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Bosh has 23 points, 10 rebounds in Raptors' win

Feb 11, 2010 - 4:10 AM TORONTO(AP) -- Elton Brand had a big problem when Philadelphia coach Eddie Jordan decided to go small.

Chris Bosh had 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Jose Calderon converted a go-ahead four-point play as the Toronto Raptors held on to extend their home winning streak to eight games with a 104-93 victory over the 76ers on Wednesday night.

Brand was upset that Jordan replaced him with guard Royal Ivey to start the second half with the 76ers facing a 50-41 deficit. Ivey played the entire third quarter while Brand was on the bench until 1:48 remained in the third - by which time Philadelphia trailed 76-53.

"I don't call the shots, I just go out there and play the best I can," Brand said of the lineup switch. "I don't feel it was my fault, but I'm easy to get pulled, it seems."

Jordan acknowledged his move hadn't worked as planned.

"I went with a small lineup and it backfired," Jordan said. "It happens."

Toronto pulled away with an 11-1 run to start the third quarter as the 76ers missed five straight field-goal attempts. The loss snapped Philadelphia's five-game winning streak, which didn't help Brand's sour mood.

"We weren't down enough to switch what we've been doing in a five-game win streak," he said. "That's what we did and we paid for it. We were down too much to fight back, even though we almost won it."

While the lineup switch didn't work out, 76ers guard Louis Williams didn't consider it a failure.

"I wouldn't say it backfired because guys took the message," Williams said. "The message was, 'If you guys don't want to play, especially before the (All-Star) break, we'll play other guys.' Once other guys came in the game, the message was very clear. We played that second half like we should have played the first half."

Andrea Bargnani scored 16 points, and DeMar DeRozan and Sonny Weems each had 14 as the Raptors topped 100 for the 17th consecutive game.

Calderon and Amir Johnson each scored 10 points for the Raptors, who have won 14 of 15 at home.

Williams scored 26 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter, and Thaddeus Young had 15 for the 76ers in the final game before the break for both teams.

"After you come back from the All-Star game, it's business," Bosh said. "We only have (30) games left. It's good to be rolling and have some kind of momentum and confidence going into the last part of the season because that's when the picture starts looking a little bit clearer for the playoffs. We're trying to get home court. We have to have that in our mind and we have to continue to push for it."

Brand had 11 points, and Willie Green scored 10 for Philadelphia.

The 76ers trailed 78-63 to start the fourth before rallying to tie it. Jason Smith's 3-pointer from the corner with 8:20 remaining made it 84-75, and a jumper by Green and a pair of free throws by Brand cut it to 86-81 with 5:20 remaining.

Toronto pushed its lead back to nine, but Williams made two more 3-pointers and converted two layups to get the 76ers to within a basket before Young tied it at 93 on a layup with 2:06 left.

At the other end, Green fouled Calderon on a successful 3-pointer from the corner and the Raptors guard finished the four-point play, making it 97-93 with 1:42 to go.

After Antoine Wright stripped Williams, Bargnani hit a 3-pointer and then made two free throws after he was fouled while grabbing a rebound, giving the Raptors a 102-93 lead with 32 seconds left. Toronto ended the game on an 11-0 run.

Philadelphia's Allen Iverson missed his fifth straight game to be with his sick daughter while Raptors forward Hedo Turkoglu was also excused to deal with a family illness. Weems replaced Turkoglu in Toronto's starting lineup.

Calderon fed Weems, Johnson and DeRozan for alley-oop dunks in the final two minutes of the opening quarter and also set DeRozan up for a driving layup as Toronto closed the first on a 10-4 run to lead 30-24 after one.

Bosh and Johnson each scored six points in the second to keep the Raptors in front, and DeRozan threw down a huge dunk off of Jack's miss, Toronto's seventh of the half. The Raptors led 50-41 at the half.

NOTES: Former 76ers forward Reggie Evans, sidelined since the preseason with a sprained left foot, made his regular-season debut for Toronto, scoring two points in five minutes. ... Raptors guard Marco Belinelli returned after missing Sunday's win over Sacramento with a sore right ankle.