Sonny Weems contributed nine points last night in a victory over Charlotte in Toronto, including this slam dunk on the Bobcats' Gerald Wallace.
TORONTO - Chris Bosh has been miscast as a crunch-time scorer in the past. Toronto Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo knew that, and that helps explain the US$53-million spent on Hedo Turkoglu this summer.
The merit of that decision can be debated, but it is temporarily beside the point after last night's game, a 107-103 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats, the Raptors' fifth straight win. With Turkoglu out of the game with a right knee contusion, all sorts of funky things happened when the Raptors had the ball. Most notably, guard Marco Belinelli went on a series of bizarre, out-of-control trips to the basket.
With that in mind, just like in years past, Bosh needed to come through for the Raptors. And he did. With just more than a minute to play, and his team having just blown a late five-point lead, Bosh delivered a layup for Toronto. He beat his man, Gerald Wallace, with a fake, and avoided several defenders to do so.
Perhaps, as a power forward, he is not the ideal finisher. When the situation calls for it, though, he can come through.
"Chris had a great night," coach Jay Triano said.
Indeed. With 33 points and 13 rebounds, Bosh was typically sublime, helping Toronto avenge an embarrassing 35-point loss the Raptors suffered the last time the two teams met, in November in North Carolina.
Andrea Bargnani scored 28 points on a steady diet of baseline jumpers. Bargnani's three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining gave Toronto a four-point lead that, in effect, iced the game.
With Turkoglu out of the lineup, the Raptors' best option was to pound the ball inside. Charlotte went to a small lineup, with 6-foot-8 forward Stephen Jackson often serving as the Bobcats' de facto centre.
Triano thought about matching the Bobcats with a smaller lineup, but ultimately went with the club's remaining strengths.
"I thought Andrea was equally as good [as Bosh.]. They went small right off the bat," Triano said. "We got them in foul trouble early and they went small, and they had success with it. They stayed with it. Our goal was to keep pounding it inside: Andrea at one time, [Bosh] at another time."
The Raptors, 9-4 in their last 13 games, delivered far from a perfect effort. Charlotte, not close to spectacular offensively, shot 54% from the field. There were plenty of breakdowns on the perimeter, particularly in the second quarter, which Charlotte won 30-24.
However, the results just keep coming for the Raptors.
"The last time we played these guys, we showed the tape, we were five feet off of guys and let them do whatever they wanted to do," Triano said. "Even though we knew we were going to get blown by tonight, and we did, we just felt more pressure on the ball would create more turnovers and create deflections. That's how we've been playing for the past 13 games. We've decided not to just be positional players. If we're going to get beat, let's get beat aggressively."
And as the year turns, the story appears to be swinging further in Toronto's favour -- despite the fact Toronto's road is about to get rougher with games against Boston, San Antonio and Orlando.
Even more so without Turkoglu, who first hurt his knee on Tuesday.
"He's been hurt. He was questionable as to whether he was going to play [yesterday]," Triano said. "We knew he might have to pull the plug at some point during the game."
Alas, Bosh was there to stand in.
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