Chris Bosh had 32 points and 10 rebounds, and Andrea Bargnani continued his hot stretch with 21 points as the Toronto Raptors beat the Memphis Grizzlies 103-82 Friday night.
Bosh had one of his best shooting games from the season, going 11-for-13 from the floor as Toronto (16-21) won for the fourth time in five games - and third in a row at home - despite being without starting centre Jermaine O'Neal (right knee) and point guard Jose Calderon (right hamstring). Bargnani had another efficient night as the starting centre, going 8-for-14 from the floor and adding eight rebounds. The seven-footer came into the game averaging 21.8 points over his past five games, the best stretch of his career.
Jason Kapono added 11 points while Will Solomon chipped in with 10 points and nine assists in front of 18,486 at the Air Canada Centre.
Rudy Gay replied with 22 points for the pesky Grizzlies (11-26), who stuck around for two-and-a-half quarters but ran out of steam down the stretch to lose for the 11th time in 13 games. Hakim Warrick added 15 points, while rookie-of-the-year candidate O.J. Mayo was held to 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
While Bosh and Gay matched baskets in an entertaining third-quarter duel, Bargnani gave the Raptors some much needed breathing room, hitting back-to-back three pointers that turned a tie game into a six-point Toronto advantage. The Raptors stretched the lead further, a Solomon layup with 27.7 seconds left in the quarter sending them into the final quarter leading 72-61.
Bargnani added a long jumper and one-handed dunk early in the fourth quarter before heading to the bench with four fouls. Bosh re-entered in Bargnani's place, and promptly knocked down a wide-open jumper and a pair of free throws to reach the 30-point plateau for the 11th time this season.
Bargnani's third three-pointer of the game with 3:35 left gave Toronto a 95-74 lead, and he added a late block before leaving to an appreciative cheer from the home crowd.
The Raptors shot a season-best 55.6 per cent from the field compared to 42.5 for the Grizzlies, and outrebounded Memphis 38-33.
Toronto led 23-19 following an up-and-down first quarter.
The Raptors were on target early, hitting seven of their first nine shots to take a 14-5 lead. Bosh made a pair of free throws and Bargnani added a driving layup to extend the lead to 13 before the Grizzlies clawed back, a Kyle Lowry jumper off a broken play capping an 8-0 run that cut Toronto's lead to five.
Toronto's bench preserved the slim lead early in the second quarter. Jake Voskuhl's uncontested layup on a nifty bounce pass from Kapono stretched the advantage to 31-24, and Joey Graham added a spin-drive for a layup to keep Toronto's advantage at seven.
Memphis responded late in the quarter, Lowry's driving layup giving the Grizzlies their first lead of the game with 2:36 left. The teams traded baskets down the stretch before Solomon hit his only field goal of the half, a 17-foot baseline jumper with 25 seconds left that put Toronto ahead 47-44 at the break.
