).
MEM – Mike Conley (G), Tony Allen (G), Rudy Gay (F), Marreese Speights (F), Marc Gasol (C)

Key Injuries

TOR – Jose Calderon (right ankle sprain) – day-to-day
MEM – Darrell Arthur (torn right Achilles) – out for the season, Zach Randolph (torn right MCL) – day‐to‐day

Quick hits on the Raptors move to send Leandro Barbosa  to the Pacers for a second-round pick and cash.

- I’ve seen fans online questioning the haul (to put it mildly), but here’s what armchair GM’s need to consider:

a) The value of first-round picks in what’s believed to be a very strong draft seems very high. Look at the salary the Cavs had to take on just to get a low first-round pick to confirm that.

b) Barbosa, who’s an expiring deal, could be nothing more than a playoff run-rental for the ...

That’s our #RTZ Tweet of the Night winner @KevinRashidi above, who summed it up very well. The numbers suggest that the Raptors’ 98-84 loss to the Nets on Wednesday was about an offence that receded dramatically after halftime in the second game of a back-to-back. Not surprisingly, Raptors head coach Dwane Casey chose to make it an example about defence, physicality and mental toughness.

“Back-to-back, three games in three nights, it doesn’t matter,” said Casey post-game. “This is the NBA and that’s what we’re paid to do is perform each ...

Our #RTZ Tweet of the Night winner @IamRemo got his wish with plenty to like from a Raptors perspective following Tuesday’s 96-88 win in Cleveland.

The victory wasn’t without its flaws — particularly in the early going — but what the Raptors lacked in consistency they more than made up for with effort, balance and a healthy dose of those “winning plays” we’ve heard heard coach Dwane Casey refer to so often this season.

When a bucket was needed late for the Raptors to avoid a potential collapse, there was Andrea Bargnani ...

One of the best parts of this job is working with any material that’s shot and produced by my colleagues Jeff Rocchi and Jeff Landicho.

If you follow @Raptors on Twitter, you probably noticed some re-tweets courtesy of Landicho (aka @NBAXL) from Lithuania recently, where the Jeffs were working on an new NBA TV Canada special taking a closer look at Raptors 2011 first-round pick Jonas Valanciunas.

From there, we received brief promos and most recently, a title, release date and your first look at a lengthy clip from the special above.

The ...

NBA.com Preview | Game Notes

Probable Starters

TOR – Jerryd Bayless (G), DeMar DeRozan (G), James Johnson (F), Andrea Bargnani (F), Amir Johnson (C).
CLE– Kyrie Irving (G), Anthony Parker (G), Alonzo Gee (F), Antawn Jamison (F), Ryan Hollins (C)

Key Injuries

TOR – Jose Calderon (right ankle sprain) – out
CLE – Anderson Varejao (right wrist fracture) – out.

There’s been an outpouring of support for TJ Ford from NBA players, media and Raptors fans, after the 28-year-old point guard announced he would take an indefinite leave of absence from basketball on Monday.

The eight-year pro will reportedly contemplate retirement due to a series of neck and spine injuries suffered over the course of his NBA career — including a stinger on March 7 vs. New York.

Ford’s tenure with the Raptors was just before my time covering the team. Like many of you however, I simply had the privilege of ...

NBA.com Preview | Game Notes

Probable Starters

TOR – Jerryd Bayless (G), DeMar DeRozan (G), James Johnson (F), Andrea Bargnani (F), Aaron Gray (C).
MIL– BrandonJennings (G), Carlos Delfino (G), Tobias Harris (F), Ersan Ilyasova (F), Drew Gooden (C)

Key Injuries

TOR – Jose Calderon (right ankle sprain) – out
MIL – Stephen Jackson (sore right hamstring) – day-to-day, Shaun Livingston (left ankle sprain), Luc Mbah a Moute (right knee soreness) – day-to-day, Andrew Bogut (left ankle fracture) – out.

A Costly Loss

Jose Calderon suffered a nasty ankle sprain against the Pistons on Saturday night and ...

Spot on from our #RTZ Tweet of the Night Winner @MegiMK.

On a night where the Raptors saw the return of Andrea Bargnani, the result was one of the worst losses of the season in an ugly 105-86 blowout against the Pistons.

Bargnani understandably showed a little rust after a 20-game layoff  and his return seemed to result in a somewhat disjointed start by his team offensively, but what has to be much more disconcerting was the Raptors’ overall compete level.

With two days to prepare for Saturday’s contest and coming off one ...