A typical raptor road win. For a team aspiring to be a strong playoff team, winning on the road against a rebuilding disaster like the Wolves is mandatory. Thankfully, the Raptors pulled it off. This is not to say that the fourth quarter wasn't nerve wracking. Every time Toronto had a chance to put the Wolves away, a defensive breakdown or two would let them back into the game. The biggest surprise of course was that the man who put the Wolves away was Mr. Hedo Turkoglu.
Finally one of the few flashes of the Hedo fans thought Bryan Colangelo was signing. I'm not going to go into the struggles Hedo has faced right now. However he made two gutsy shots. His three from the corner wasn't created by him, but his left handed layup cutting through the lane was vintage Turkoglu. The last three minutes of the game was purely pick and roll with Turkoglu/Bosh, and it's time for the Raptors to do that more often. Bosh's mobility should allow for more pick and roll play. Bosh (and Bargnani) has a tendency to show on screens, and roll before they make contact with the frontside defender. While this can work sometimes as a surprise, it makes it far easier to defend. This game, Bosh was setting strong screens, and Gomes, Brewer, or Flynn were really struggling to get over the top of them.
While it would have been nice for the Raptors to step on the Wolves' throats when they had the chance like a championship team does, holding off the Wolves' pushes were a good start. Next up: Utah at Home.
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