There is good news and bad news for the Toronto Raptors. Then bad news is Chris Bosh will not play tonight when the Raptors face the Hornets here in New Orleans but the good news is the return of starting point guard Jose Calderon who will be back in the line-up. Joey Graham, coming off a career-high 24 points in his last outing against the Lakers, will start with Calderon, Anthony Parker, Jermaine O'Neal and Andrea Bargnani.
Graham will be challenged again tonight as Raptors' boss Jay Triano said he may find himself defending Peja Stojakovic on the perimeter at one point and then trying to bang with David West on the inside a few possessions later. But Triano feels Graham is up to the task.
One thing for sure is that one team is going to get healthy as both squads are riding losing streaks. The "Bugs" have lost four in a row and two straight at home but there is a valid reason for the recent struggles.
Chris Paul went down with a groin injury on Monday night against the Portland Trailblazers and to say the Hornets fell apart without him is an understatement. Portland outscored New Orleans 42-17 after Paul left the game and overcame a 20-point deficit to get the win. Chicago came to town a couple of nights later and promptly put a 107-93 beat down on the Hornets as, you guessed it, without Paul, veteran Antonio Daniels just couldn't do the same things at the point.
So with Calderon back on the court is this the night that the undermanned Raptors (who are without their star), take down the struggling Hornets who are without their undisputed leader? The Hornets are 29th in the NBA in bench scoring just ahead of Toronto so we'll wait and see. New Orleans head coach Byron Scott talked about the possibility of making line-up changes hand will pull the trigger on the shuffle tonight as he inserts Ryan Bowen into the starting five in search of more energy.
At practice today, Triano talked about how much different a squad the Hornets are without Chris Paul. The pick-and-roll game is not nearly as effective without Paul and New Orleans' up-tempo game suffers as well with the NBA's ninth-leading fast-break scorer in street clothes. The Hornets are forced into a more half-court style and, at present, are wrestling with the change. Tyson Chandler will also sit out tonight.
