Paul Jones

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

Amir Johnson of the Raptors goes up for the block.

I bet some of you are asking, "Who are these guys?"

It was a solid second-half performance by the Toronto Raptors on the way to a 111-103 victory over the Miami Heat. Not only did they outscore Miami to the tune of 54-43 on 61.1 per cent shooting in the second half, they did a nice job defensively as well. Toronto held Miami to less than 45 per cent from the floor on the nights, thanks in large part to its second-half defence that limited the Heat to 16-of-45 (35.6 per cent) over the final 24 minutes.

Dwyane Wade got his points but he had to work for them as the Raptors did a nice job with their defensive game plan. According to head coach Jay Triano, the Raptors tried to play Wade straight up early in the game and then employed the classic "make somebody else beat you” strategy and ran a second defender at him when he got touches in the final quarter. Antoine Wright, who played his role well last night, did a good job in the second half. He resembled the guy in Dallas last season whose primary function was playing defence and hitting the occasional big shot.

Don't look now but Toronto is starting to pile up the wins at home and that has been a key factor in the team's success the previous two seasons. While road victories have remained relatively unchanged the past three seasons (17, 16, and 15), the home record has dipped substantially (from 30 to 25 to 18). After Wednesday’s victory the Raptors have 16 in the home win column and are just half way through their allotment of games at the friendly confines of the Air Canada Centre.

Andrea Bargnani had a good night scoring as he was headed for a new season-high before coming up one point short following a fourth quarter donut in the scoring column. With all that being said, he led all Toronto scorers with 27 points and continues to display an improving ability to score on the inside. Chris Bosh had another monster night -- which has become somewhat of the norm lately -- as he came close to putting up the franchise's fourth ever 20-20 game with his 24 points and 18 rebounds. By the way, Bosh has two of those 20-20 games while Popeye Jones has the other one.

The question surrounding the Raptors at the beginning of the season was not their offence but could they stop their opponents. It didn't happen over the first 20 games but since then, Toronto has improved its defence while continuing to display its offensive firepower. Since the rough start defensively when the team was 7-13, Toronto has the fifth-best record at 17-9 with the best three-point defence holding the opposition to a meager 31.6 per cent. The 44.6 per cent from the floor that the Raptors are holding opponents to is the seventh-best defensive field goal percentage in the entire NBA since that fateful night in Atlanta on Dec. 2nd.

Triano has made the necessary changes in his defensive system and the team has simply worked harder to execute the game plan. With the schedule quite manageable from here to the all-star break and the team's play on the rise, there's a chance to hit the break on a high note.

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My broadcast partner Eric Smith and I had a chance to chat with former Raptor Doug Christie who was honoured by the franchise Wednesday. Christie still looks like he could give you a few minutes and now is working with athletes on both the physical and mental components of the game.

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Well Gilbert Arenas had his day in front of commissioner David Stern and the boss lowered the hammer suspending both Arenas and Javaris Crittenton for the remainder of the season. The next big question is what happens when he returns and what uniform is he wearing because there is talk there won't be any connection to Washington? Word on the street is that the Wizards have been trying to trade him with no success so don't be surprised to see a buyout of his contract. And it will be a buyout since -- the way the collective agreement is structured -- Stern has laid down his punishment and it is unlikely that he will be punished twice for the same transgression with the voiding of his contract.

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Hey, it's New York and to recognize Canadian Paul Shaffer of David Letterman fame, it’s off to see Rupert at the "Hello Deli" for lunch.