Final
Bargnani, Raptors blast Wizards
Jan 31, 2008 - 4:20 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- The Toronto Raptors made sure there wasn't going to be any overtime in this one.Andrea Bargnani scored 19 points to lead a balanced attack as the Raptors bounced back with Wednesday's 122-83 victory over the Washington Wizards in the finale of a home-and-home series.
Chris Bosh poured in 16 points and Jose Calderon had 11 and 11 assists for his fourth double-double in a row as Toronto earned its sixth straight win at home.
On Tuesday, Anthony Parker forced overtime with his 3-pointer at the end of regulation, but Toronto still came up on the short end of the stick in a 108-104 setback.
"They got a lot of offensive rebounds last time, we made a more concerted effort to keep them off the glass, we did a good job of moving the basketball," Bosh said.
In this one, Roger Mason's third 3-pointer of the second quarter kept the Wizards within striking distance at 36-32 with 7:56 remaining before things got out of hand.
Toronto pulled away for good behind an aggressive 25-9 surge to close out the first half with Bargnani leading the charge with eight points during the stretch.
"I felt good, the ball was going in," said Bargnani, who has reached double figures in scoring in three of his last four games.
The Raptors shot a blistering 53 percent (24-of-45) from the field in the opening half to forge a commanding 61-41 advantage.
Toronto continued to pour it on in the third as Parker and Bargnani each drilled two 3-pointers over a two-minute stretch to push the lead to 89-61 at the 2:02 mark.
"We wanted to just come in with a lot of energy, rebound, and I think we did a better job of that," said Parker, who finished with 15 points. "We were able to cut the turnovers down and we shot the ball a lot better."
DeShawn Stevenson carried the load with 16 points for the Wizards, who played their second straight game without star forward Caron Butler (hip).
"We won at home, and I think a lot of people were settled with the win, (Toronto) came out here with a different mind set and blew us out of the water," Stevenson said.
"They hit some tough shots, but early we couldn't get it (going) offensively," Wizards forward Antawn Jamison said. "We just couldn't get it going, we didn't communicate."
- NBA
WASHINGTON 83
TORONTO 122 FINAL
Jan 30 9:19 PM - NBA
WASHINGTON 64
TORONTO 95 END, 3RD QTR
Jan 30 8:46 PM - NBA
WASHINGTON 41
TORONTO 61 HALFTIME
Jan 30 8:05 PM - NBA
WASHINGTON 23
TORONTO 28 END, 1ST QTR
Jan 30 7:35 PM
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