Missed yesterday’s game, unfortunately, but two wins in a row is very nice. What’s even better is that the Raps won going away both times, so they were able to avoid the late-game collapses that have plagued them recently.

Does it mean anything in the greater scheme of things? Probably not. The Raps are in New Jersey Wednesday night, and are 1-2 against the Nets this year. Even if they steal that one and beat the now Michael-Redd-Less Bucks at home on Friday, look at the next four: three of the league’s best - Orlando, Cleveland, LA Lakers - in four nights, followed by the Hornets in New Orleans. Following that: Memphis and Minnesota on the road, then the Spurs at home in Toronto. Best case scenario there is 4-4, and knowing the Raptors 2-6 is more likely.

You can’t count out the Bucks; sometimes I think Redd was a bit of a ball-hog, and this should open things up for Richard Jefferson to shine as a Buck. Either way they’re still ahead of the Raps in the standings so beating them and Jersey is key. And shockingly, Minnesota has played well under Kevin McHale. So those two aren’t the easy wins they might look like on paper.

Not only that, it’s starting to look like 40 wins might not be enough to secure that playoff spot. Don’t look now but Charlotte’s heating up - won 6 of 10 to vault ahead of the Raptors. Philly’s won 8 of 10, New York and Chicago are still ahead of us, and Indiana’s right behind. Even if they do get on a roll, it seems like everyone Toronto’s chasing are also about to go on a roll. Raps have their work cut out for them.

36 games to go? 18-28? They need to go 24-12 in my mind…

Oh well, as I’ve said before, let’s just enjoy the games for what they are and wherever they end up is where they end up.

Other notes of interest:

• Check out Jose’s stats from his first two games back: 57 total minutes, 15-19 shooting (2-3 from downtown) for 39 points. Perfect 7-7 from the line, 18 assists, and not a single turnover. Oh, yeah… they missed this guy.
• Jermaine O’Neal had a solid 10-point (4-6 shooting), 11 rebound night, in a mere 22 minutes. Sure, the Kings frontline can’t stop anybody, but hey… as an audition for Miami, it works for me, and if it helps his conditioning and confidence for as long as he’s here, that works too.
• I suspect I’m not the only one who was worried Bargnani’s numbers might suffer with Jose back (who always seems to look to Bosh before Andrea) but in the past two games, he’s 15-27, 4-8 from downtown and has scored 22 and 24. This is a solid month of strong play from Bargnani? Is it time to stop calling this another tease and declare that he’s “arrived?” I’m not there yet, but I’m getting there. He sure is fun to watch when the shot is dropping and he’s got confidence like that - he really is a deadly weapon from anywhere when his shot is on. And I absolutely love that pull-up jumper he’s been rocking lately. Very Dirk-like, and very effective.
• Anthony Parker has been superb of late, taking good shots when available and getting guys involved when he’s been the point guard. He’s also been hitting the boards which is really nice to see (5.8 over the past five games).
• Unfortunately, we’re not getting much in the way of contribution from the 3-spot. You just can’t count on Moon, Graham or Kapono on any given night. Joey played well against the Bulls, and Kapono was all right, but none of them did much last night (although I read that Joey had a good game on D and rebounding, so at least the effort was there). How does Kapono only have two total three-point attempts the past three games? And it’s not like the Bulls and Kings are known for their defense! Argh.

Anyway, a couple days off before heading to New Jersey to see Vince for the last time this year. The Raps have gotten big leads on the Nets three times, and blown it twice. Oddly enough the only one they held on to was in Jersey, so that should give them confidence for Wednesday night. Will they finally get their first three-game win streak since the first week of the year!?

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