TORONTO — Chris Bosh had 23 points
and 10 rebounds, and Jose Calderon converted a go-ahead four-point play
as the Toronto Raptors held on to extend their home winning streak to
eight games with a 104-93 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on
Wednesday night.
Andrea Bargnani scored 16 points, and
DeMar DeRozan and Sonny Weems each had 14 as the Raptors topped 100 for
the 17th consecutive game.
Calderon and Amir Johnson each scored 10 points for the Raptors, who have won 14 of 15 at home.
Louis Williams scored 26 points,
including 14 in the fourth quarter, and Thaddeus Young had 15 as the
76ers' five-game winning streak was snapped in the final game before
the All-Star break for both teams.
The 76ers trailed 78-63 to start the
fourth before rallying to tie it. Jason Smith's 3-pointer from the
corner with 8:20 remaining made it 84-75, and a jumper by Willie Green
and a pair of free throws by Elton Brand cut it to 86-81 with 5:20
remaining.
Toronto pushed its lead back to nine,
but Williams made two more 3-pointers and converted two layups to get
the 76ers to within a basket before Young tied it at 93 on a
layup with 2:06 left.
At the other end, Green fouled
Calderon on a successful 3-pointer from the corner and the Raptors
guard finished the four-point play, making it 97-93 with 1:42 to go.
After Antoine Wright stripped
Williams, Bargnani hit a 3-pointer, then made two free throws after he
was fouled grabbing a rebound, giving the Raptors a 102-93 lead with 32
seconds left. Toronto ended the game on an 11-0 run.
Philadelphia's Allen Iverson missed
his fifth straight game to be with his sick daughter while Raptors
forward Hedo Turkoglu was also excused to deal with a family illness.
Weems replaced Turkoglu in Toronto's starting lineup.
Calderon fed Weems, Johnson and
DeRozan for alley-oop dunks in the final two minutes of the opening
quarter and also set DeRozan up for a driving layup as Toronto closed
the first on a 10-4 run to lead 30-24 after one.
Bosh and Johnson each scored six
points in the second to keep the Raptors in front, and DeRozan threw
down a huge dunk off of Jack's miss, Toronto's seventh of the half. The
Raptors led 50-41 at the break.
Toronto opened the second half with
a 15-4 run, including a spin-move and dunk by Bosh, and the 76ers
missed their first five field-goal attempts to fall behind 65-44 with 7
minutes left in the third. Philadelphia shot 6 for 21 in the quarter
and trailed 78-63 heading into the fourth.
Notes
Former 76ers forward Reggie
Evans, sidelined since the preseason with a sprained left foot, made
his regular-season debut for Toronto, scoring two points in five
minutes. … Raptors guard Marco Belinelli returned after missing
Sunday's win over Sacramento with a sore right ankle.