Paul Jones

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

Toronto takes on Golden State Saturday night in Oakland and as it has been said many times before things can change quickly in the NBA.

The Raptors woke up this morning to find themselves in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern conference. Toronto sits in the last chair thanks to a win by the Charlotte Bobcats over the Los Angeles Clippers and Miami's victory over the Chicago Bulls. Wasn't it just eight games ago that Toronto was ensconced in fifth place prompting whispers by the team's fan base that the Celtics were looking old and another Atlantic Division title could be a possibility?

Toronto had better have new sneakers tonight as they take on the Warriors who are the NBA's second-highest scoring team and lead the Association in fast-break points and points off turnovers. Golden State plays the way you would on the blacktop. Shoot first, ask questions later and get up and down. But injuries have hurt the Warriors this season as just yesterday, Don Nelson thought one of the team's strengths going into the season, its young forwards, have become a glaring weakness due to health reasons. Brandan Wright and Anthony Randolph are both out of the lineup with injuries which has forced Nelson to go with combinations of which, even he may raise an eyebrow.

It's when the wacky undersized lineups are on the floor that Toronto needs to try and take advantage of the Warriors. The Raptors have to try and resist the temptation to take jump shots when they have mismatches, but against the Warriors, that is easier said than done as they get you going up and down. Part of the strategy is having the Warriors opponents play quickly and have the wrong people take the wrong shots from the wrong place on the floor to feed into what they want to do.

How bad have injuries hit Golden State? Well they have five NBA D-League call-ups, most of any team in the NBA and have played 50 percent of their games (32 of 64) with just nine players in uniform. But don't expect that to slow the Warriors down. They trot their team out there and get up and down and if you need a break, "Nellie" may just call a timeout and send you right back out onto the floor. Think I'm joking? On 10 occasions this year Monta Ellis, the Warriors high-scoring backcourt man who is sixth in the NBA in points per game, has played all 48 minutes including 53 minutes in an overtime loss.

Don't get too excited about leads tonight because the way Golden State plays, no lead is safe, by either team. To coin a phrase from one of my old coaches, the way they play, they keep both teams in the game.

"It's a tough team to guard against," commented Raptors head coach Jay Triano. "You've got to not fall into their trap playing fast paced basketball."

But what you might want to look at is the third quarter. Toronto has been outscored in 9 of 11 third frames since the all-star break posting a 3-11 record over that span. The Warriors, they have been allowing over 50 percent from the floor in that quarter and when they manage to win that quarter alone, it's a good sign. 13 of Golden State's 17 wins have seen them outscore their opponent in the third stanza.

The countdown is on for Don Nelson as he needs just seven wins to pass former Raptor bench boss Lenny Wilkens as the NBA's all time leader in coaching victories. But with the way the season has gone for Golden State, it probably won't happen this season.

It's another back to back situation for Toronto and they are fortunate that they are playing the Warriors before making the trip to Portland and not the other way around. But it doesn't matter unless they are able to get a win. Start the music again folks and we'll see who has a playoff chair, and what number is on it at the end of the night.