After losing game 2 against Miami, Stoudemire left the court frustrated, and punched a fire extinguisher. These stitches were the result. The stitches are reportedly a millimetre away from his nerves, meaning Amare got extremely lucky.

Amare will thankfully be OK, however he likely won’t be able to play again this series and if being down 3-0 to the Miami Heat wasn’t a big enough hole for the Knicks, losing Amare certainly is.

Good luck.

The Raptors took a shot on the best d-league point guard available: Ben Uzoh. Uzoh played 16 games with the Raptors, averaging a career high 4.8 points and 3.7 assists in 22 minutes.

Uzoh capped off his solid stint with a triple double of 12 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds.

He is a solid defender, is quick, and an above average rebounder for a point guard.

While Uzoh isn’t going to ever be a starting calibre point guard, his late surge certainly warrants a roster spot next year as the 3rd point guard off the bench.

Grade: B 

Every Tuesday a new player will be graded, so make sure to check back for more updates.

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In the first round of this year’s NBA playoffs, there are some pretty solid match-ups that will provide some excitement. Let’s get into the predictions:

Utah Jazz @ San Antonio Spurs

Prediction- Spurs in 5

Why: The Spurs have fallen under the radar despite having the number one seed in the West. They should make quick work of the Jazz.

Dallas Mavericks @ Oklahoma City Thunder

Prediction- Mavericks in 7

Why: Yup, bold prediction here. The Mavs are the defending champs for a reason: they know how to get it done when necessary. OKC is still very young, and there time will come, just not this year. Dirk Nowitzki will show once again why he’s the best power forward in the game.

Denver Nuggets @ LA Lakers

Prediction- Lakers in 6

Why: Sure, the Nuggets have a great overall team. But until they can find a closer, they won’t be championship contenders. On the other side, the Lakers have a guy named Kobe Bryant. I heard he’s pretty good.

LA Clippers @ Memphis Grizzlies

Prediction- Grizzlies in 6

Why: Zach Randolph will once again show up for the Grizzles and hammer Blake Griffin. The Clippers still have some chemistry-building to do, and are still realistically one piece away from contending.

Philadelphia 76ers @ Chicago Bulls

Prediction- Bulls in 7

Why: I think I have to justify why 7 games more than Bulls. The Sixers are going to take the Bulls by surprise. Derrick Rose’s health is a big issue, and the Sixers have carved up the Bulls defense before. If they can continue to exploit the league’s best defense, this could be a very interesting series.Over the past two years, both teams split the season series 3-3.

New York Knicks @ Miami Heat

Prediction- Heat in 5

Why: LeBron James is going to silence critics this year, starting by carving up the Knicks. The Knicks made a push too little to late, and they have themselves a first round match-up that every team fears.

Orlando Magic @ Indiana Pacers

Prediction- Pacers in 5

Why: Dwight Howard is out. Simple as that.

Boston Celtics @ Atlanta Hawks

Prediction- Celtics in 6

Why: The Celtics are much more experienced, and will prove to be too much to handle. Unless Joe Johnson can prove to be a closer and a legit number one option, the Celtics will take this one.

Leave your predictions in the comments below.

After the win against the Nets, the Raptors bumped up to a tie with the Golden State Warriors in terms of seeding for the draft lottery, with a tie at 7. A coin flip was used to determine who would get the higher odds, and the Warriors won, giving the Raptors the 8th best odds for the first overall pick, at 3.5 percent. The Raptors also have a 12.5 percent chance of moving into the top 3.

Fans are certainly going to be disgruntled with the result, with high hopes of obtaining a franchise changing talent through the NBA draft. However, finishing with the 8th worst record with your best player injured for the majority of the season, along with tons of other injuries and close losses shows how much better this team actually is than the other lottery teams. In fact, before Andrea Bargnani’s initial injury, the playoffs didn’t look out of the question.

The Raps ended up going 23-43, surpassing last years win total of 22 despite the shortened season. This, believe it or not, is a big step forward.

Overall, the team changed as a whole. Dwane Casey helped shape a defensive mentality, moving the team from dead last in points against per game to 9th in the league. That is a huge jump, and while the offensive efficiency did decrease this year, the Raptors finally showed signs of life on the defensive end of the floor.

It wasn’t just a system change Casey implemented, it was an attitude change. This team was gritty, and never backed down from any challenge. They played hard through 48 minutes, and learned valuable lessons from their mistakes.

There were certainly highs and lows. The Raps competed with the best of the league and lost to the worst. Yes, the Raptors lost to the Bobcats. Twice, in fact. But they also beat the Celtics twice, the Knicks, the Hawks, the Nuggets, and maintained pace with many contenders throughout the year- they weren’t just a free pass for the Heat or Lakers.

In terms of individuals, Andrea Bargnani took the largest leap forward. He learned how to play on both ends of the court, and his offence looked more explosive than ever.

Every player on the young Raptor squad showed some signs of improvement- we will take a look at this later in the player grades.

Before this season started, Bryan Colangelo acknowledged the fact that this was going to be a learning season where the Raptors wanted to change the culture of the team, and realized that it is a long process building a contender.

The Raptors will have a huge offseason coming up. Aaron Gray, Jamal Magloire, Alan Anderson, and Ben Uzoh are all unrestricted free agents. Jerryd Bayless is a restricted free agent with a qualifying offer from the team, and Solomon Alabi’s contract can be picked up for one more year if the team chooses to.

Dwane Casey has shaped the future this year, and as the team continues to adjust to Casey’s systems, more improvements will be evident. The bottom line is, this team is young, and has many young, bright pieces going forward. With last year’s lottery pick Jonas Valanciunas coming over to Toronto next season along with another lottery pick this year, the Raptors will have two very solid pieces joining the team next year. Of course, getting a bit of luck from the lottery balls wouldn’t hurt, but it isn’t a necessity, contrary to the popular belief.

The question: is success this year measured by the team’s draft pick, or the development and strides of the team itself? In all honesty, both. Yes, the improvements this team showed this year were fantastic and are fundamental to success moving forward, however this team needs one more franchise changing talent. If the Raptors do indeed land a top 3 pick, the face of the franchise will be re-shaped completely next year. Regardless, this team is young, and will continue to get better.

The team completed this year’s goal: build a winning, defensive culture while improving and building off last year. Only time will tell if they can complete next year’s: playoffs. However, everything has lined up to believe so.

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Tonight, it was Wade’s turn to play, but he didn’t make it too far. After 2 minutes of play against the Washington Wizards, Wade dislocated his left finger as it appeared to have gotten caught in another player’s jersey. He grimaced in pain and headed back to the locker room, and didn’t return.

Luckily, it was his left hand, but you can bet that this injury will linger. He was diagnosed as day to day, but will be further tested tomorrow. Typically, a dislocated finger can take weeks to fully heel and the Miami Heat certainly don’t want any of their big three to go down.

LeBron, Wade, and Bosh have all been banged up and at this point it is likely that the Heat will rest them until the playoffs.The Heat certainly have a lot to prove this post season, especially after losing in the finals last season to the Dallas Mavericks.

If there is one positive to take from the Wade injury, it is that the Heat have been spectacular this season without him. In particular, LeBron James has shined in Wade’s absence. If LeBron can pick up some momentum, he has the skill set to carry the Heat to a championship alone with Wade taking the backs seat, and this would ultimately silence James’ critics.

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Gary Forbes entered this season with a mindset knowing that he needed to prove his value in this league. Forbes had never really had his shot, but this year he made the most of his minutes on the rebuilding Raptor squad, averaging 6 points in 12 minutes. But here’s the kicker: after the all-star break, Forbes has averaged 9.3 points per game, including 8 double digit scoring games and 2 games over 20 points. Not bad for a player that went undrafted.

The bottom line here is that Forbes has found a home in Toronto, and will certainly provide offence off the bench for the Raps. He has a sweet shooting stroke that Raptor swingmen seem to lack, and when he gets minutes and heats up he can put points on the board in a hurry.

Sound familiar? Former Raptor 6th man Leandro Barbosa and Forbes may not be all that different. Sure, Barbosa is a lot quicker, more experienced, and a more polished player overall, but Forbes certainly has the potential to be the 6th man going forward for Toronto.

Moving Barbosa has given Forbes the opportunity to play and he’s certainly made the most of his minutes. So far, he’s struck gold on the impression he’s made in Toronto, and the Raptors will have one more year to evaluate him before a decision is made on his future. If the 24 year old can continue to contribute off the bench, he’ll be a solid role player for years to come.

It’s a shame because he just started playing well again.

This is the third time Bargnani has aggravated his left calf, and it might be time to shut down the Italian 7 footer.

Apparently the injury is a strain, indicating that it isn’t serious and he sat for precautionary measures. That’s what the initial report states, and Bargnani is listed as day to day.

However, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Raptors decided to shut Bargnani down for the season. In fact, it seems to be the wisest decision.

Shutting down Bargnani might actually be a positive for the Raps.

To start, they will naturally lose more games, giving them better odds at Anthony Davis. Another positive would be giving Ed Davis more minutes, and possibly rocketing his value before a potential trade in the offseason.

And finally, the Raptors don’t really have anything to gain by playing Bargnani. They are out of contention. Let Bargnani’s calf heal, and make sure he’s 100% for training camp next season.

It’s been tough to see Bargnani hurt so often throughout his breakout year, but hopefully this will be a learning experience for him and next year he comes out even more motivated.

The Raptors held a slight lead throughout the entire game, and Washington failed to make a push and take over.

There isn’t much to talk about, so let’s get to the report card:

Offence- B+

Positives

40 bench points was a huge boost for the Raps tonight. Ben Uzoh has done a solid job of filling in for the injured Jerryd Bayless, and the Raptors will likely extend his contract till the end of the season. Same goes for Alan Anderson.

Negatives

You would have hoped players like Bargnani and DeRozan would have been more effective against a mediocre Wizards defence, netting only 18 and 15 points respectively.

The Raptors offence was solid, not spectacular.

Defence- B- 

Positives

For the majority of the game, the Raps defence was quite solid.

Negatives

It was solid, but we’ve seen much better performances defensively by the Raps. In the fourth they were awful defensively.

Rebounding- A+ 

Positives

This pretty much won the Raptors the game, out-rebounding the Wizards 43-31. Andrea Bargnani and Aaron Gray led the Raps with 8 rebounds each.

Negatives

James Johnson didn’t record a rebound. Strange.

Overall, this was a pretty boring game. Neither team played particularly well, but the Raps did enough to come away with the win. The Raps get a night off before the Bobcats come to Toronto on Tuesday.

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However, sloppy play in the fourth, bad officiating, and ultimately a superior Heat squad triumphed, defeating the Raptors 113-101.

After a slow start, the Raptors worked extremely hard to claw their way back into this one, but didn’t have enough gas left in the tank to pull away from the Heat.

Ex-Raptor Chris Bosh’s unfriendly returns continued, as he was booed throughout the night. However, Bosh responded well to the boo birds this time, posting a 30 point 8 rebound night.

Let’s get to the report card:

Offence- A

Positives

The Raptors lit up the scoreboard against a tough Heat defence. Andrea Bargnani appears to have broken out of his slump, pouring in 27 points.

DeMar DeRozan also continued his stellar play, leading the Raps with 28.

Negatives

The Raptors got off to an extremely slow start offensively, allowing the Heat to go on a huge run.

Defence- D

Positives

Not much to say here.

Negatives

James Johnson played some solid defence on LeBron at points, but at the end of the day the Heat got points whenever they wanted. The Heat’s high octane offence was too much for the Raptors, but then again the Heat’s offence is too much for the whole league.

Rebounding- B+

Positives

Amir Johnson was a monster on the glass, grabbing 12 rebounds. The Raptors tied the Heat with 30 rebounds each.

Negatives

If the Raptors got a rebounding edge, it would have been a difference making. This game was very fast paced, meaning not many boards to go around.

Overall, this was a great effort from the Raps tonight. It was a David vs Goliath case, and the Raps fought valiantly. The Raps will get a night off before the Washington Wizards come to Toronto on Sunday.

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This is a huge blow for the Toronto Raptors. Bayless, a free agent to be, has shown flashes of potential all season long. With the Raptors out of contention, it is likely that they were going to use the remainder of the year to evaluate Bayless and potentially decide on whether they will offer an extension to the 23 year old.

Bayless averaged 11.4 points and 3.8 assists in just under 23 minutes a game this season, but averaged 17.8 points and 5.3 assists as a starter.

It will be a shame if Bryan Colangelo lets Jerryd Bayless walk. All Bayless needs is a chance. The Raptors can’t afford to lose Bayless like they lost Chauncey Billups.

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