[MJG]

	vs
5 - 4		5 - 6

7:00 PM on NC8

Season series tied 0 - 0

- Key Match: SG - | | 18.3 PPG 14.5 | 5.3 RPG 3.5 | 4.0 APG 3.5 | 3.6 SPG 1.5 | 0.1 BPG 0.8 | 33.1 MPG 30.2 |

[jazzy1]

A win is a must. VC, Bosh, Rose and Alston are the pressure points.

Rose is the one who concerns me. He can get hot and have those 30 point games.

I expect brendan and Arenas to have huge bounce back games.

Hughes I expect to have some foul trouble switching on both Rose and VC.

I think Bosh will get some but not enough to hurt us.

Brendan's size will cause the Raptors trouble. They have skinny guys inside.

Wizards win in a rout.

[MJG]

It's amazing to look at the numbers and realize that Hughes is having a better season than Carter. I knew Carter had fallen off a bit this season, but I didn't realize so much.

The Raptors seem to use a balanced attack, with Carter, Rose, Bosh, and Alston all contributing more or less equally. Beyond those four, I'm not especially impressed. Oddly enough, they all play between 30-35 minutes, so their so-so looking bench gets a pretty decent chunk of the minutes. We have to take advantage when they're sitting 2-3 of these guys down at the same time.

I agree that Haywood should be able to get back to doing some damage in this one. Loren Woods and Bosh are not going to be able to bump and shoulder Haywood around like Mourning did. I would like to see him be more willing to pass out of the post if he doesn't have a look that he likes though.

In the predictions thread I called a loss against Toronto for us, but I was thinking the game a week from today. We take this one, and I'll go the same path as you jazzy and say it'll be a double digit victory. Just a feeling.

[twinz2gether]

I think alston gives us trouble but we ultimately pull out a win,

Wizards 105
Raptors 98

[MJG]

Updated Carter's numbers after the Raptor's win yesterday against the Spurs. That was an interesting game for several reasons. For those who didn't read about it, Toronto began the 4th down by 19, and managed to come back and win by five -- their biggest comeback in history. What made this even more interesting is that Carter supposedly didn't play the entire 4th quarter. Like I said above, I knew he had fallen, but would have guessed this low?

I'll stand by my prediction, but Raptors are clearly a potentially dangerous team. They've beaten Houston, San Antonio, Utah, Detroit, and Portland for their five wins. I'll say what I said for the Nets game -- we can't underestimate them, or we'll find ourselves losing a game that we should be able to win.

[BCH]

We are ripe for a 20+ turnover, bumblefest.

I am predicting a blowout by the Raptors. This is not my usual reverse mojo predict against the Wizards bit. We are just not good enough to win 3 in a row, against a team like the Raptors, who have owned us in recent memory.

[CP26]

I wonder if Carter will still be a Raptor by tomorrow.

[eYeKey]

For some reason....I think that with the destruction of the Pacers by the commish our players will smell blood. They will see this is really a year they should be in the playoffs. They should handle these Raptors well for 3 quarters and win the game by at least 6 pts. (I'm predicting another 3rd quarter collapse )

[jazzy1]

I am really surprised at the pessimism. I watched that Raptors/Spurs game. The Raptors got lucky . I don't ever like to attribute things to luck but thats what it was.

The Spurs were up 19, Rose and carter were on the bench and the Spurs couldn't buy a basket. The Rapts used Rafer's penetration and ran the ball down the Spurs throats.

The Raptors may come into this game feeling like they can win but it won't matter. We're a better offensive team than the Spurs are .

The Wizards could turn the ball over 20 times and still beat them.

[Shanghai Kid]

Originally posted by BCH!
We are just not good enough to win 3 in a row, against a team like the Raptors, who have owned us in recent memory.

We went 3-1 against them last season and blew them out twice at MCI.