Pound the Rock Stars of the Night - San Antonio Spurs 100, Toronto Raptors 80 - The 'Holiday Hangover' Edition

posted by Mike Masaya

POUND THE ROCK STARS - On a nightly basis, no matter how good or bad the Raps play, no matter if they blow out a team or if they get blown out and no matter if they win or lose, these are the Raptors with the best 'Pound the Rock' status for the night.

FINAL SCORE:   SPURS 100, RAPTORS 98    SEASON RECORD: 9W-20L

POUND THE ROCK STAR #1: AMIR JOHNSON

LINE:  12 pts (6-8), 6 reb

Things didn’t look so bad to start for Amir who had 4 points in the first quarter and ended the half with 4-4 shooting, 8 points and 5 rebounds with the Raptors only down 7 points. The trio of Duncan, Splitter and Diaw were simply too much for Amir and Ed Davis in the end who struggled with  8 points on 3-7 shooting and 7 rebounds as his stat line. With that being said, Amir scored more points than any of the Raptors starting five with the same amount of playing time which is either good or bad news depending on your optimism.

POUND THE ROCK STAR #2: ALAN ANDERSON

LINE:  12 pts (5-10)

Unlike varying opinions on whether Amir’s stat line was due to his performance or the team’s lack thereof, Alan Anderson no doubt had a solid performance. With less than 20 minutes on the floor he was 1 of 4 bench players in double digits keeping the Raptors in the game in one form or another. The bright side is that when given the time Alan usually delivers. A comforting thought for a team knocking on the door of a  .500 record.

POUND THE ROCK STAR #3: JOHN LUCAS III

LINE:  11 pts (4-10), 2 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl

With Kyle Lowry, Andrea Bargnani and Jonas Valanciunas as the faces of the Raptors to start the season many have forgotten how excited they were to have John Lucas III on the team. True, 3rd string Point Guards don’t often get or expect to make the front page, but the NBA is clearly rewarding deep benches and teams that share the load on both ends of the court with wins. This is why it’s important that Lucas stay sharp and ready at all times as tonight proved that if push comes to shove the bench has a lot of firepower when the starters are struggling.

SHOUTOUTS TO THE SPURS:

TIM DUNCAN

LINE: 15 pts (6-11), 6 reb

Watching Tim Duncan play never gets old whether you are rooting for or against him. As fundamentals are steadily replaced by flash Duncan, Parker and Ginobili prove textbook basketball still wins games. Every year the term “old” is thrown around when discussing the Spurs but they remain at the top of the Western Conference year in year out. The Spurs were their usual balanced scoring selves cruising to a 20 point win over the Raptors.

Photo via Project Spurs

Next up for the Raps: @ New Orleans (Friday)