Weekend in Review: Raptors' transformation remarkable

The situation doesn't require analysis or perspective from the acquired players.

Just consider if you were Jalen Rose, Donyell Marshall or Lonny Baxter and had been traded by the woeful Chicago Bulls -- landing with a Toronto Raptors organization dying for some new blood. Tony the Tiger couldn't explain it any better.

Jalen Rose (right) and Vince Carter have been a match made in heaven for the Raptors.(AP)

"This has been great," Rose said. "And we're going to get better."

It has been a wild week for the trio after coming over from the wayward Bulls for Antonio Davis, Jerome Williams and Chris Jefferies. Toronto is 4-0 since the trade after a 108-98 victory Sunday over the Seattle SuperSonics. Whether they get better as Rose contends, or fall apart from lack of depth up front, is irrelevant under the circumstances.

The transition has been remarkable for a team that was averaging 78.0 points a game -- a record low since the inception of the shot clock in 1954. It has averaged 100 points since the deal. Consequently, at 12-8, Toronto now has the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference.

The addition of Rose and Marshall has:

1. Relieved the huge scoring burden from Vince Carter
2. benefited 19-year-old rookie Chris Bosh by speeding up the tempo instead of him getting beaten up in half-court play
3. and opened the door for struggling Morris Peterson to regain his lost shooting touch.

"I knew good things were going to happen, but now it's just like 'Wow,'" Carter said. "It's just above and beyond expectations for all of us. It brings us back to 2000 when we were playing in the playoffs. We're trying to create that atmosphere again."

It has been a real boon to rookie head coach Kevin O'Neill, too. He was taking plenty of heat around the league for playing insufferably slow as a tactic to keep the Raptors close in games, with the hope Carter could win it in the fourth quarter. Now, they're going full blast and having a wonderful time doing it.

Bosh, the 6-foot-10 forward and fourth pick overall from Georgia Tech, had 22 points and 16 rebounds Sunday; Peterson hit four from 3-point range in the fourth quarter; and Carter had 20 of his 30 points after intermission.

Everyone seems to be benefiting on the Raptors in the wake of a deal that provided plenty of offense but appeared to strip the team of a legitimate front court. The slim 225-pound Bosh is the biggest player left in their rotation. Baxter is stout, but only 6-foot-8, and young Jerome Moiso hasn't panned out despite plenty of raw talent.

"We like our newfound offensive prowess, if you will," O'Neill said. "We enjoy that and it gets us into a tempo-type game instead of locking down."

So, maybe general manager Glen Grunwald isn't finished retooling this team. They've been shopping Peterson for months, and packaging him with a draft choice and Moiso might net them somebody to help knock the big boys around inside.

If not, well, at least they're playing fast and exciting ball as opposed to what was clearly an antidote to sleeping disorders.

Both Rose (Denver, Indiana and Chicago) and Marshall (Minnesota, Golden State, Utah and Chicago) have experience, having played on seven teams between them. They are both capable of dominating defenders inside and outside offensively. And yet, they wouldn't have been so readily available, were it not for their defensive warts.

"I feel real good about what's happening to this team," Carter said. "The new players have brought not only excitement, but a lot of veteran knowledge."

But the funny thing about team chemistry is it's impossible to explain, but you'll know it when you see it.

At least for the moment, the Raptors definitely have it.

K.G. hits the road big time

Kevin Garnett has had plenty of big weekends during what is now the ninth season of his illustrious career. But it might be tough to top this one for the superstar forward of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Just two days after he sank consecutive 3-pointers in the final 26 seconds to force overtime and ultimately end the Sacramento Kings' unblemished home record, Garnett sank a 20-footer at the buzzer to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers. That despite trailing by 15 with eight minutes to go.

All of a sudden, the trio of Garnett, Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell is scoring at will, averaging 85.5 points between them in the two victories. They have an 8-4 record on the road -- the best in the Western Conference and second only to the Indiana Pacers -- and they still haven't had the services of key players. Wally Szczerbiak (foot), Troy Hudson (ankle) and free-agent center Michael Olowokandi (in and out with knee problems) will be back after Christmas.

But as long as Garnett, the league-leading rebounder, is putting up numbers like 33 points, (a career-high) 25 rebounds, six assists and three blocks -- like he did Friday night -- they're going to win a lot of games, no matter where they play.

"You're not going to see too many times somebody get 33 and 25," T-Wolves coach Flip Saunders said. "Whoever had him in fantasy basketball had a good night."

It was a fantasy weekend for everyone associated with the Timberwolves.

Shots from the perimeter

• Undaunted from their heartbreaking defeat Friday night, the Kings went right at the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night to start another home streak with a 91-88 victory. Brad Miller came back to haunt his old teammates with the second triple-double of his career (both this week) -- with 18 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. He also had two steals and two blocks. Peja Stojakovic led both teams in scoring with 27, as Miller had just three less assists than the entire Pacers team.

• It was happening before they traded a draft choice and Wesley Person for Bonzi Wells last week, but the deal certainly hasn't hurt as the Memphis Grizzlies. They extended their winning streak to five games Sunday and a best-ever start of 11-8. Just four days after acquiring Wells from Portland, the Grizzlies outscored the Blazers 50-29 in the second half to win going away. Wells had 16 points and five rebounds in 30 minutes against his old teammates. It was also the fourth consecutive victory without starting point guard Jason Williams (back spasms), who has the best assist/turnover ratio of any starting point guard.

• Just when things were looking up for the New York Knicks, reality hits again. Maybe it was Allan Houston's aching back and swollen knee, or that Antonio McDyess is far from sharp after virtually two seasons out from knee surgery. Whatever the reason, the Knicks have turned their road trip into a nightmare, as their losing streak hit five Saturday night at Golden State. In the event they still are interested in finagling point guard Nick Van Exel away from the Warriors, the ante just went up as Van Exel scored 13 of his 15 points in the third quarter to help them pull away.

• Meanwhile, the Warriors ended their two-game losing streak to get back to .500 and hang tough in the incredibly close playoff race. Mike Dunleavy had one of his better all-around games in the victory over the Knicks, with 11 points (5-of-7), eight rebounds, four assists and six steals. Surprising Brian Cardinal had 18 points and eight rebounds. The Warriors are 5-0 against the Eastern Conference this season and have won 18 of their past 20 at home against East teams.

• The Phoenix Suns have been stumbling on and off so much this season, no wonder they have gotten hit by a rash of sprained ankles. The latest is last year's rookie of the year Amare Stoudemire, who had to be helped off the floor Friday night in Boston. But by the game's end, it was the Celtics who had to be helped from the court, as they blew a 29-point lead to the Suns. Coach Frank Johnson went with the diminutive lineup of Stephon Marbury, Penny Hardaway, Joe Johnson, Casey Jacobsen and Shawn Marion (just back from his own ankle woes) to pressure the Celtics into a startling collapse.

• Still smarting from the loss, the Celtics went West on Sunday night to end Denver's six-game winning streak. The Nuggets fell into a tie for first place in the Midwest Division with Dallas, losing to Boston 116-111. Nonetheless, Denver's 13-7 start is the best since the 1988-89 season, and it is months ahead of last season when it finished 17-65.

• The defending champion San Antonio Spurs figured out a way to cure their rocky start -- take a trip to Florida. They swept Orlando and Miami for the first time in five years. Tim Duncan averaged 34.0 points, 15.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in the two games, and Rasho Nesterovic had his best game of the season Saturday night against the Heat with 21 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. Now 11-10, the Spurs are surprisingly only one game behind last year's pace. Moreover, they raised their horrid road record to 4-7 -- 4-1 against the East and 0-6 against the West.

• Few players had a bigger weekend than Houston's 7-foot-5 center Yao Ming against two of the best teams in the East. Yao followed up Friday's 15-point, 10-rebound, 2-block performance in the big victory at New Orleans with 21 points, 20 rebounds and four blocks in an even more impressive 86-80 victory over the Detroit Pistons. Steve Francis had a season-high 11 assists Saturday night, and unsung hero Kelvin Cato continued to put up clutch numbers, averaging 11 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks for the Rockets. Houston's three-game winning streak moved it to within a game of first in the Midwest.

• Although they are still just 9-11, the New Jersey Nets won consecutive games at home for the first time all season and moved to within 1½ games of first-place Philadelphia with victories over Phoenix and Milwaukee. Kenyon Martin averaged 20.5 points and 16.5 rebounds, and Richard Jefferson added 18 points and 9.5 rebounds in the two games. The two-time defending Eastern Conference champs are four games behind last season's 49-33 pace.

• The Washington Wizards ended their four-game losing streak at the expense of the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night, as Larry Hughes dropped in a season-high 36 points for the Wiz -- who are still awaiting the return of Gilbert Arenas from a badly strained abdominal muscle. The Bucks had control of the game, but Desmond Mason missed eight free throws in the third quarter and finished the game 7-of-17 in the 114-109 overtime loss. The Bucks had beaten the Wizards nine consecutive games in Milwaukee.

• The Cleveland Cavaliers haven't put an end to their losing streak on the road -- a whopping 34 -- but they did stop their overall eight-game losing skid Saturday night with a 10-point victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Rookie Jason Kapono had a season high 16 points. It was the fourth loss in a row for the Hawks, despite Shareef Abdur-Rahim's season-high 43. Over the past eight games, he has averaged 27.1 points, but the Hawks have lost six of those games and haven't scored 100 points since a Nov. 18 victory at Milwaukee.

• There seems to be no stopping the collapse of the Orlando Magic, as the losing streak extended to 19 Friday night at home against the Spurs. They now are 0-9 since Johnny Davis replaced Doc Rivers as coach following a two-point loss at Utah on Nov. 17. Their lone victory came in the season opener at New York, when Tracy McGrady's put-back just before the buzzer of regulation won it. McGrady's scoring average has dipped from 32.1 -- when he won the scoring title last season -- to 24.8. His shooting percentage has dropped from .457 to .414 as the players around him have been less productive and defenses have spent more time focusing on him.

• McGrady remains the second-leading scorer, behind Allen Iverson, who is averaging 29.4. The league's second-leading scorer hasn't been below 25.0 since the 1957-58 season, when George Yardley (27.8) won the scoring title and Dolph Schayes (24.9) was second.

• Iverson, by the way, had 35 points in Philadelphia's 93-90 victory over Miami. Despite injures to Glenn Robinson and Derrick Coleman, the Sixers have won 3-of-4. Iverson has averaged 38.8 in those four games. He leads the league in scoring, steals, minutes played, free throws made, free throws attempted, field goals made, field goals attempted and is ninth in assists.

• Since their 6-2 start, the Seattle SuperSonics have lost 6-of-9. There continues to be disagreement in the front office about which players coach Nate McMillan should play, as they still await the return of All-Star Ray Allen. Allen will begin working out Monday for the first time since ankle surgery in October. They remain hopeful he will return around Christmas.

• The Los Angeles Lakers remained the only undefeated team at home when they held off the surprising Utah Jazz on Sunday night 94-92 to raise their record in the Staples Center to 11-0 and an NBA-best 17-3 overall. An elbow to the side of Dallas guard Steve Nash's head drew a suspension for Lakers forward Karl Malone, so he missed an opportunity to play against his team of 18 years for the first time. The Lakers travel to Salt Lake City on Jan. 24 to meet the Jazz, who overcame a 21-point deficit Sunday to take the lead in the final minute, but couldn't hang on. Shaquille O'Neal led five double-figure scorers for the Lakers with 19 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists.