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Bosh, Raptors hold off Heat to snap three-game skid

Nov 16, 2008 - 10:41 PM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Chris Bosh and reserve point guard Will Solomon made sure the Toronto Raptors got back on the winning track.

Bosh scored 27 points and Solomon recorded his first career double-double Sunday, helping the Raptors hang on for a 107-96 victory over the Miami Heat.

The Raptors, who snapped a three-game losing skid, took control of the game in the fourth quarter with an 18-3 run to open a 96-81 lead with 4:52 remaining.

The Heat responded with a 10-0 run to pull with 96-91 with 1:36 left, but two free throws from Anthony Parker and a dunk by Bosh helped the Raptors close out the game.

"I think it's very healthy for the team how other guys are getting involved other guys are making big plays getting a lot of confidence that you can carry to the next game," Bosh said. "That's really good for us and we need to build on it."

Bosh led six scorers in double figures for the Raptors. Jermaine O'Neal had 11 points and 18 rebounds, while Kris Humphries scored 14 points and Andrea Bargnani added 12 in his first start of the season. Jason Kapono and Parker each had 10.

"I don't know how you play a match up with it (starting three bigs)," O'Neal said. "They were fairly surprised with our quickness. This is a rare thing where a team has three bigs. It's a factor that worked today."

Starting in place of injured point guard Jose Calderon, Solomon scored 15 points and handed out 11 assists in just his fifth career start.

"I appreciate the win - we were on a skid and we worked hard for a victory at home for our fans and to help us have confidence," Solomon said. "It makes your job easy, keep you man in front of you playing defense and getting Chris Bosh, Jermaine (O'Neal) and Andrea Bargnani and all those guys the ball."

Calderon missed the game with sore right hamstring, suffered in Wednesday's 106-96 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. It was the first game missed by the Spaniard since the 2006-07 season.

"Will is a point guard and he knows what he's doing," Bosh said. "We were behind him and we gave him a lot of support coming in, but we didn't make a big deal about it. He came out and did a great job."

Dwyane Wade scored 29 for Miami, with Daequan Cook adding 16 and rookie Michael Beasley 13. Chris Quinn had 11 points and Udonis Haslem added 10 for the Heat.

Quinn's layup with a minute left in the third quarter tied the score at 78, but the Heat went scoreless over the next 3:29 as the Raptors pulled away.

Toronto capped the rally with an O'Neal block on Cook, releasing Kapono for a 3-pointer that gave the Raptors a 93-80 lead.

"It was just a matter of which team turned it up," Wade said. "It was a game for both of us to win going into the fourth quarter. We kept sparring with them but they finally turned it up and took a big lead."

Miami led 54-50 at the half, but O'Neal scored six points as the Toronto took the lead with a 10-2 run to start the third.

Using the bigger lineup, the Raptors dominated the boards, owning a 52-35 edge in rebounding.

"They absolutely pounded us on the glass which I was very surprised by," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I thought we were going to be able to rebound. Also they established their low post game used their size against our speed and they won on that."