Consistently Inconsistent

Two more games, two different outcomes... again. Against the Magic, Toronto fought back late in the game, took the lead briefly, only to continue to have defensive lapses, lose the lead, and lose the game. Against Philly on Friday, the Raptors had the lead, lost the lead, had defensive lapses, but regained the lead, and won the game. This is the kind of thing that drives coaches [and fans] mad.
The Raptors let the Magic shoot 50% against them, and the Magic starters outscored the Raptors starters 92-65. The Raptors once again shot below 40% as a team, and were outrebounded 51-41. On the bright side, the Raptors only turned the ball over 8 times, and had 7 steals. Few individual performances merit attention here, save maybe Bosh's 26 and 10, and Bargnani's 16 and 8. Overall, the Raptors lacked effort and energy for much of the game, and their defense is hardly good enough to win games when they decide not to bring their offensive A-game.
Luckily, they were able to travel to Philly, and get their 3rd win of the season, only a few days later. While they almost squandered a late 4th quarter lead, and I mean 48th minute late 4th quarter lead, the important thing is that they didn't because Lou Williams couldn't connect on a three point play seconds after converting a four point play . While Bosh put together an impressive FT line performance for the second straight game, the story of the game was the play of Jamario Moon. Yes, I thought having Moon in the game against Milwaukee was a mistake, and I still 100% believe it was a poor coaching move, Moon DID have a solid game tonight, and Mitchell showed a lot of faith in the youngster. Moon was on the court for all of crunch time, finishing with 9 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and no turnovers in 22 minutes of court time. Equally as important was the 15 minutes Calderon played, where he poured in 9 points and 7 assists. Delfino once again showed off his knack for rebounds, finishing with 9 boards, and he'd get more praise if not for his 1-4 FT shooting in the final minute which made the game more tense than it should've been. The jury is still out on how the change in the starting lineup worked, with Rasho grabbing 8 boards in 12 minutes, but Bargnani struggling to the tune of 9 points and only 2 rebounds off the bench. Another plus for the Raptors this game was the play of Anthony Parker. While AP has been struggling over the first 5 games, he had a breakthrough performance tonight, finishing with 22 points and adding 6 rebounds, while making 4 of his 7 three point attempts. The Raptors as a team outrebounded the 76ers, and held them to under 46% shooting.
Next up for the Raptors is a game against the struggling Chicago Bulls. If the Raptors can pull off a victory, it should be a major confidence booster for the team. If not, Sam Mitchell might have to tweak his lineups once again, to try to finally find some consistency.