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Bosh, Weems lead Raptors past Nets

Feb 4, 2010 - 3:56 AM TORONTO(AP) -- Depleted by injuries and facing a deficit, the Toronto Raptors needed a boost. Sonny Weems gave it to them.

Chris Bosh scored 20 points, Weems set career highs with 14 points and 11 rebounds and the short-handed Raptors beat the New Jersey Nets 108-99 on Wednesday night, their fifth win in six games.

"Sonny was energy and beyond tonight," Raptors coach Jay Triano said. "Open drives to the basket and he finished and made plays for other people too."

Weems helped the Raptors come back from 12 points down in the second. He scored eight points in the quarter, including an eye-popping alley-oop dunk off an inbounds pass from Jarrett Jack.

"Weems came in and was the difference-maker for them," New Jersey's Kris Humphries said. "The big dunk got the crowd going. They were actually booing them for a while."

Weems and Jack also teamed up for a steal and breakaway dunk late in the second as Toronto erased a 42-30 disadvantage to lead 57-56 at the half.

"Tonight was his first double-double, which he was very happy about," Jack said. "He told me he was going to go home and frame the boxscore."

Weems, who played just 12 games for Denver as a rookie last year, said he's happy with the opportunity provide an energetic boost to Toronto's lineup.

"It feels good to finally get a chance to get out there and play and showcase what I can do," he said.

A night after scoring a career-high 34 points in a road loss to Indiana, Andrea Bargnani had 20 points for Toronto. Antoine Wright added a season-high 18 to help the Raptors top 100 points for the 15th consecutive game. Toronto is 10-5 in that span.

Jack started despite flulike symptoms and finished with 17 points and nine assists.

"The adrenaline took over a little bit and I was able to just play through some things," Jack said. "It took a while for me to kind of get a rhythm. As the game wore on I was able to find a groove."

Yi Jianlian and Devin Harris each scored 15 points for the Nets, who lost their fourth straight to drop to 4-44.

"For most of the game I thought we were pretty good," Nets coach Kiki Vandeweghe said. "It's those lapses, a couple of minutes of a time, that hurt us tonight."

Former Raptor Humphries had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Courtney Lee added 14 points, Brook Lopez had 12 and Jarvis Hayes had 11 for New Jersey.

Toronto was without guard Jose Calderon (right ankle), guard DeMar DeRozan (right ankle) and forward Hedo Turkoglu (facial fracture).

"We needed other people to step up today and Antoine, Sonny and Jarrett all did a great job," Triano said.

Calderon had an MRI on Wednesday night, while Turkoglu is being fitted for a protective mask after fracturing the orbital bone beneath his right eye Sunday against Indiana. Turkoglu and DeRozan are expected to return Sunday against Sacramento.

The Raptors used an 11-1 run late in the third and early in the fourth to make it 89-79 with 9:39 remaining, forcing the Nets to call timeout. Lee hit a 3-pointer and Hayes made a jumper as New Jersey cut it to 97-90 with 5:45 left, but Jack replied with a 3 for Toronto, pushing the lead back to double digits.

Toronto led 15-4 early and was up 28-22 after one but went cold to start the second, missing nine straight field goal attempts as the Nets jumped in front with a 20-3 run, taking a 42-31 lead.

Jack ended the drought with a layup at 5:55 of the second, sparking a 15-4 Toronto run as the Raptors tied it at 46 with 3:28 left in the quarter. Toronto led 57-56 at the half.

Bargnani scored nine points in the third, but Yi had 10 to keep the Nets close. Toronto led 83-78 heading into the fourth.

NOTES: New Jersey is 1-24 on the road. ... Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney sat courtside, as did Toronto Maple Leafs players Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf. ... Rapper Vanilla Ice performed the halftime show.