Bosh & Ford Lead Raps Past Sonics In OT
Posted March 11, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Coming off three days rest and playing an inferior opponent at home, the Raptors should have made short work of the Seattle Supersonics Sunday.
But instead they made long work of them, going to overtime against Seattle where they came away with a 120-119 win thanks to big games from Chris Bosh and T.J. Ford.
Bosh had 27 points and 10 rebounds and Ford had 13 assists and 25 points, nine of which came in the extra frame.
Perhaps Ford’s biggest assist helped get the Raptors into overtime, after a lacklustre effort had them down two with the final seconds ticking away.
The Raptors’ point guard took a pass from Anthony Parker after Bosh was blocked, fed Andrea Bargnani behind the three-point line, and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 draft buried the triple and was fouled on the shot. Bargnani had 19 points, and the rare four-point play gave Toronto a two-point lead with less than 10 seconds remaining.
But Ray Allen, as he’s done so many times, hit a mid-range jumper as time expired breathing new life into the afternoon affair.
And the back-and-forth action continued in overtime, with the Sonics holding a one-point lead with 1:21 remaining. But it was then that Ford took over, hitting two straight jumpers and scoring on a driving lay-up to give Toronto a three-point lead.
Seconds later he grabbed a rebound on a miss by Allen, then sunk a pair of free throws with 42 seconds left that clinched the victory for Toronto .
It was a victory Toronto was lucky to get. Sam Mitchell’s team was outrebounded 52-34, and lost the battle of second-chance points 31-5.
But a win is a win, and this one gave Toronto a five-game lead over the New York Knicks atop the Atlantic Division.
The Raptors are at Milwaukee on Monday, then return home to host those Knicks on Wednesday.
