Paul Jones

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

Carmelo Anthony

It was another heartbreaking loss for the Toronto Raptors Friday night, this time at the hands of the Denver Nuggets.

It was another heartbreaking loss for the Toronto Raptors Friday night, this time at the hands of the Denver Nuggets.

After two lopsided blowouts at home -- where the Raptors put forth a lacklustre effort in each instance -- they left it all on the floor Friday night. However, when it counted most, they just couldn't make a play, just one play, to secure the win. Toronto had its chances and had there been one less turnover, one more rebound, one fewer bobbled pass or, one more free throw made, the outcome could have been different.

But give Denver credit as they made plays, especially those from their big stars at crucial times. Chauncey Billups' corner three-pointer off the baseline inbound that tied the game at 95 was a prime example of how he earned the name "Mr. Big Shot". And believe me, Carmelo Anthony's game winner was no fluke folks. In the last 10 seasons, Melo has the NBA's best percentage with less than 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter or overtime, when he takes a shot to tie the score or put his team in the lead.

Now granted, he missed one with 5.5 seconds left but when Toronto couldn't secure the ball, Melo's dagger won the game for Denver, 98-97. It also made him 14/30 (46.7%) in those situations. But more on that and a statistical look at some clutch players later.

Kobe Bryant is clutch too -- even with a 29.2% success rate. And oh, by the way Raptor fans, Chris Bosh is 3 of 4 this season in the same late-game situation. Hey, I'm just sayin' from a numbers perspective -- that's a fact.

It was the first time all season Toronto lost a game when it had held the opposition to under 100 points. It was also only the seventh instance this season where they held the opponent to less than 45 per cent from the floor and didn't get the win. All in all, a disappointing night but the one thing that Toronto must take forward from the loss is the effort they put forth.

The effort has to be a constant in the remaining 11 games to not only hold on to the eighth and final playoff position, but to fight like crazy to get out of the final spot and move up the ladder. Raptor fans saw the same effort in a loss against the Lakers and hope that the next two games, important ones against Miami and Charlotte, don't turn out like those against Sacramento and Golden State.

Can they beat Cleveland in the first round if the playoffs started tomorrow? No, I don't think so, but for those fans that say, "it's not worth making the playoffs", you're the ones that don't understand that anything can happen in the playoffs. Yes, the Cavs have the best record in the league but losing and missing the playoffs does nothing to foster a winning attitude in Toronto and around the franchise. They need to get into the playoffs and see what happens in the first round -- even if it is a loss.

Call me crazy, but if there was one match up where Toronto has a chance, its Orlando -- again. I can hear the howls now and people sending men in white coats for me, but hear me out for a second.

The Magic are a better team and playing well but, Toronto has beaten them once this season -- thanks to head coach Jay Triano's game plan, the same one that he used to knock off the eventual NBA finalists twice last season. Orlando is also playing well right now and defeating them would be a tall order, but the conspiracy theorist in me says there is no way the basketball Gods (and the NBA for that matter), lose their marketing and ratings ticket, LeBron James, in first round loss to the Raptors. No chance!

Oh, I almost forgot, here is your clutch list:

Over the last 10 seasons in this order Kobe, Vince Carter, Ray Allen, Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce are the guys you want with the ball and the clock ticking toward zero.