The Raptors ruined Kobe’s comeback party but the road ahead for Jonas and co. is long and miserable.
Thank you Terrence Ross for setting the tone. The Raptors ruined Kobe Bryant’s comeback party with a 106-94 win in the Staples Center. Your reward, Mr Ross, is increased minutes and touches. Actually to all you Raps out there, congratulations you’ll be seeing a lot more of the ball and the opposition. Woj broke the news shortly before tip that Rudy Gay, the under-performing but still pretty useful star of the Raps, was being traded to Sacramento. That’s going to see a lot of pressure humped on the younger stars in Toronto’s line-up. Jonas Valanciunas is going to become a bigger part of the offence because everyone is. Last night’s 6 points and 5 boards outing wasn’t exactly typical Jonas but he’s going to have to fight harder now for his scores. On the upside, losing Gay’s contract makes the re-build in Toronto that bit easier especially as the move was made before 19 December. That makes further flipping more straight-forward later in the season.
Andrea Bargnani went 1 of 7 for just 2 points in 22 minutes as the Knicks got routed at home by the Celtics 114-73. Boston burst out the gates to lead 34-11 at the end of the first and the Knicks never looked like making a game of it.
Jonas Jerebko has 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals in 21 minutes for the Pistons as Detroit fell 110-95 to the visiting Heat. Gigi Datome got 8 minutes but failed to make an impact for Detroit.
Omri Casspi got 6 points and 6 boards for the Rockets in 23 minutes of action as they downed the Magic 98-88. Donatas Montiejunas grabbed 2 boards in his 4 minutes on the floor.
It was a reasonably quiet night for Serge Ibaka as he scored 13 points and grabbed 3 rebounds as the Thunder rolled past the Pacers 118-94. Thabo Sefolosha scored 4 points and had 2 boards in the contest for OKC.
