Toronto at Washington 7pm ET

It could be a little early to start throwing around the phrase “must win games” but the back-to-back home-and-home games with the Wizards tonight and tomorrow are bordering on it.

The Wiz and Raps are virtually tied in the standings and no doubt will be fighting over the same real estate in the East for the remainder of the season. It is all about having the tiebreaker at the end of the year if Toronto ends up tied with Washington. The Wiz beat Toronto once already this year.

So the worst case scenario is that Toronto loses both games and really hurts their chances of finishing ahead of the Wizards.

I am a big fan of the miniseries of games like this. Tonight’s game will be a normal NBA game but whatever happens tonight will reflect on tomorrow just like it would in the playoffs. You can never get enough experience playing in these types of games.

The way Toronto is starting to roll I am very confident that they will come away with a split at worst. The ACC is becoming a road teams nightmare again and that is great to see. Last season Toronto was one of the best at protecting the home court and they is key for piling up some wins.

Tonight the Raps are in DC where I pretty much assume they will always lose. Short of some insane shot by Mo Pete last season, I can’t remember the Raps ever having success in the US capital.

Washington is just one of those teams Toronto struggles against and they don’t even have Gilbert in the game to give them a chance. What was that? The Raps have a better chance winning with Arenas playing? I think so. He doesn’t play D and can shoot the team out of a game like we saw Michael Redd do the other night.

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Of course the Wiz would love to have Agent Zero on the floor but I think they are not as good. Eddie Jordan has them playing some killer defense right now and without Arenas in the lineup Caron Butler is going crazy.

The keys to Toronto’s success tonight and tomorrow are as follows:

  • Bosh, Calderon and AP give their standard game and one other person has to step up.
  • Butler and Jamison are going to get their numbers but you can’t let a third guy (Roger Mason Jr.) go off.
  • Attack, attack, attack. Bosh has been doing this so well in January and he needs to get to the line at least 10 times.
  • Box out. Seems so simple but the Raps suck at it. Haywood always does well against Toronto and they have to keep the athletic Wiz off the boards.
  • Hold the fort every time Jose goes out. These are key moments for Toronto. I would throw Carlos at the point and let him dish. Dixon and D-Mart are too small.
  • Spread the Wiz D with threes. Get Bargs going from out there and open things up. It would be nice to get Kapono going as well.
  • Avoid Washington runs. The Wiz feed on this. They get jacked up with pressure and before you know it the lead is 10.

I believe this is a turning point in the season for Toronto. They can hover around .500 or make a run to move closer to the 3 & 4 spot in the East.

I think they can take both games and it will start with a close and hard fought game tonight.

Raps win 90-85 behind another monster game from Bosh.

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