LONDON, ENGLAND -- The Raptors left the country and headed for London, England on a high note late Tuesday night. The good feelings all stem from a solid performance in a 96-90 win over the New Orleans Hornets. For one night, all the Calderon "haters" were quieted as he turned in a stellar performance with a season-high 22 points to go along with seven rebounds and 16 assists. Calderon will continue to get his fill of facing elite point guards when he faces Deron Williams on back-to-back nights in London.
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Many people say it's an excuse when the subject of back-to-back games comes up, but the body clock is a funny thing and when it's not right, it's conducive to poor performances. Both the Raptors and the Nets left for England on the night after games and with the five-hour time change, it means that the next day is a killer. The Raptors landed in London at approximately 11:30 after an all-night flight. So after a long ride to the hotel and unpacking bags, it was time to go to practice. Why practice? Well, to put the body on GMT, which is the local time in London. The worst thing for the players would be a nap or a snooze. The Nets were a day ahead of the Raptors and after seeing them cruising around the hotel, it seemed like it worked for them.
Oh yes, it's like wrestling right now with everyone staying at the same hotel. The Raptors, the Nets, the officials, NBA "poohbahs" all in the same spot. It was quite the gathering in the lobby bar in the midevening hours and boy, there were some interesting off the record stories shared in that venue.
You can see what my broadcast partner Eric Smith and I had to say from London yesterday during practice.
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And speaking of wrestling, some fans often joke that's what the NBA has become on some nights. The fans figure they know the outcome and just wait to see how it's achieved with the odd surprise thrown in once in a while. Well how about this one where they showed Blake Griffin interacting with kids as "the winner of the slam dunk contest" even before it had taken place. Oops, it was later corrected but it is something that makes you think.
