Paul Jones

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

Chris Bosh kept the Raptors in the game against the Cavs, but in the final few minutes the whole team went cold.

At the end of the season, the Raptors will look at the loss in Cleveland as one that got away.

At the end of the season, the Raptors will look at the loss in Cleveland as one that got away.

The team adhered to the blue print of how to steal a game on the road perfectly for three quarters, and followed the credo of a former NBA coach that told me you had to do to win on the road. Here's his formula: maintain contact with the home team and never allow the lead to surpass 10 points; keep the crowd involvement manageable; keep turnovers to 15 or fewer and be within one or two possessions with less than two minutes to go.

Check, check, check and no check.

Cleveland never had a lead of more than eight points through three quarters, it did get to 10 in the fourth for a short time, but for the most part the Raptors were within an arms length. Toronto only had 11 turnovers allowing the Cavs 11 points and with two minutes to go in the game, the score was 104-100.

So what happened?

Well part of the issue was Toronto not being able to make shots. There were some good looks late in the game that ended is misses. The Raptors didn't go inside much in the second half (can't fault them I suppose as they are more of a perimeter team) and the Cavs do have the NBA's top defence on the inside allowing fewer points in the paint than any other squad. But when jumpers aren't falling the alternative is trying to get into the paint.

The fourth quarter defence was good on both ends as Toronto held Cleveland to 29.4 per cent on five-of-17 from the floor. But in not making shots, Toronto was 35 per cent on seven-of-20 from the field -- not getting inside and some untimely turnovers combined with some poor decisions and shoddy execution cost the team. But hey, the old adage in the NBA states: "There's another game tonight."

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A few notes from my statsman Johnny Rusin regarding the Bucks:

Milwaukee has the second-highest scoring bench in the NBA at 38.0 PPG. San Antonio is on top with Indiana, Houston and Dallas occupying spots 1, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. And after having a great start to the season, rookie Brandon Jennings has come back to earth slightly. The 10th overall pick has seen his scoring average drop from 22.1 PPG in November to 16.7 PPG in December and it is currently 13.1 PPG in January. Still not bad but the shooting percentage has followed a similar pattern over the same time falling from 42.0 per cent in November to 37.6 per cent December to a current 30.2 per cent mark in January.

But don't underestimate the Bucks at home as they sit at 11-7.

The Milwaukee Bucks media relations department is a great group of folks. Headed by Dan Smyczek, a huge fan of the CFL, they always have Canadian references in the game notes whenever the Raptors are the opponent.

I need some help on the trivia: Dan and his crew have stepped it up this time. I'm labouring and am really stumped on this one, and besides the references to Tim Horton's, BTO, Kiefer Sutherland, Corey Hart, and the Lady Byng Trophy, I'm in tough. If you don't believe me, check for yourself.

(And for your information, the prize that I won last time was the coveted "Secret Stadium Sauce" used in making the burgers and brat at Lambeau Field.

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Some people say the more things change, the more they stay the same. Check out this story of a new basketball league.

It raises some inevitable questions and just makes me shake my head. And all this two days after the U.S. celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Speaking of which, there was a great halftime ceremony in Cleveland last night around MLK day since the Cavs did not play on Monday. I will give you those details next time up.