Raptors' winning ways gets Bosh back into mix

If there is one thing The Race distastes, it is the feral notion that somebody has been unfairly excluded from this lofty list of players about which we pontificate on a weekly basis.

And so guilt has been a constant companion for The Race this season because, if you'll pardon the mixed metaphor, Toronto's Chris Bosh has been an itch that has been unable to be scratched.

Bosh, the most-discussed free agent in the upcoming class because he is the one most likely to leave his current team, clearly has been one of the best players in the NBA this season.

He is averaging 24 points and 11 rebounds. He has been as consistent a producer as LeBron or Kobe or Carmelo or Dwight. He clearly is an upper-echelon player worthy of recognition -- not to mention a sizable contract next season.

However, he has been mired on a poor team -- the reason The Race has intentionally excluded Bosh from taking a rightful place among his brethren.

And when it comes right down it, the basic tenets of the MVP award require that the player be from a winning team. After all, how valuable can you be if your club is 15 games below .500.

Granted, this is a team game. And it has not been all Bosh's fault that the Raptors have underachieved this season.

Their essential downfall is defense. They are putrid. They allow 105.3 points a night, which is fifth-worst in the league.

And they are not the Golden State Warriors or Phoenix Suns, who relinquish more points simply because they think they can outscore you (which is the case with one of those teams but not the other; no hints, but you figure out the difference.)

No, the Raptors are poor defensively because they are, well, soft. Go ahead, name one lock-down defender on that roster. Their best defensive player is Reggie Evans, and he has been injured all season.

In fact, beyond Bosh, their core players are from Italy, Spain and Turkey -- and the last I heard they weren't holding too many defensive clinics in those places.

To his credit, when the Raptors were obliterated by the Atlanta Hawks, 146-115 on Dec. 2, Bosh called out himself and his teammates for their lack of, we'll call it "effort."

It would be a good story to say that was the tipping point. But in reality, the losing continued thereafter. Not until Dec. 18, when they began a five-game win streak, then lost at Boston, then had another three-game run, did they start to play the way many thought they were capable from the very beginning.

They since have lost two in a row, but their game tonight in New York could have them resting comfortably at .500, which for The Race is good enough to bring back into the fold one of the best players in the league.

1. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
41	38.6	29.5	7.2	7.8	1.5	1.0	.509	.368	.780

Last Week's Rank - 1
The Race saw James in person on Monday and came away even more amazed at just how absurdly good he is. One play stood out: Monta Ellis stole the ball from Anthony Parker and went the other way for what he thought was an uncontested layup. As he tried to dump the ball in the cup, James snuck in from behind and smacked the ball off the backboard. The Race's eyes bugged out. One weakness though: his singing voice.

2. Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
38	39	28.9	6.9	3.0	1.4	0.9	.483	.329	.869

Last Week's Rank - 6
This is where The Race gets a bit dicey. Is Durant the second-best player in the league? Probably not -- though he's not that far behind. But Kobe Bryant has been nursing a myriad of injuries, including a sore back that has limited his production this past week, and Durant has averaged 35 points, seven rebounds and three assists in his last three games and has his young team four games over .500. At least for this week, Durant deserves kudos.

3. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
39	38.2	28.7	5.3	4.5	1.9	0.3	.468	.310	.834

Last Week's Rank - 2
Nobody will ever question this guy's toughness and devotion to the game. But his back is locking up, keeping him from being the player we all know him to be. He averaged only 13 points over his last three games, which included a 4-for-21 shooting night against Milwaukee.

4. Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
39	33.6	19.2	3.0	11.2	0.4	0.2	.545	.436	.946

Last Week's Rank - 3
After their hot start, the Suns are in the mode of playing .500 basketball, in part because they're really just an above-average team with a really, really good point guard. Nash continues to put up better stats than he did when he won the two MVPs in back-to-back years. He makes The Race appreciate the game of basketball.

5. Brandon Roy, Portland Trail Blazers

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
39	38.8	23.4	4.6	5.1	1.0	0.1	.483	.348	.794

Last Week's Rank - 5
Through injuries and turmoil, Roy just keeps plugging along, averaging 30 points, four assists and three rebounds last week. In a victory over the Lakers, Roy went to the line 14 times, making 13. His 23.4 points a game is a career high; even more telling, his shooting percentage (48.3) is a career high despite defenses giving him more attention than ever.

6. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
37	37.9	25.1	8.2	2.5	1.0	1.3	.470	.403	.894

Last Week's Rank - 4
By virtue of the Mavericks' victory over the Spurs last week, we’ll place Nowitzki ahead of Tim Duncan. However, because the Mavs are on a two-game losing streak, we’ll knock him down a few notches from last week. Still, in the most recent loss, to the Lakers, Nowitzki had 30 points and 16 rebounds in 43 minutes.

7. Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
34	32.1	20.1	10.4	3.1	0.6	1.9	.556	.000	.753

Last Week's Rank - 8
An NBA coach was asked recently about the qualification for the All-Star Game, because there are so many different arguments that could be made based on a number of different factors. The coach then brought up the name of Duncan and said, "That guy, he doesn’t do anything spectacular. But what he does do is go out and win games every night. That's how players should play."

8. Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
39	34.4	16.9	13.2	1.6	1.1	2.5	.601	.000	.596

Last Week's Rank - 7
Both Howard and the Magic continue to be a conundrum. All kinds of talent yet they continue to play inconsistently and, more often than not of late, lose. Howard has too many games like his 1-for-7, eight-point clunker in Denver the other night, Orlando’s fifth loss in its last seven games. It is the fourth time in the last 10 games that Howard has been held to single digits.

9. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
37	36.9	26.9	5.0	6.2	1.8	1.2	.449	.276	.776

Last Week's Rank - 9
Wade had only 13 points after injuring his wrist in a loss in Utah on Tuesday night, then came back the next evening to go for 35, nine assists and seven rebounds. He also tied a franchise record by making all 15 of his free throws. The guy is a great player surrounded by too many average players.

10. Chris Bosh, Toronto Raptors

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
39	35.4	24.0	11.3	2.0	0.6	1.1	.519	.462	.787

Last Week's Rank - NR
We work Bosh back into The Race after a lengthy hiatus. The Raptors better beat the Knicks in New York on Friday or he may be once again on the outside looking in. But if Toronto can continue the winning it has realized of late, the most productive power forward in the East should be a regular component of this column.

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