Raptors Ground Rockets In Matinee
Posted December 9, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Maybe it was the early start, maybe it was a hungry Raptors team, but for whatever reason the Houston Rockets didn’t really show up in Toronto Sunday.
Certainly the return of all-star Chris Bosh helped the home side, as the Raps big man returned from a five-game absence to contribute 21 points and 10 rebounds in what ended as a 93-80 win for Sam Mitchell’s ball club.
“It feels good,” said Bosh, who played 41. “I wanted to come back when the time was right and I felt the time was right today. It was a big game, a game at home most importantly, and the past two days have been pretty good, my workouts.”
Kris Humphries added 16 points and nine boards for an energetic Toronto team, who pulled away from Houston in the third quarter while former Raptor Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming struggled.
Toronto struggled early on and trailed by 14 points in the first half, but never seemed to be out of the game, getting points of defence all along.
“We just weren’t knocking down shots, but the thing I love about this team is we stay with it. We continue to try, playing defence and keep taking those shots,” said Bosh. “We just have to continue to pat each other on the back when we miss a shot because if it’s open, you miss it, so what? Let’s play defence.”
The capacity crowd of 19,800 at the Air Canada Centre certainly appreciate the first win in three games, after tough losses at home to the Phoenix Suns and on the road against the Boston Celtics.
“We came out (in the second half) and it was just a fight,” Humphries said. “We knew we had to come back and play the way we can play.”
The Raptors are at Atlanta to face the Hawks on Tuesday then return home to host the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.
