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Bosh pushes Raptors past Knicks

Mar 29, 2008 - 2:46 AM By Brian Herman PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

TORONTO (Ticker) -- Chris Bosh and the Toronto Raptors took care of business by defeating the injury-riddled New York Knicks, 103-95, on Friday night.

Bosh had 29 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who are now 2-0 since T.J. Ford and Rasho Nesterovic were re-inserted into Toronto's starting lineup.

The Raptors (37-35) moved into sixth place in the Eastern Conference, one-half game of the Philadelphia Sixers (37-36), who lost to Phoenix on Friday night.

"We don't want to be in the seventh spot and we know that Philly and Washington are playing well so we have to concentrate on what we do and win our fair share of games and see how we stand after the whole 82 games," Bosh said. "We definitely want to go into the playoffs on a roll. It's all about momentum and if we can start some of that now, that would be a big confidence booster."

Ford finished with 10 points and nine assists while Nesterovic added 18 points and eight rebounds for Toronto, which has not lost at home to New York since March 2004.

"We had a rough couple of weeks and we're trying to get things to turn around and the only way you can do that is to play hard team basketball which we did tonight," Ford said.

The Knicks were playing without the injured Eddy Curry, Stephon Marbury and Nate Robinson. They were also without Zach Randolph, who missed the game with flu-like symptoms.

Jamal Crawford finished with a team-high 26 points while Jared Jefferies added 21 points and 10 rebounds for New York.

"You have to be professional and lead by example for the young guys but it's been tough because of all the injuries," Crawford said. "Jared got a chance to play and even with a banged-up hand he had career-high night."

Toronto went on an 8-0 run midway through the first quarter to take a 20-11 advantage on a hook shot by Nesterovic.

The Raptors maintained that advantage, leading, 32-23, at the end of the quarter behind eight points from Nesterovic.

"I think Rasho for the last month and a half has played really well," Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said.

Toronto stretched the lead courtesy of a 21-7 run in the second quarter. Bosh scored seven points and Andrea Bargnani had a ferocious one-handed putback dunk in the surge. Carlos Delfino's 3-pointer at 4:56 extended the lead to 47-30.

Crawford hit back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a 14-0 run as the Knicks pulled within 49-44 at the half.

The teams traded baskets throughout the third quarter, with the Knicks using a balanced attack to stay within striking distance on Quentin Richardson's 3-pointer in that cut the deficit to 61-56.

"We were giving our all to try and stay in this game but they have a good team and their guys stepped up and made some big shots," Richardson said.

Bosh hit a rare shot from the arc to give the Raptors a 76-68 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Anthony Parker's 3-pointer at 8:03 gave Toronto a 86-76 advantage heading down the stretch. The Knicks never threatened the rest of the way.

Parker finished with 15 points and Bargnani chipped in 12 points off the bench.

"I don't think we played great but good enough to get the win, and Chris was playing like himself as well as T.J. and Rasho," Parker said.

Quentin Richardson recorded 20 points and 10 rebounds while David Lee added 15 and 12 for New York.