Raptors Lose Game, And Bosh, Against Pacers
Posted February 29, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Toronto Raptors lost a game and an all-star Friday night.
Mike Dunleavy had a game-high 36 points as the short-handed Indiana Pacers earned a 122-111 win over the Raptors, who lost Chris Bosh to a knee injury.
The result ended Toronto’s (32-25) three-game winning streak. Indiana (23-36) halted its three-game losing skid.
A team spokesman said Bosh tweaked his knee Monday in Indiana and also was sore after a win Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves. When Bosh felt more pain Friday, the team advised him to leave the game and undergo further examination. He had seven points and five rebounds before exiting with 2:23 left in the first quarter.
Bosh missed five games from Nov. 30-Dec. 7 with a strained right groin. He was hobbled by a left knee injury in the pre-season.
The Raptors cut a 16-point lead to just one with a 15-0 run in the third quarter, but could not maintain momentum and never tied the game or led in the second half.
Andrea Bargnani, the Raptors’ primary threat on offence with Bosh out, led the Raptors with 27 points on a season-high 25 shots before fouling out with 1:42 left in the game.
The troubled Pacers were dealing with all sorts of problems and dressed only 10 players. In the latest off-court problem for a team that seems to specialize in making negative headlines away from the arena, forward Shawne Williams was left at home after a man was arrested after leaving the Pacer’s home Wednesday.
Meanwhile, three of the Pacers’ top four scorers also were out. Forward Danny Granger was suspended earlier Friday for one game after striking the Chicago Bulls’ Andres Nocioni in the face, while star forward Jermaine O’Neal and guard Jamaal Tinsley were nursing knee injuries.
What’s more, detectives in the Indiana area are investigating a woman’s report that she was sexually assaulted in the home of Pacers guard Marquis Daniels on Sunday. Daniels, who played Friday, is not a suspect in the case.
Raptors coach Sam Mitchell is thankful his team has steered clear of off-court trouble.
“You have enough problems with basketball,” he said. “You don’t need any problems off the court. It just gives you guys more things to make me think about.”
Even with all those players missing, the Pacers dominated the first half as the Raptors got off to a slow start for the third game in a row. Mitchell called two timeouts in the first quarter to try to reverse momentum, but the Pacers led 32-22 after 12 minutes and 61-54 at halftime after shooting 59.5 per cent for the half.
With Bosh out, Mitchell was creative with his lineup, putting starting point guard Jose Calderon and backup T.J. Ford on the court together. That combination created problems for the Pacers as Ford ended the first half by finding Jason Kapono for a buzzer-beating jumper. Ford, who seems to have returned to full speed after missing almost two months with a neck injury, had 13 points and six assists in the first half.
With Bargnani drawing offensive fouls on defence and draining shots, the Raptors went on a 13-0 run in the third quarter to cut a 14-point deficit to just one. Starting point guard Jose Calderon, who struggled at times early, found his rhythm during the run and started picking up assists with regularity.
Any thoughts of a comeback were halted when the Raptors failed to control the perimeter and allowed the Pacers easy access to the basket on drives. Dunleavy had several open looks from outside and, without Bosh, the Raptors’ interior defence suffered.
