Toronto Raptors vs Miami Heat Mar.05/08

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monuow
March 06, 2008

Andrea Bargnani gave the Toronto Raptors a scare. The Miami Heat gave Pat Riley another headache. Rasho Nesterovic scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Jamario Moon added 14 points and the Ra...

Andrea Bargnani gave the Toronto Raptors a scare. The Miami Heat gave Pat Riley another headache.

Rasho Nesterovic scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Jamario Moon added 14 points and the Raptors embarrassed the Heat for the second time this season, winning 108-83 Wednesday night to snap a three-game losing streak.

Anthony Parker and Andrea Bargnani each scored 12 points for Toronto, but Bargnani's night will be best remembered by a scary collision with Miami's Alexander Johnson that knocked the 2006 No. 1 overall pick out of the game early in the third quarter. Bargnani said he broke three teeth, but X-rays ruled out any facial fractures.

``I feel a lot better now,'' Bargnani said.

Even with a slightly bruised cheek, he left smiling.

Riley, most assuredly, did not.

After watching the Heat lose for the 29th time in 32 games, Riley said he should personally write refund checks to season-ticket holders, plus - once again - questioned Miami's effort, saying it was ``so unprofessional, it's ridiculous.''

He's seen enough. Problem is, there's 24 games left.

``I've got to ferret out the guys who really don't care,'' Riley said. ``I've got to ferret them out of here and just put them on the bench and bring in a bunch of young guys. ... The season's over for them. That's how they're playing, some of them, anyhow.''

The Raptors used a 16-0 first-quarter run - the worst yielded by Miami all season - to take control, and a 15-0 burst in the third quarter to seal their second easy win on the Heat home floor in a month.

Marcus Banks scored 21 points, and Ricky Davis and Dwyane Wade each finished with 16 for Miami, which retained the NBA's worst record (11-47). Wade left the game with 1:46 left in the third quarter and didn't return, since the outcome was already sealed.

``When you lack focus versus a team like Toronto and you have any slippage ... you're going to pay for it,'' Wade said. ``They don't miss open shots. That's what happened early on. We had a lot of slippage.''

The Raptors played again without all-star forward Chris Bosh, who remains sidelined by a sore right knee.

Toronto won at Miami 114-82 on Feb. 4, and at times, this one looked just as easy.

Everything went wrong for Miami early: Shawn Marion airballed a three-pointer, Wade missed a dunk after driving by two defenders to get a clear path at the rim, and Marion then dropped a rebound off his foot and watched the ball roll out of bounds.

It never got much better, either.

``We're still trying to find the right chemistry,'' Banks said. ``We just haven't put it together yet.''

Toronto's lead was 53-42 at halftime, and the big third-quarter spurt pushed the margin to 72-45 with 5:12 left in that period.

``We were aggressive right from the beginning, and really took them out of their game,'' Nesterovic said. ``We had the right mental approach tonight. We came out with a lot of energy and wanted to make a statement.''

The road gets tougher from here for Toronto, which plays eight of its next 11 against playoff-contending teams.

Losing Bargnani for any significant stretch would be a problem. He showed no sign of concussion, but the Raptors said he'd likely be examined again Thursday.

Bargnani was driving the right baseline with 9:57 left in the period when he went airborne near the basket. He collided with Johnson, who was called for a flagrant foul on the play.

``I thought he was going up for a dunk, so I jumped and caught him off-balance,'' Johnson said. ``I wasn't trying to hurt him.''

The back of Bargnani's head slammed on the court. He remained down for about three minutes, returned to the court to make the two free throws, then retreated to the Raptors' locker room.

``Any time a guy leaves his feet like that, and takes that kind of a hit and goes down hard, you have to be concerned,'' Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said. ``But it seems like he's OK. He's a little sore but we don't expect that he'll miss any time at all.''

Notes: This essentially began a four-games-in-four-days stretch for Miami, which hosts Golden State Friday and then visits Atlanta Saturday for both a regular-season contest and the completion of the suspended Dec. 19 matchup. ... Former Heat forward Jason Kapono, the league's two-time defending three-point shootout champion, is 0-for-1 from beyond the arc in his last 13 games. The last time he made a three-pointer, not counting the ones he canned on all-star weekend, was Feb. 4 at Miami.

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Toronto Raptors vs Miami Heats Mar.05/08

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