Nene scored 21 points, while Carmelo Anthony added 20 to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 114-107 win over the Raptors on Wednesday, handing Toronto its 13th loss in their last 17 games and its fourth straight defeat at Air Canada Centre.
Andrea Bargnani topped the slumping Raptors (12-20) with 26 points, while Chris Bosh had 24 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Jose Calderon finished with 18 points and 11 assists, while Will Solomon had 11 points. Jamario Moon added 10 points for the Raptors, who were playing without starters Jermaine O'Neal (knee) and Jason Kapono (quadriceps).
Chauncey Billups finished with 18 points for the Nuggets (21-12). The Raptors were playing New Year's Eve hosts for the first time in franchise history _ finally back home after going 2-4 on a gruelling season-high six-game western road trip _ and were hoping to head into 2009 on a winning note. The Raptors were in the game until the dying moments in a game that saw 16 lead changes in the first three quarters.
Denver ended the third on an 11-0 run to take an 85-77 advantage into the final 12 minutes, an ugly stretch that saw Jay Triano lose his cool. The furious coach called a timeout after a three by Chauncey Billups, briefly hollered at his team then went and sat alone on the bench _ leaving his befuddled players to figure it out for themselves.
Calderon drained a three with 4:22 left to cut Denver's lead to 101-98, bringing the crowd of 18,879 to its feet _ but the good feelings were short-lived. A basket by Nene sparked a 7-0 Denver run that put the visitors up by 10 points with 2:01 to go as the Nuggets cruised to a win.
The four-game losing skid at home marks the first time Toronto has dropped four straight at ACC since a five-game skid March 29-April 9, 2006.
The Raptors were also looking for a little redemption after being crushed 132-93 in Denver on Dec. 2, the fifth-worst loss in Raptors franchise history and the final straw for Sam Mitchell's tenure in Toronto. Mitchell was fired the next day, replaced by Triano.
``It was the last thing that we left them with after shoot-around this morning,'' Triano said before the game. ``We talked about the score last time we played these guys, and what had happened, see if we can instil a sense of pride in ourselves, and how competitive we can be.
``It's a good basketball team, but I don't think there's a 30-point difference.''
While the game was definitely an improvement over the 39-debacle earlier in the month, the Nuggets still beat Toronto almost across the board, shooting 51 per cent to Toronto's 47. The Raptors did have a narrow advantage on the boards, ourebounding the Nuggets 42-41.
The Raptors could have used O'Neal's big body up front _ they were outscored 50-34 in the paint.
O'Neal, who was coming off a season-high 36 points in Friday's 107-101 win at Sacramento, injured his right knee in Monday's loss at Golden State. The Raptors can breathe easy that it's not the same surgically repaired left knee that kept him out of 42 games with Indiana last season.
The Nuggets shot 58 per cent in the first quarter and raced out to a seven-point lead. Toronto battled back and took a seven-point lead on a three by Parker with just over three minutes left in the frame. Smith scored on a long jumper with three seconds on the clock to cut Toronto's lead to 31-29 heading into the second.
Neither team led by more than four points in a back-and-forth second quarter. Toronto was up by three points before back-to-back three-pointers by Anthony and Nene _ the second with 3.9 seconds on the clock _ sent Denver into the dressing room up 53-50 at halftime.
A three by Calderon had the Raptors up by three points with 4:29 to go in the third, but the Nuggets ended the quarter with a 11-0 run to lead 85-77 with one quarter to play.
NOTES: The Raptors logged over 27,000 kilometres flying to and from December's 10 road games, and spent more than 51 hours in the air. . . The Raptors host the Houston Rockets on Friday and Orlando on Sunday. . . Toronto Maple Leafs president and GM Brian Burke had a courtside seat. . . The Nuggets are 4-1 in their last five trips to Toronto.
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So my friend monuow just told me how he started dunking, he s shorter than me, he s only 5 6 but leaps over 9 inches higher! What he followed the training plan over at 50 inch vertical (dot) com and gained over 16 inches in his vertical leap!
Toronto Raptors vs Denver Nuggets Dec.31/08
duanecunning702 1 year ago
monuow sweet, reminds me of me in college - haha. I'm 5 7 and I can double pump dunk. I followed the real nba training plan that that even Kobe and Ray Allen both used. For more info about the training program, go to - 50 inch vertical (dot) com
Toronto Raptors vs Denver Nuggets Dec.31/08
jorgegraham704 1 year ago
Boston: 28-5
New Jersey: 15-17
Philadelphia: 13-18
New York: 12-18
Toronto: 12-20
raps r coming back
raptorsfan1000 3 years ago
Also I like to see more post game from Andrea
duckman32001 3 years ago
The Raptors are still having problems with transition and pick and roll defense
duckman32001 3 years ago
we are in desperate need of a good swingman.
duckman32001 3 years ago
Raps will be life and death to make the playoffs
tonylui28 3 years ago
another loss but damn raptors were on fire
davenrai 3 years ago
I WAS THERE OOO YEAAA
ImRaNyAr7 3 years ago
try facing teams that all of them went to the playoffs last year.. no wonder we're 12-20
raptorsfan1000 3 years ago