Score 1 [or 29] for Kapono

He's averaging less playing time than in Miami. He's not playing with Shaq and Wade. He's sometimes a forgotten man, regardless of his out of this world shooting stroke. He has, however, never publicly complained. He just uses his minutes efficiently, by shooting a high percentage from both within, and beyond, the three point arc. These facts have led me to wish Mitchell played him more often. Yes, Moon is long, athletic, and a block machine. Parker is probably the Raptors best defender in the half court set, and Delfino seems to bring a bit of everything to the table. I hoped, however, that Mitchell could find SOME consistent use for Kapono, as his percentages were just too high to ignore.
You can understand my joy, therefore, after Toronto's fourth straight win tonight, this time at the expense of the Indiana Pacers. Kapono simply went off, scoring 29 points, including 6-7 from three. In the fourth quarter alone, Kapono scored 17 points and was a perfect 4-4 from three, including one ridiculous looking two-handed push shot that was just about the quickest release I had ever seen. Of course, he might play all of 15 minutes against Boston, even after this performance, but at least he showed the fans that he is certainly worth the money he got in the off season, and will be a valuable piece of the Raptors puzzle this season.

Now, onto the game:

The fact that the Raptors came back from 17 points, on the road no less, speaks volumes about where the team is at mentally right now. Furthermore, the win came with Ford on the bench, Rasho ineffective, and Bargnani still MIA. What worked was the career high in point by Kapono, the career high in assists by Calderon, the 'still riding high' play of The Hump, and the rounding into all-star form from Chris Bosh.

Box Score Worthy
- Jose Calderon: 18 points, 16 assists, 2 turnovers, 5 rebounds
- Chris Bosh: 22 points, 16 rebounds, including 8 offensive
- Jason Kapono: 29 points on 9-14 shooting, 6-7 from 3, 5-5 from FT line
- Kris Humphries: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals
- Carlos Delfino: 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 big, big block

The Raptors record stands at 14-10, which puts them in sole possession of 4th in the Eastern Conference, a couple games behind Detroit/ Orlando, and a game up on Washington. It also puts them at 10th in the league, which means they should make it into the top 10 in monday's ESPN and NBA.com power rankings. If they beat Boston, they could potentially jump up to 8th. If they lose, they shouldn't drop further than 11th, considering two of their four wins came on the road against .500 teams, and their two home wins came against two of the Western Conference powers [Houston still needs to be considered a power, record aside].