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No Bosh, no problem as Raptors crush Grizzlies

Nov 29, 2007 - 5:00 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- With Chris Bosh down, the Toronto Raptors sprang to life.

Anthony Parker scored 19 points to lead seven Raptors in double figures en route to a 103-91 thrashing of the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.

Carlos Delfino scored all 14 of his points in the second quarter for Toronto, which has won three of four to pull back above .500 at 8-7.

"We hit our shots, ran the court and played good defense and that was the difference," Delfino said. "It's important for us to build our confidence at home."

With starting point guard T.J. Ford already watching from the bench in street clothes, Bosh was forced out with a strained right groin with 9:44 remaining in the second quarter and the Raptors clinging to a 33-31 advantage.

"I have a strained groin," Bosh said. "I pulled it a little bit (Tuesday in practice) and tried to give it a go (Wednesday). I was able to go a little bit, but it was painful and there's no reason to risk further injury right now.

"I don't think I'll be out very long. I will get a good treatment (Thursday) and stretch it out and I'll take it day by day."

Instead of folding along without its superstar, Toronto rallied.

"We are a deep team and everybody is ready to play," Raptors guard Jose Calderon said. "We missed Chris, but everybody jumped to the call ready to play and ready to help the team. We played a really good second quarter and third quarter, and it was almost a perfect game, I think we played really good."

The Raptors outscored the Grizzlies, 24-8, the rest of the way in the second to take a 57-39 advantage into the locker room. Toronto shot 65 percent (13-of-19) in the quarter, led by Delfino's 6-of-6 effort.

"That's when they brought in their second unit, and I don't think there is really any drop-off when we bring anybody in off the bench, and we were able to exploit that," Parker said about the second quarter. "Defensively we did a good job, we got rebounds and we were able to run and we were getting shots that we wanted and they were falling."

Delfino also chipped in five of his seven rebounds in the decisive second.

"You've got to give them credit for the way they played defensively," Grizzlies swingman Mike Miller said about the second. "But we've got to learn to share the ball better and move the ball. Those are things we need to do as a team. When we play well, we usually move the ball. But there were a lot of things we did wrong tonight."

The Raptors pushed the lead to as many as 28 points when Parker drove the lane for an easy dunk with 4:20 left in the third quarter.

"That's our strength, especially with such a long season, so many things can happen, guys are going to get a chance," Parker said about the Raptors' depth. "Tonight we had guys come in and play different positions - Carlos, Jamario - and having Joey (Graham) back helped when we had to guard smaller guys. Defense was definitely the key tonight."

However, as the lead grew, so did Toronto's list of injuries with forward Andrea Bargnani leaving the game due to a right knee injury early in the fourth quarter.

Memphis made a game of it early, matching Toronto shot for shot in a furious first quarter. Pau Gasol, Damon Stoudamire and Stromile Swift each scored six points in the first as the Grizzlies opened up a slim 29-27 lead after the first.

But the Raptors' offensive balance was too much for the Grizzlies the rest of the way.

Toronto center Rasho Nesterovic, back after six games on the sidelines due to injury, scored 10 points and combined with rookie Jamario Moon to do an admirable job controlling the paint in Bosh's absence - leaving the outside open for the shooters.

Jason Kapono chipped in 14 points and Jose Calderon added 13 and 10 assists for Toronto, which shot 51 percent (44-of-86) in the contest.

Rookie Juan Carlos Navarro scored 15 points for the Grizzlies, who shot just 38 percent (30-of-78) and were outrebounded, 46-38.

"They were better the whole night," Navarro said. "It was difficult for us to get up after having a game (Tuesday) and to come up here with them playing with more energy all night. They controlled the game and were faster than us all night."