Will Solomon was King for a day.
The Raptors reserve point guard, who earned his royal nickname while toiling in the Euroleague, filled in for an injured Jose Calderon on Sunday and led Toronto to a 107-96 win over the Miami Heat that snapped a two-game losing streak.
"I was happy, Will knows what he's doing, he's a professional,'' Chris Bosh said after the game. "We were behind him, we gave him a lot of support coming in and we didn't make a big deal out of it, we weren't in his face like 'Will, you've got to do well,' we just said 'play ball, we're supporting you.' He came out and did a great job and had some big numbers for us.''
Bosh scored 27 points to top Toronto, while Jermaine O'Neal grabbed 18 rebounds in his strongest defensive game of the season. Kris Humphries finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Solomon had 15 points and 11 assists.
With Calderon nursing a hamstring injury, and Raptors fans crossing their fingers until his return, Solomon provided a measure of relief, running Toronto's offence effectively in the fifth start of his NBA career.
"We just go over these things every day in practice, I felt confident in my ability, especially being out there with the guys that I'm playing with, they make me feel comfortable, so whatever you bring to practice just bring it to a game, that's the way I look at it,'' said Solomon, who played a season with Memphis before heading overseas, spending the next six years in the Euroleague before Toronto signed him.
Seven Raptors scored in double digits for Toronto (5-4), with Andrea Bargnani contributing 12 points in his first start this season, O'Neal adding 11, and Anthony Parker and Jason Kapono scoring 10 apiece.
Dwyane Wade scored 29 points to top the Heat (5-5), while Daequan Cook had 16.
The Raptors led just 80-78 going into the fourth quarter of the back-and-forth affair that had seen the lead change 22 times to that point.
But Toronto took over the game early in the fourth quarter, sparked by a 13-3 run, and when O'Neal stretched for a huge block on Cook followed seconds later by a three-pointer by Kapono, the capacity crowd of 19,800 at the Air Canada Centre was on its feet and the Raptors were up by 13 points with 7:15 left.
Toronto would go up by 15 after a three by Solomon before Wade single-handedly got Miami back in the game with six straight points, pulling the Heat within nine points.
Miami cut Toronto's lead to five points in a final few ugly minutes, but a dunk by Bosh with just over a minute to play followed by a steal by Parker that led to a three-point play by O'Neal sealed the victory for Toronto, only the team's second at home this season.
"It was just a matter of what team turned it up,'' Wade said. "It was a game for both of us to win going into the fourth quarter. We kept sparring with them and they finally turned it up a notch.''
With O'Neal patrolling the paint, the Raptors outrebounded the Heat 52-35 _ 34-15 on the offensive end alone _ in an impressive defensive performance.
"He is getting back into the rhythm,'' Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said of O'Neal, who missed a good chunk of the past two seasons with knee injuries. "He's able to practise every day, and he is able to work on his body. When you miss two years, it is hard to just walk right back into it. But every day he is going to get a little bit better.''
O'Neal showed his attention to defence that first attracted the Raptors.
"You can't shoot badly and not play defence, that's the worst combination you can have in basketball,'' O'Neal said. "So a person like myself, I'm still not where I want to be offensively, still don't have that explosion, but I know what I have to do is be effective, whatever it's going to be, whether it's rebounding, blocking shots, scoring, that's what I have to do for this team to do well.''
Calderon, who averaged 13.5 points and nine assists through the first eight games this season, missed the game with a right hamstring strain, suffered in Wednesday's 106-96 loss to Philadelphia. The game marked the first time he's sat out since the 2006-07 season.
Bargnani, who's looked significantly more engaged this season than in his previous two seasons, replaced struggling Jamario Moon in the starting lineup, and had another strong performance, scoring on long-range jumpers, driving to the basket and sprinting for loose balls.
Mitchell said the decision to insert the former No. 1 draft pick into the starting lineup was easy - he's been playing better than the other two options (Moon and Joey Graham).
"We've just got to find a way to get more out of that position. Andrea does give you a viable option of scoring, he can score the basketball,'' Mitchell said before the game. "He's really made improvements defensively and rebounding the ball. We just got to try to improve in the areas that we can improve on.''
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monuow, is 5 8, white and can dunk easily. what do you mean white guys can t jump? It s (just|simply|all)# about the training people do to get their vertical leap to be strong enough to dunk. For me, I just used the training program over at | 50 inch vertical [dot] com |
waynehart8231 1 year ago
@PJLikeCrazzyy Yeh but look in the end marion didnt help... did nothin and left right away
firebro101 1 year ago
your totally right
SerenityAlexiss 2 years ago
man this game was sick, i was there. $230 ticket :P
Joshwin41 2 years ago
o neal was useless.
bargnani can get 20+ points a game. and is good with 3s. oneal has bad knees. and marion is good for stealing and his speed.
PJLikeCrazzyy 2 years ago
worst deal raptors got rid of o'neal
firebro101 2 years ago 2
look at jo here....so many rebounds....he ends up being traded to heat....raptors are gonna regret acquiring marion who lost his all star caliber
lakeserver 2 years ago
i was there yo it was sickkkk especially 5:10-5:20.... $240 tickets worth it :)
Joshwin41 3 years ago
monuow is back! yay~
5:10 - 5:20 waaz sick
solomon709 3 years ago
Vintage Raptors Right THERE!
raptor477 3 years ago