Raptors Beat Nets 98-92
Posted December 17, 2010 11:05 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Andrea Bargnani scored 32 points and nine rebounds in his return to the Toronto lineup as the Raptors defeated the New Jersey Nets 98-92 on Friday.
Jose Calderon also returned to the lineup to score 15 points with 14 assists, and Linas Kleiza chipped in 18 points and tied his career best with 12 rebounds for Toronto (10-17).
Brook Lopez led the Nets (7-20) with 20 points and Devin Harris added 15. Travis Outlaw scored 14 points and former Raptor Kris Humphries chipped in with 12 points, 12 rebounds for his eighth double double of the season.
Bargnani missed a game for the first time this season on Wednesday because of a sore left knee. Calderon missed the previous four games with a sore left foot.
Bargnani opened the fourth quarter with four points to reverse the Nets’ two-point into lead into a two-point Toronto advantage.
It didn’t last long as the Nets answered with a couple of three-pointers to regain the lead, but Calderon’s three put Toronto ahead 80-79 with eight minutes to play.
After Kleiza’s three gave Toronto a two point lead, Leandro Barbosa scored on a layup off his steal to increase the lead to four with 6:23 to play.
Lopez hit on two free throws with 2:18 to play, trimming the lead to two, but Bargnani answered with a turnaround fade-away jumper.
Humphries scored to cut the lead to two again and the Nets regained possession with 1:14 to play on Kleiza’s missed 21-foot jumper. The Nets missed on shots by Outlaw and Sasha Vujacic before Bargnani grabbed his ninth board.
DeMar DeRozan’s dunk put Toronto up by four points before Lopez cut the lead to two with a tip-in. But Barbosa’s three off Bargnani’s pass put Toronto ahead 97-92 with 14 seconds to play.
The Raptors erased the Nets’ six-point, half-time lead a minute and a half into the third, as Kleiza tied the game 50-50 with a three-point shot.
The Nets regained the lead by as many as five after that but Bargnani tied it again at 61-61 with a driving slam dunk. Bargnani, who scored eight points in the first half, scored 13 points in the third quarter but the Nets led 71-69.
The Nets ended an eight-game losing streak Thursday with a 97-89 win over Washington, but not before blowing a 23-point lead and allowing the Wizards to tie the game. They led by 17 at the half in that game.
The Nets lead after the first half Friday was smaller, 48-42, led by 11 points from Harris, while the Raptors had nine from DeRozan. The Nets shooting picked up in the second quarter and they were up to 44 per cent at the end of the first half. The Raptors were at 40 per cent.
New Jersey led 23-21 after the first quarter despite shooting 38 per cent from the floor compared to the Raptors 41 per cent.
The Raptors lost six of their seven previous games before Friday.
