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Matt McKayMatt McKay
Basically, I'm a little league reporter trying to make it into the big leagues...

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Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, , , Golden State Warriors, , , ,

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Talk about having your work cut out for you.

In the next few days, Raptor fans will be treated to the painful delights of Lebron James, Paul Pierce and Josh Smith

Wow! Bring on the ‘Beasts of the East!’

Given the self-inflicted rollercoaster season the Raps have gone through, it’s almost fitting the team will now play three of the top four Eastern Conference teams: Cleveland (60-17) on Tuesday night, the Boston Celtics (48-28) the following night and the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.

But before going on, let’s partially dissect the weekend split versus the Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors.

SATURDAY NIGHT vs. Philadelphia 76ers (all italics is how I imagined the play-by-play to sound)

Jarrett Jack to Chris Bosh… Jump shot… Goooood!!! Raptors up by 17 with just over three minutes to play in the third quarter.

Seriously, what’s a Raps game on the road against one of the NBA’s bottom feeders, without a huge double-digit collapse in the second half?

I mean it’s beyond embarrassing at this crucial point to lose a huge lead to an Eastern Conference team that has lost 50 games and counting.

SUNDAY NIGHT vs. Golden State Warriors

Stephen Curry with the lay-up… Short… But he’s able to tip home his own rebound! Warriors up by 16 in the fourth! Timeout Toronto!

Seriously, what’s a Raps game at home against one the NBA’s bottom feeders without a huge double-digit deficit mid-way through the fourth quarter?

At least the Raptors were able to (don’t excuse the pun) claw back into this one and give the hometown fans something to cheer about.

Oh yeah and that Chris Bosh fellow? How good was he Sunday?

42 points is a nice day at the office. Wow!

SATURDAY NIGHT vs. Philadelphia 76ers

Turkoglu… inside to Bosh… Six seconds to go… Bosh drives on Dalambert. Reverse lay-up… Won’t go! We’re going to overtime!

What surprised this reporter wasn’t that Bosh missed the shot, it was witnessing the all-star power forward drive to the net to win the game instead of settling for his patented pull-up jumper.

SUNDAY NIGHT vs. Golden State Warriors

Bosh has to miss his second free throw for the Raptors to have any chance as they’re out of timeouts. Bosh… hits the free throw!

The Raptors must steal the inbounds… Turiaf to inbound for Golden State… Stolen by Weems and HE GETS THE BALL TO BOSH! Lay-up won’t go! Warriors win!!!

Hold on… wasn’t he the one who, instead of deliberately missing, hit his second free throw despite his team down by two points with 2.9 seconds left in the fourth?

And isn’t he the same guy who missed an easy lay-up to win the game after Sonny Weems dove out of bounds, stole the ball and passed it to Bosh with time still on the clock?

Unintentionally, it looks like this column may accidently morph into a Bosh-bashing exercise, so, perhaps now would be the best time to focus on the remaining games on the Raps’ schedule.

It’s safe to say the split with Philly and the Warriors (49-103 combined) clearly illustrate that Toronto toy with their fans’ emotions/loyalties/blood pressure levels.

So what’s the state of things for the Raptors at this point?

They cling to the last playoff spot in the East and have a slim (and we’re talking Keon Clark slim) one-game advantage over the ninth place Chicago Bulls.

To make things even more interesting, the Raptors will play the Bulls at home this coming Sunday.

But let’s not put the cart before the dino.

They have to beat three of the four best in the conference within a span of four days. No problem.

The Raptors are a stellar 2-7 (CLE 1-2, BOS 0-3, ATL 1-2) versus these teams.

Tonight, things get underway with a possible first-round date with Cleveland.

While the Cavs look like a team of destiny, led by undisputed best basketballer in the world, Lebron James, the Raps have played them tough in their previous three tilts this season.

In both teams’ season openers the Raptors, for the most part, took it to the Cavs and their newly united duo of Shaq and Lebron, eventually winning 101-91.

After that the Cavaliers were able to squeak out eight point victories in the next two games, which saw one decided in the last minute with the other going to overtime.

There aren’t many basketball writers or fans who would give the Raptors a chance in this one.

However, the fact that they’ve hung with the Cavs so late into games definitely gives you a reason to believe they could possibly pull a rabbit out of the hat.

As for the Boston Celtics, let’s just say they have the Raps number.

Toronto has lost six straight at home to Boston and have lost 11-of-12 to the Celts at the ACC since 2004.

So, they are certainly due.

Against the Atlanta Hawks in Hotlanta, they got bulldozed 146-115 in early December but that massacre started the Raps on the upswing.

After that game they went 24-11 over the next three months of the season.

If they could somehow manage two wins or a miracle sweep, it would all but guarantee a playoff spot and make the Bulls game on Apr. 11 a moot point.

This writer, for one, is hoping for the best, but, unfortunately, expects the worst.