TORONTO — Chris Bosh scored 20
points, Sonny Weems set career highs with 14 points and 11 rebounds and
the short-handed Toronto Raptors beat the New Jersey Nets 108-99 on
Wednesday night, their fifth win in six games.
A night after scoring a career-high 34 points in a road loss to Indiana, Andrea Bargnani had 20 points for Toronto.
Antoine Wright added a season-high 18
points and to help Toronto top 100 points for the 15th consecutive
game. Toronto is 10-5 in that span.
Raptors guard Jarrett Jack started despite flu-like symptoms and finished with 17 points and nine assists.
Yi Jianlian and Devin Harris each
scored 15 points for the Nets, who lost their fourth straight to drop
to 4-44. Former Raptors forward Kris Humphries had 13 points and 11
rebounds. Courtney Lee added 14 points, Brook Lopez had 12 and Jarvis
Hayes had 11 for New Jersey.
The Raptors were without guard Jose
Calderon (right ankle), guard DeMar DeRozan (right ankle) and forward
Hedo Turkoglu (facial fracture).
Calderon had an MRI on Wednesday
night, while Turkoglu is being fitted for a protective mask after
fracturing the orbital bone beneath his right eye Sunday against
Indiana. Turkoglu and DeRozan are expected to return Sunday against
Sacramento.
The Raptors used an 11-1 run late in
the third and early in the fourth to make it 89-79 with 9:39 remaining,
forcing the Nets to call timeout. Lee hit a 3-pointer and Hayes made a
jumper as New Jersey cut it to 97-90 with 5:45 left, but Jack replied
with a 3 for Toronto, pushing the lead back to double digits.
Toronto led 15-4 early and was up
28-22 after one but went cold to start the second, missing nine
straight field goal attempts as the Nets jumped in front with a 20-3
run, taking a 42-31 lead.
Jack ended the drought with a layup
at 5:55 of the second, sparking a 15-4 Toronto run as the Raptors tied
it at 46 with 3:28 left in the quarter. Toronto led 57-56 at the half.
Bargnani scored nine points in the third, but Yi had 10 to keep the Nets close. Toronto led 83-78 heading into the fourth.
Notes
New Jersey is 1-24 on the
road. … Weems converted an alley-oop off of Jack's inbounds pass in
the second. … Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney sat
courtside, as did Toronto Maple Leafs players Phil Kessel and Dion
Phaneuf. … Rapper Vanilla Ice performed the halftime show.