The Raptors are an OK team at the moment and eventually might be a good one, but their most glaring failure always seems to jump up and bite them. And it's no mystery to anyone who watches them closely: They tend to take stretches of games off. And while they've had some excellent comebacks to win games early this season, they will never realize their potential until the work hard for entire games. It's a fact not lost on the players, either.
"We just have to finish games and play all 48," said point guard Jose Calderon. "I know it sounds like I'm saying the same thing, but this is what it is.
"We play sometimes, one quarter, two quarters. We need 48 (minutes). It's tough without it to beat these good teams."
But those mistakes -- faulty ball movement on offense, the inability to get the crucial stop on defense -- is what separates Toronto from the upper echelon of the conference.
MAGIC 104, RAPTORS 96: Chris Bosh was held to 22 points and Andrea Bargnani was limited to 26 minutes before fouling out as Toronto fell to Orlando for the second time this season. Toronto held Dwight Howard to only 17 points and their defense forced the Magic to just 9-for-32 from 3-point range, but one of the league's most potent offenses couldn't get untracked.
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