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Bosh, Delfino lead Raptors to win over Pacers

Feb 26, 2008 - 6:15 AM By Gary Knight PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The Toronto Raptors got a huge lift from their bench and some clutch shooting down the stretch to handle the Indiana Pacers, 102-98, on Monday night.

Carlos Delfino poured in 23 points and T.J. Ford added 16 - both off the bench - while All-Star Chris Bosh added 24 and 10 rebounds for the Raptors.

"It's important for the second unit to come in and bring some energy," Ford said. "We try to play extremely hard and, if we need to change the tempo (of the game), we change the tempo ... or we can protect a lead. I think we're learning together as a group."

Toronto's bench dominated its Indiana counterparts - outscoring them, 36-4, in the first half and 55-24 overall.

"I thought our bench played unbelievable tonight," Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said. "In the first half, it was Kris Humphries and Jason Kapono.

"Carlos and T.J. and those guys came in and gave us minutes. I mean, we had 36 points from our bench at halftime. We had some guys tired, and that's understandable. We just gutted this one out."

Danny Granger and Marquis Daniels scored 20 points apiece, as Daniels came off the bench to do all of his scoring in the second half for Indiana.

Daniels had back-to-back buckets to cut Toronto's lead to three, 101-98. Ford missed a driving layup with 18 seconds left, giving Indiana a chance to tie.

But Kareem Rush missed a 3-pointer from the right wing and Anthony Parker grabbed another big rebound. Parker made 1-of-2 free throws as the Raptors held on for the win.

"I do what I can when I'm called upon," Daniels said. "My shots were falling in the second half, but you can't be satisfied with that when you lose."

After holding Toronto to 19 first-quarter points, Indiana allowed the Raptors to shoot 63 percent (12-of-19), on their way to a 35-point second quarter. Toronto's reserves had 26 of those points, led by Kapono with nine.

"It's a huge lift for us," Kapono said. "Especially on a back-to-back on the road, we started off sluggish, and the Pacers built a lead. On the bench, we just wanted to come in and change that.

"We changed the pace, started to push the ball and played good defense to get us back in the game."

The Pacers shot a woeful 39 percent (18-of-46) in the first half and trailed the Raptors, 54-46.

Granger buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 7:33 remaining to give Indiana its final lead, 86-84. From there, Toronto went on a 8-0 run to take a 92-86 lead, capped by a pair of free throws by Delfino.

Ford drove the lane and kicked out to Delfino for a 3-pointer at the top of the key with 4:09 remaining to put Toronto up 97-88.

Indiana had a chance to cut it to two, but Mike Dunleavy missed a 3-pointer from the left wing, and Parker was fouled on the rebound.

On the ensuing play, Parker drove the lane and drew a blocking foul on Dunleavy. Parker made both free throws for a 99-92 lead with two minutes to play.

"It's hard for anyone in the NBA to match them bench for bench," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said of the Raptors' reserves. "It speaks to their depth when they have those players (Ford, Delfino and Kapono) come off the bench."