So the Toronto Raptors did something Sunday that the vaunted Miami Heat have been unable to do: beat the Boston Celtics.
Mind you, the Celts were missing Rajon Rondo, but hey, you play with who you have available. Toronto could counter that they too were shorthanded after the five-player trade with the New Orleans Hornets was completed.
You can hear what president and general manager Bryan Colangelo and head coach Jay Triano had to say here.
But Toronto did a good job of hanging in early and in a classic David vs. Goliath scenario, they stayed close enough to steal the game in its final stages.
A little Basketball 101 here: you don't always have to foul at the end of the game.
Credit to Jay Triano and the Raptors for understanding when you are down and have timeouts and a sufficient amount of time on the clock, you try for a steal and if it doesn't work, make sure the result is a foul.
Leandro Barbosa's beer-league defence, even though the Celtics thought it was a foul, resulted in the turnover the Raptors needed. It eventually led to Amir Johnson's winning free throws.
There was one guy who was just as happy as Johnson when the free throws hit net and that was assistant coach Alex English, who knows a thing or two about scoring. English sits 13th on the NBA's all-time scoring list and the hall-of-fame player has worked tirelessly with Johnson at improving his offensive game. The smile on English's face was noticeable in the post game.
It was a smart coaching move by Triano on Boston's last possession putting Amir Johnson on the ball for the first inbound attempt. Johnson's length and jumping up and down in front of inbounder Paul Pierce did not allow Pierce to lob the ball to Kevin Garnett who was being fronted by Reggie Evans, following Garnett's screen for Ray Allen. On the second and eventually game ending play, the last minute substitution of DeMar DeRozan for Evans allowed a better perimeter defender to guard Pierce, instead of having Johnson, who has been know to commit a foul or two.
OK, we just can't help but keep our eyes on Miami. On Saturday night in Memphis, the Heat fell to the Grizzlies.
It was a great finish and win for the Grizzlies, but the injury to Udonis Haslem has proven to be a costly one for Miami.
As of writing, reports have Haslem possibly out until close to the all-star break.
It makes sense that with Haslem on the shelf and the Heat still weak up the middle, Erick Dampier is a name that is back on the radar.
