Paul Jones

Paul Jones is the voice of the Raptors on the FAN 590 and writes regularly for Sportsnet.ca.

A little friction between player and coach in Orlando Thursday night.

It's the team that helped the Raptors turn it around -- albeit not intentionally -- as Toronto gets the Atlanta Hawks again Friday night at the Air Canada Centre.

You recall after the Hawks pasted the Raptors last week in Georgia, it led to a team gathering and a clear-the-air session that has seen Toronto win three of its last four games since.

So is there a "revenge" angle tonight? Maybe, but as Hawks assistant coach and former Raptor assistant Jim Todd, told Eric Smith and I Thursday night on the Hoop Show on the FAN 590, it can be talked about, but you have to be good enough to do it.

Here are some numbers about the Raptors that, according to some of my Twitter posse, raise a few eyebrows.

Quick question: how many times has Toronto held opponents under 100 points this season? Seven. And guess how many wins they have when they have stopped the opposition from ringing the cash register for better than $100? Yep, they are a perfect 7-0.

What that says is the team is capable of playing defence and here's more proof that may tell you something about consistent effort and what it yields. In wins, Toronto holds the opposition to 41.4 per cent from the field and in losses the opponents seem to do what they want, making shots at a 51.3 per cent clip.

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It's Canada Basketball night at the Air Canada Centre and it will be nice to see the team recognized. Canada is one of only five countries in the world to have all of its teams, on both the men's and women's side, qualify for the next round of world championships. That's pretty impressive. There are many folks that have given to that program and it will be nice to see some of them recognized Friday.

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The buzzards are circling in a couple of places around the NBA as teams start piling up losses. Questions are arising in Philadelphia as the Sixers own the league's longest losing streak at 11 games. And what is going on in Chicago?

I guess they miss Ben Gordon more than they thought they would. The Bulls have lost four straight and are struggling to score. They sit 28th in NBA scoring ahead of only Charlotte and New Jersey. So when is the other shoe going to drop in Chicago? Maybe it won't as head coach Vinny Del Negro saw his team emerge from tough times last season in his rookie campaign as a coach and became a very tough opponent in the playoffs for the last year’s defending champion Boston Celtics. Needless to say, Del Negro is hoping for the same kind of turnaround.

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So is this what happens to Stan Van Gundy after he says he won't be so dour with his players? In last Thursday’s loss to the Utah Jazz, Rashard Lewis refused to go back in the game when Van Gundy asked him to during the second quarter. If you are the one giving out the shoes, be careful when the kicking starts.

Wonder if any of the Portland Trailblazers would have the gumption to do that now? If they did, they would not be dealing with their head coach Nate McMillan who is back in Portland after suffering a ruptured achilles tendon. The coach was participating in practice on Dec 4, when they did not have enough bodies to play five-on-five and even though he's not with the team he is still not far away thanks to cell phones and text messaging. Imagine how Brandon Roy felt getting a text message from the boss following a game from the coach that said "Call me."

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As much as NBA fans and pundits look at the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers as the team to beat -- and their record is an impressive one right now -- I'm asking 'what about the Celtics?' Boston has a nine-game win streak and sits atop the Eastern Conference with a record of 18-4. Sure the Lakers are 17-3 but it was nice of the NBA schedule makers to give the Lakers 17 of their fist 21 games at home. Currently, Kobe and company have a 14-2 record at Staples with the Minnesota Timberwolves hitting L.A. Friday before hitting the road for five straight and seven of their next nine. The Celtics are 10-1 on the road and sit at 8-3 at home.