Coach Saunders raved about Will Bynum during his pregame media session and tonight, all of Bynum’s attributes were on the display. He got into the lane at will, he was a disruptive force on the defensive end of the floor when Boykins and Arenas attempted to bring the ball up, and he even attempted to throw the ball down over Brendan Haywood.

After allowing Chicago to score 60 points in the first half, Toronto came out with a renewed focus on the defensive end and held Chicago to 29 points in the second half.

As I walked towards the press room being set up for today’s game, Suns coach Alvin Gentry started walking along side me. He remarked that he was tired, and wanted to just kick back and watch football. I told him that I wasn’t getting paid to cover the game today, so I would gladly coach the team, take his salary and be happy. He stuck his hand out, and told me I had myself a deal. But I covered the game, he coached it, and no money changed hands.

During the last 44 seconds of the game, the Wizards had two missed free throws (DeShawn Stevenson) and three turnovers. However, when asked about that after his team’s finish after the game, Saunders chose to focus on how the game started instead.

While most of the headlines in Toronto tomorrow will be over Jose Calderon’s struggles or Charles Oakley and his entertaining quotes, the real story tonight was the job Toronto’s bench did in securing a big win. Toronto got a huge boost when Jarrett Jack and Antoine Wright triggered a 24-8 run in the first half to break open the game.

One of the things that caught my attention this afternoon was the growth and maturation of Redick as a complete player rather than being just a shooter. Most basketball fans will be drawn to his career-high 27 points, but what caught my attention was the six rebounds he grabbed and five assists he dished out.

Coming into this game, the Wizards were without Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, which meant that someone had to step up tonight besides Gilbert Arenas, and tonight that person was Andray Blatche. In just 26 minutes of play, Blatche had 30 points, and he shot a blistering 83% (15-18 from the field).

After what I saw from DeMar DeRozan in the preseason I anticipated he would come out a bit nervous tonight but his play was anything but. Early in the game he hit two free throws and got a bit of swagger going. He followed that up with a nice jumper and then he had a steal on Cavs next possession.

DeRozan finished the first quarter with 4 points, 3 boards, 1 block and 1 steal in 9 minutes of burn. While his final numbers won’t jump out at you – 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block in 23 minutes – it was an impressive debut for the Raptors lottery pick.

Kevin Garnett looks like a ghost of the player I’ve seen the past few seasons.

One play that sticks out came in the first quarter when Garnett was camped under the basket for an easy rebound but Andrea Bargani was able to drop down from the foul line and steal the rebound. Not only that, but in a couple fluid movements Bargnani was able to spin by Garnett and finish the play off with an impressive dunk.

There’s no way either of these things would have happened last season.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu got a warm reception when he entered the game midway through the first quarter. The former fan favourite turned in an inspired performance with 13 points, 7 boards and five blocks in just 23 minutes of burn.