Paul Jones

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

Roles are reversed on this Sunday for the Raptors and Team Canada.

So is all of Canada feeling "golden" today. Sorry, just couldn't resist that one. But here is something for you courtesy of a chat with Raptors travel secretary and equipment manager Kevin DiPietro. The gold-medal hockey game goes today in Vancouver and it's Canada vs. USA the same way it was back in Salt Lake City. However, everything seems to be reversed right now, so hopefully the outcome for Canadians won't be flipped.

In 2002, the gold-medal hockey game between the same two combatants was played on a Sunday in the U.S. while the Raptors were also playing the Seattle SuperSonics. Toronto loses to Seattle but Team Canada beats the USA in its own building to win the gold. If I remember correctly we interviewed Brent Barry after the game and he was excited about being in Canada when the hockey team won the gold medal because I think he and the rest of the Sonics were heading out on the town.

So let's fast forward. Today's gold-medal game is Canada vs. USA but it's in Canada, Toronto is playing the same franchise, just in a different location so if you can't have both wins, which one do you want? Sorry hockey fans, the Raptors want this one and if the scoreboard gods are only going to give one, the hoop team wants a road "W" with things tightening up behind them in the standings. OK, let's be optimistic and say that both teams come away with a victory.

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Some of the numbers around Kevin Durant are mind-boggling for a 21-year-old in his third season. Everybody knows about the consecutive games streak with 25 or more points that just ended last week at 29. But there is more that puts this kid in some select company. He has an active streak of 31 games with 20 or more points. The next closest scorer in that category, according to ace stat man "John Rusin" is LeBron James who has done it in 13 straight games. Durant also leads the NBA with 51 games of 25 or more points; that's in front of Kobe, Wade, LeBron and anyone else.

So how do you stop him?

Toronto will do the usual and throw different looks the prolific young scorer and probably force him to try and give the ball up. A pretty good option for Toronto in trying to make someone else beat you consistently. Durant, for as good a scorer as he is, does turn the ball over and it is something that many scorers and dominant players, particularly in the low post, have to learn and that is how to read and pass out of double teams. Right now, Durant is not the same kind of distributor of the ball that James is as he sits third in the NBA in turnovers per game.

There may some unconventional approaches coming in addition to the same defensive philosophy that Toronto employed to try and stop James. Toronto will try to make Durant work. They may even try and trap him or even put a longer defender on him like Amir Johnson.

There will be some zone played tonight as Toronto did against Cleveland as the Thunder are not as good a three-point shooting team ranking 23rd in the NBA.

"I would expect that we will play some zone tonight," said head coach Jay Triano. "This team is very similar to Cleveland and our coverages will be very similar but they don't have the three-point threats."

But stopping a scorer is tough. I spoke to Alex English, who knows a thing or two about scoring as he sits at No. 12 on the NBA's all-time scoring list. English had a smile on his face like a magician not giving away his tricks, just knowing the mentality of a scorer and how Durant's mind works.

"Sometimes there comes a guy who is in tune with the rim. He knows the rim, his position on the floor and what he can do and he's one of those guys," smiled English as he tried to explain Durant's mentality. "It's a feel that you have as a scorer that's almost indescribable."

"Kevin Durant is one of those special guys. He's always moving on the floor and he's so long, it's hard for any traditional two-guard to guard him because he can shoot over them and even some three (small forward) men. I like his as a player and he's got a strong future in this league."