Raptors Roll Past Bobcats
Posted February 24, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Raptors just keep on winning.
Despite many so-called experts predicting their pre-break run would slow in the second half, the Raps put together their second win in as many nights Saturday with a convincing 93-76 win over the Charlotte Bobcats.
The Dinos handed the Indiana Pacers a sound beating Friday at the Air Canada Centre, and despite having to travel to Charlotte for Saturday’s game, didn’t look the least bit sluggish as they put an end to the Bobcats’ team-record four-game winning streak.
Chris Bosh scored all 24 of his points in the second half and added 11 rebounds and rookie Andrea Bargnani got the better of fellow top-five pick Adam Morrison, scoring just eight points but grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds in the win.
Morrison and Matt Carroll led the way for the suddenly-struggling Charlotte offence with 13 points each.
The added help on the boards was much-needed, as Bosh looked undeniably poor for much of the early stages. The Raps all-star missed his first five shots and didn’t score until midway through the third quarter, but once he got it going easily dominated the interior, especially after Charlotte lost leading rebounder Emeka Okafor to a strained left calf in the third quarter.
Bobcats leading scorer Gerald Wallace also left in the third quarter with a strained groin and just 12 points, and Charlotte quickly wilted despite having scored more than 100 points in its four previous contests.
The Raptors’ impressive point-guard duo of T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon also continued their stellar play, with Calderon scoring 16 and Ford adding 15 more in what ended as the 12th Toronto win in the team’s last 15 games.
The Raptors are proving to be a force in the East, but their next tests will come against two of the stronger teams in the Western Conference when they visit the San Antonio Spurs Monday and the Houston Rockets Wednesday.
