Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani: Toronto Raptors' Killer Bs Are Back

Last season as the Raptors were sliding out of playoff contention, our enthusiastic Raptors TV announcer Matt Devlin turned the phrase “The Killer Bs.”

The phrase was referencing the emergence of Andrea Bargnani as a legitimate 20-point per game player alongside of the other "B" scoring 20 ppg, CB4.

While it was a fair assessment of the Bosh and Bargnani combination exceeding 40 points on most nights as being unstoppable offensively.

The unfortunate reality was these performances came as the Raptors were losing far more games than they won.

The “Killer Bs” were being associated with individual success and team failure.

By the end of the season, Bosh had turned in his usual 22 and 10 performance and Bargnani had averaged a career high of 15 and 5. 

But in the months of January and March, Raptors’ fans were witness to the best scoring big-man combination in Raptors’ history.

In January, Bargnani broke out for a 19.8 point, 6.2 rebound per game month.  By far, it was his most impressive as a Raptor.  Then in March, he topped it with his first 20-point per game month, with a 20.3 point and 5.9 rebound effort.

Bargnani’s break out months coincided with a 21.9 point, 9.3 board effort by Bosh in January and a 24.2 point, 10.6 rebound output in March.

The Killer Bs were killing it, going for 41.7 points and 16.2 rebounds in January, then 44.5 points and 16.5 rebounds in March.

This season the “Killer Bs” are back with a vengeance, as both Bosh and Bargnani have started the season with far better performances than were witnessed in the second half of last season. 

The longstanding Raptors management’s dream of an effective “twin towers” has finally been unfolding early this season.

The early Killer Bs line was 51.5 points and 19.8 rebounds per game, a line that should lead to a lot of Raptors wins this season.

Perhaps what is more surprising is the consistency of this new higher rate of production from the Killer Bs.  Over the first four games, Bosh and Bargnani have tallied:

49 points and 21 rebounds
51 points and 18 rebounds
61 points and 20 rebounds
47 points and 20 rebounds

Just as important may be that Bargnani had the double-digit rebounds against Detroit to keep up their 20-rebound per game average.

Last season the Killer Bs emergence didn’t lead to more Raptors wins, as the team didn’t have enough offense or defense to take advantage of this increased production.

The January break out was timed with injuries to Jose Calderon and Jermaine O'Neal that left Anthony Parker’s 13.6 points and Joey Graham’s 7.9 points as the team’s third- and fourth-best scorers.

This season, offensive production has not been an issue.  With the addition of Hedo Turkoglu, the team has a bona fide third scoring option. 

The “slow” starts by Turkoglu and Calderon are adding 15.3 points and 9.8 points per game respectively.

The Raptors are scoring 108.5 points per game to start the season.

The team's western road swing is about to start; playing seven good western conference clubs in their own buildings over the next eight games.  The Raptors and the Killer Bs are about to get a severe early season test.

If the Killer Bs can average 45 points and 20 rebounds through this stretch of difficult games, no one should question the emergence of Toronto’s “twin towers” as a force to be reckoned with this season.

And if the Raptors can somehow squeeze out three victories on this western road swing, they will have announced just how tough they are going to be to play against this season.

But this early road swing has been brutal on the Raptors in the past, just ask Sam Mitchell.  So three wins might be a stretch.

With Chris Paul, David West, and Emeka Okafor coming off of a 114-107 win over Dallas on Wednesday night that saw Paul tally 39 points and seven assists, West with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Okafor with 11 points and 13 rebounds, New Orleans looked to be pulling its season together.

How did the Raptors and the Killer Bs fare in the big test on Friday night in New Orleans?

The Raptors won in a blow out!

While the Killer Bs only got 41 points and 16 rebounds, it was in large part due to the 18 point lead after three quarters, limiting their fourth-quarter playing time. 

But while the Killer Bs were in the game, they dominated the duo of West and Okafor, who were held to just 20 points and 12 boards combined.

The Killer Bs are back.  And this year they have lots of support.