Chris Bosh's birthday present came two days early.
The all-star forward who turns 25 years old on Tuesday poured in 16 points and 13 rebounds as Toronto defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 100-76 to give the Raptors their largest margin of victory this season.
Toronto entered the game having lost two in a row and nine of its past 10 games but everything clicked on Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of 17,610. Jose Calderon scored 15 points with six assists while Shawn Marion added 14 points and 13 rebounds in a game which the Raptors dominated from start to finish.
``We just have to have fun playing the game of basketball,'' said Bosh, who was planning to celebrate his birthday on Sunday night at a Gala event in downtown Toronto.
``The way to have fun is playing defence, lock them down and run. When you're running and getting dunks, everybody is scoring and everybody is pushing the ball, that is when it is fun.''
Zach Randolph had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Clippers (17-53), who have now lost 10 of their past 12 games. Los Angeles star point guard Baron Davis, who signed a US$65-million, five-year US during the off-season, struggled throughout the afternoon. The 29-year-old scored 12 points on just 20 per cent shooting (3-for-15) from the floor.
The Raptors dominated the paint outscoring the Clippers 50-38 and grabbed a season-high 57 rebounds. Marion said they had a noticeably upbeat attitude on the court for the first time in recent memory.
``You can see the life of everyone in here,'' Marion said afterwards. ``We just have to try and keep it going. I think we have to take it one game at a time and build on it. When we win, we go forward instead of backwards.''
The Raptors (25-45) managed to record the lopsided victory without the services of starting centre Andrea Bargnani. The 23-year-old missed his first game of the season because of a sore left heel. It was the first game the seven-footer has missed since Dec. 2007 against the Houston Rockets.
``It is something that has been bothering him a little bit,'' Raptors coach Jay Triano said of his seven-footer who had his consecutive games played streak snapped at 130. ``He is just going to have to get some rest and hopefully it calms down.''
Toronto got off to a hot start thanks to an 11-point run midway through the first quarter -- capped by a midrange jump shot from Marion to give the Raptors a 22-11. Randolph tried to keep his team close, scoring the Clippers first eight points of the game and 10 in the quarter, but Los Angeles still found itself down 32-20 after the first.
Toronto extended its lead in the second quarter despite shooting just 27 per cent (8-for-30) from the field. Raptors shooting guard Jason Kapono helped give his team its biggest lead of the half with 4:41 remaining when he hit a three-pointer to put the Raptors ahead 49-34.
The two teams traded baskets the rest of the way as Toronto took a 54-40 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Raptors' dominance continued in the second half as four of their starters reached double figures and the team took 77-54 lead at the end of the third quarter. With the game all but over, Toronto was able to sit Bosh and Calderon for the entire fourth quarter as the Clippers were never able to go on a run.
``I thought we got outworked,'' Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. ``We shot 38 per cent from the field and got two offensive rebounds, so that says we didn't battle well enough.''
Notes: Sunday's contest marked the first time an NBA regular season game was broadcasted in the Punjabi language. . . . Los Angeles Clippers forward Al Thornton missed the game because of a sore right shoulder. He suffered the injury on Friday night in Detroit against the Pistons. . . . Raptors rookie forward Nathan Jawai was in Toronto on Sunday to receive testing on a heart abnormality that forced him to miss the first three months of the season. . . . The 22-year-old is currently playing for the Idaho Stampede of the NBA's Development League. In 10 games, he is averaging 12.2 and 6.5 rebounds.
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Bargnani vs Bobcats / Mar 20th, 2009by hoiduda3,582 views
@adernosuc i went too! i was 118 row 15 seat
M3SSi2010 1 year ago
i went to this game!
M3SSi2010 1 year ago
Patrick O'Bryant for 3!!!
wrestja1234 2 years ago
i am 10years old and i can dunk
humundy 2 years ago
i was there sec.115 row 23 seat 6 the crowd went nuts after we scored 100 and every time bosh scored
adernosuc 2 years ago
Jose dunking? Awesome!!!
go raps go can't waint for next season.
bugleboy6 2 years ago
i went to that game and his party afterwards
negkreyol21 2 years ago
a wins a wind :D
thug4lifetc 2 years ago
i saw this punjabi
gurjot01 2 years ago
First!!! nice dunk by jose!!!
husyrs 2 years ago