Raptors Crown Kings
Posted January 17, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Toronto Raptors practiced what coach Sam Mitchell has been preaching lately, stymieing the struggling Sacramento Kings with a brilliant display of defence Wednesday night.
The Raptors were seemingly unbeatable in the fourth quarter, and the often-cantankerous Mitchell was impressed.
“I just thought the fourth quarter, defensively and offensively and rebounding and passing the ball, was probably as good as we can play,” Mitchell said.
“They’re talking on defence, they’re taking pride in trying to stop people. I feel like if you throw away maybe the first 10, 12, 14 games of the season, our defence is as good as anyone’s.”
Their offence wasn’t bad either.
Morris Peterson scored 22 points and Chris Bosh added 20 and a game-high nine rebounds to kick off a five-game home-stand on a positive note.
“Everybody is confident, but the confidence is on the defensive end, everybody’s taking the challenge,” said Bosh.
Mike Bibby had 21 points to top the Kings (14-22), who lost their seventh straight game.
“We told everybody to just keep it together, we will be alright,” Bibby said on the losing skid. “We just need to get out of this funk.”
