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Peterson delivers as Raptors extend Kings' skid

Jan 18, 2007 - 6:03 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Morris Peterson just raised his trade value.

Peterson came off the bench for 22 points as the Toronto Raptors continued their uprising with a 101-85 victory over the struggling Sacramento Kings, who have lost seven straight games.

Chris Bosh had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors, who are eyeing a playoff berth after winning four of their last five and 17 of 30 after a 2-8 start.

"It makes it easier to know that we are playing for something," Bosh said. "That means that every possession is important, we have to get every loose ball and every rebound. We need to fight and every game is important because we are trying to do something special and get home court in the playoffs."

In a tightly contest game, Toronto took command late in the third. A 10-0 run capped by a 3-pointer from the left wing by Peterson with 1:15 left gave the Raptors a 66-63 lead.

Toronto trailed, 69-68, going into the final period but opened with a 14-5 run, capped by a 3-pointer and a three-point play by Jorge Garbajosa for an 82-74 lead with 7:47 remaining. Peterson extended the bulge to 89-77 on his fourth 3-pointer two minutes later.

"It's always good to see Mo step up," Bosh said. "You know he's been struggling for a long time and he's been frustrated, but that happens in the NBA with rumors. He's a professional and he was able to put all that stuff to the side and come out and perform."

A subject of trade rumors since losing his starting job to Fred Jones, Peterson shot 8-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-7 from the arc, in 30 minutes. The lefthander has played 30-plus minutes just three times in the last 15 contests.

"I've had to do a lot extra to keep myself ready," Peterson said. "Coming off the bench they expect you to come in and provide some energy and make shots and get the job done."

Jose Calderon also provided a spark off the bench, collecting 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting and handing out nine assists in 23 minutes for Toronto, which plays its next four games at home.

"Jose has been playing great for us all year and tonight he had one of his biggest games," Peterson said. "He not only ran the team and got guys the ball, defensively he played well and he made some big shots for us."

"We knew that this first game was really important," Bosh said. "Now we have a win with a very good team coming in Friday (Utah) and we need to make another statement Friday. Our confidence is developing on the defensive end, everybody is taking the challenge. We have confidence in our offense and we need to keep working on our defense."

Mike Bibby scored 21 points and Kevin Martin and Ron Artest added 18 each for Sacramento, which last lost seven games to close out the 1997-98 season, the last year the Kings did not make the playoffs.

"We'll be all right, we just have to get out of this funk," Bibby said. "We've got to want to go and take games, we're not taking games right now. Nobody's going to give it to us."

Sacramento center Brad Miller, who missed the last two games due to personal reasons, returned and scored two points on 1-of-6 shooting.