EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Rasho Nesterovic scored a season-high 16 points replacing a sidelined Chris Bosh and the Toronto Raptors showed off their depth without their injured All-Star in a 106-89 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Friday night.
Jarrett Jack added 18 points and Jose Calderon had 16 points as the Raptors had seven players in double figures in dropping the Nets to 5-50.
DeMar DeRozan and Hedo Turkoglu added 14 points apiece as Toronto shot nearly 60 percent from the field in extending its franchise record for consecutive 100-point games to 19.
Brook Lopez had 22 points and Devin Harris had 19 with 11 assists for New Jersey. Courtney Lee added 17 points in a game the Nets fell behind early and never caught up.
This marked the second straight game that the Nets have faced an opponent without their best player and again New Jersey came up short.
Miami lost All-Star Game MVP Dwyane Wade to a calf injury in the opening minutes here on Wednesday night and the Heat rallied for an 87-84 win as New Jersey missed 11 of its final 12 shots.
This latest loss puts New Jersey on pace to tie the NBA mark for fewest wins in a season, set by the Philadelphia 76ers (9-73) in 1972-73.
Toronto had an easy time in this one without Bosh, who sprained his left ankle on Wednesday in Toronto against the Memphis Grizzlies. He didn't make the trip to New Jersey and the Raptors didn't need him, especially with Nesterovic hitting 8-of-11 from the field.
His previous season-high was 12 points and he had that by halftime in helping Toronto build a 56-41 lead.
Down by 20 early in the third quarter, Harris and the Nets played their best basketball of the night and put together a 30-16 spurt, closing to within 77-71 on a driving layup by the point guard with 1:29 left in the quarter.
New Jersey had a chance to get closer but a 3-pointer by Jarvis Hayes went in and out.
After taking a timeout, the Raptors scored the final five points of the quarter with Calderon hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer for an 82-71 lead.
Nesterovic, who had not played in the last three games and had only two points and 10 minutes in the last five, was the big difference in helping Toronto build the 20-point lead. The 11-year veteran who was making only his third start of the season and playing in his 29th game, hit seven of his first eight shots and had his season high early in the third quarter when he hit a little hook in the lane for a 58-41 lead.
When Turkoglu nailed a 3-pointer a minute later, the Raptors had a 61-41 lead.
After the Nets got close, Calderon and Jack put the game away down the stretch.
Notes
Raptors forward Amir Johnson got called for an unusual walking violation when he caught his own missed floater in the lane in the second quarter. … Jack got a few laughs at halftime, borrowing a television camera, holding it with his left arm extended and then swishing a 3-pointer with his right hand. The cameraman tried to duplicate the shot and hit the side of the backboard. …Turkoglu started the game with a mask to protect a facial fracture but he took it off after a couple of minutes.
