An exhibition game was played in Toronto on Tuesday (14th October 2008) night, between Toronto Raptors and CSKA Moscow, the defending Euroleague champions. The Raptors won this match by a score of 86-78.

Highlights of the match

In the initial part of the match, the CSKA displayed strong shooting and made it tough for Toronto to score. Anthony Parker of the Raptors began the scoring. CSKA replied with a 7-0 run and out of the next 15 points scored 13. In the first quarter, Siskauskas scored 9 points and the CSKA had a lead of 25-20. In the second quarter, the score was 40-38, but Zoran Planinic scored 5 points and CSKA took a 47-38 lead at half time. In the third quarter, the Raptors played very well and led by 60-58. In the fourth quarter, the Raptors exhibited a 13-2 run. Trajan Langdon of the CSKA made tow free throws and the lead was reduced to 80-76. However, O’Neal and Bosh scored on consecutive trips and secured the win.

Scorer’s for Raptors

Chris Bosh contributed 10 rebounds and 23 points in the Raptors victory. Jose Calderon chipped in 14 points and 6 assists. Jermaine O’Neal and Andrea Bargnani added 11 points each.

Scorer’s for CSKA

The top scorer for CSKA Moscow was Ramunas Siskauskas who scored 15 points. Viktor Khryapa contributed 11 rebounds and 13 points. Trajan Langdon collected 10 points and Ezarem Lorbek gathered 14 points.

Remarks

Sam Mitchell, the Raptors coach, was not very satisfied with this victory. On the contrary, he was somewhat displeased as the top players of the team had to be present on court for a considerable duration of the fourth quarter to seal the victory. He said “We’re working on certain things in practice and it is time to start applying them in the game. We’re coddling, we’re pushing, we’re pulling. We’re not going to scream and yell, but charity time is almost over.”

Jermaine O’Neal was of the opinion that the Raptors did not have sufficient intensity during the first half. He said “We can’t come out and allow teams to dictate the tempo, dictate the physical aspect of he game. In the third quarter we came out and responded, we did exactly what we talked about at the half. All in all, the second half was a lot better, the first half was very poor for our team.”

Trajan Langdon, a CSKA Moscow player, commented “They fell asleep a little bit and we were able to get a couple of easy buckets. They’re a good team and didn’t want to allow us to squeak out with a win. They got it to their guys down low and made some plays.”

Chris Bosh of the Raptors said that although four preseason games have been played, the teammates of the Raptors are not comfortable with each other. He said “We’re still trying to feel each other out on defense and offense. I wish I could snap my fingers and just play the basketball I know we’re capable of playing, but we have to go through a rough patch because we’re still trying to gel.”