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Raptors rout lowly Clippers

Dec 23, 2008 - 7:06 AM By John Reger PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Toronto Raptors snapped a five-game losing streak, defeating the Los Angeles Clippers, 97-75, on Monday.

Chris Bosh led three players in double figures for the Raptors, pouring in 31 points. Jermaine O'Neal had 23 and Anthony Parker added 12.

It was the Clippers who looked like they hadn't won in five games. The team came out listless and the Raptors took advantage of it.

Bosh and O'Neal scored as many points (18) as the entire Clippers team did in the first quarter. Los Angeles shot 39 percent from the field in the opening quarter and trailed by as many as 15 points.

"If you look at the lineup we had in there he was going to be the focal point," Toronto coach Jay Triano said about Bosh. "We didn't really have a lot of points on the floor, but it didn't matter. I was going to give the ball to Chris."

Los Angeles, which has not shot 50 percent or better from the field all season, were 12-of-39 (31 percent) in the first half. They finished the game at 33 percent (25-of-76) from the floor.

The Raptors' lead was as many as 21 points and it was the fourth time this season that the Clippers did not led at any point in a game.

"(Triano) just told me to keep being aggressive," Bosh said. "I saw right away that he was just going to put the ball in my hands to make plays."

The Clippers did make a run early in the fourth quarter and got the deficit to four on a layup by rookie DeAndre Jordan. The Raptors then went on an 11-3 run to seal the victory.

"I thought we played hard," said Clippers guard Baron Davis, who finished with 16 points and nine assists. "We definitely gave a better effort in the second half than we did in the first half. They just out-executed us and we ran out of gas."

Injuries certainly affected coach Mike Dunleavy's lineup. He was without centers Chris Kaman, who has been inactive since December 1 with a strained left arch, and Marcus Camby, who did not play due to personal reasons.

The Clippers lost Zach Randolph early in the fourth quarter when he went to the locker room after colliding with a teammate going for a rebound. He was diagnosed with a bruised left knee and did not return to the game.

"(Raptors center) Jake Voskuhl pushed me in the back," Randolph said. "It was painful, but hopefully it's a little bone bruise. I'm just going to ice it and take a couple of days off."