Paul Jones

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

Saturday's win over the Nets at least got the Raptors back in the win column.

Not sure if I would call it turning the corner. But at least Saturday night's win by the Raptors over New Jersey sort of put them back on the right street in the winning neighbourhood. They will still have to beat a couple of the bullies next week to turn the corner, but for now, a win to erase the memory of a terrible loss at home to Oklahoma City is just what they needed.

After a suspect first half in which Toronto trailed the Nets, who by the way are on pace for eight wins and setting the NBA mark for the worst record in league history, Chris Bosh got it going in the third quarter. It was probably a bit of a relief for Toronto to win a third quarter as they have only won that 12-minute segment twice since the all-star break (the other came in Portland). Bosh was 7-of-10 in the third quarter, scoring 15 of his game-high 36 points.

Antoine Wright was back in the line-up after missing the past two games with an ankle injury and he played well off the bench. Wright will be a key for Toronto coming down the stretch run and in the playoffs. Why? Because he's a guy who has somewhat of a defensive reputation around the NBA and might be able to get a few of those marginal calls against some of the NBA's bigger-name scorers when he guards them on the perimetre. Let's face it, he'll have more of a chance of getting close calls than say DeMar DeRozan or Sonny Weems.

Jarrett Jack also had solid performance off the bench after struggling -- he was a combined 3-of-14 in his two previous games after being moved into the second unit. So let the scoreboard watching continue as the Raptors sit in the eighth spot, only a half game behind Miami in seventh and a game behind Charlotte in sixth. But the key: all three squads are even in the loss column.

I know, I know, bah, it's the Nets, but I can tell you, if the Raptors would have lost that game on the heels of the home court loss to the Thunder, "the fan help hotline" would have blown up with the volume of Toronto callers.

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Funniest line in the media dining room last night by a cynical New York scribe, "I came to see the Nets win their 8th game of the season. Hey, I saw the way Toronto played against OKC, the Nets have a chance tonight."

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We'll look at the schedule Monday and give you a breakdown of games remaining, games against .500 or better teams, and home games, but back to the Nets for a minute. They are going to have a top pick in the draft. It could be No. 1 but NBA rules will not let it fall below five and it's important that they don't miss. Let's look at a couple of examples. At one point I was told by a former NBA general manager that once you hit the lottery it takes on average 5-7 years to get out of it, if you do the right things and make the right moves.

The team that currently owns the mark for the worst record in NBA history, the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers, selected Doug Collins, yes that Doug Collins the TNT analyst, first overall in the draft and then grabbed a guy named George McGinnis in the second round. It helped that they were able to purchase Julius (Doctor J) Erving a few seasons later and voila, the Sixers are playing for the NBA title in 1977 against the Portland Trail Blazers. I can hear some of you now, get off the ancient history Jonesy, so OK, how about the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks finished 13-69 in 2004-05, not that long ago, huh, but had already started to build as they had selected Josh Smith 17th overall in 2004 draft. Since then their win total has improved every year: 13, 26, 30, 37, 47 and they sit at 44 with the meter still running this season. The draft picks over that time have been Marvin Williams, Al Horford and the combination of that and shrewd moves to pick up Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby, and Jamal Crawford has vaulted the Hawks into the upper echelon in the East with an eye toward the conference finals.

So the Nets with a new owner that sounds like he's willing to spend money, and draft picks have a chance to rebuild from scratch and make their way up the ladder. They're going to make the odd mistake because nobody's perfect. They have to "make" more than they "miss."