Toronto Raptors vs Philadelphia 76ers Jan.09/08

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Finally, the Toronto Raptors were able to enjoy the comforts of home Wednesday. Anthony Parker poured in 22 points as the Raptors avoided their fourth consecutive loss at the Air Canada Centre with a 109-96 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. ``That's big for us, we need to capitalize on this stretch while we have home games,'' said Chris Bosh, who scored 21 points on the night. ``We just need to pick up our play, we need to continue to believe in ourselves and play with a lot of energy at home because it's definitely an advantage that we need to take.'' Jose Calderon finished with 17 points and nine assists for Toronto (18-17). Carlos Delfino finished with 12 points to lead a solid performance by the bench, and Jamario Moon added eight points, nine rebounds and five blocks. ``We are trying to get easy baskets which opens things up and I think Chris has just been efficient and A.P. (Parker) has played well, Jose has been just steady,'' said Raptors coach Sam Mitchell. ``We're trying to make a conscious effort to get some easy baskets.'' Willie Green had 18 points to top the Sixers (14-22), while Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young had 16 apiece. Sixers centre Samuel Dalembert of Montreal finished with eight points and six rebounds. The lead changed hands numerous times through the first half before Toronto broke open the game with a sizzling third quarter in front of 18,067 fans. Bosh led the way with 10 points in the period as the Raptors outscored their visitors 27-16 and took a 79-66 advantage into the fourth. Six consecutive points from Iguodala cut Toronto's lead to just five points midway through the fourth, but that was as close as the Sixers would come. Parker's three with 2:21 left put the Raptors up 103-89, their biggest lead of the game to that point and the Raptors cruised to victory, putting an end to concerns about playing at the ACC this season. Last season, the Raptors had one of the best home records in the NBA, losing just 10 games in Toronto. They've already lost eight this year. But with eight games at the ACC in January, a favourable stretch at home would do plenty to boost the Raptors' placing in the jam-packed Eastern Conference. ``It's important we start doing that on the regular,'' Parker said, of closing out games at home. Parker, meanwhile, shot 8-for-11 from the field in the lastest in of a string of strong performances. ``I had a couple of 2-for-11 games, so it's just the law of percentages, and I'm sure it won't stay 8-for-11 for long,'' Parker said. ``Coaches put some new sets in, and we're getting a lot more motion, and a lot of people are touching the ball and getting some action. I don't think we're working as hard for baskets as we were earlier in the year.'' The Sixers have had problems of their own closing out tight contests. ``I am upset that we are not playing up to our ability late in games,'' Iguodala said. ``Sometimes we get down in the game mentally. It is just tough losing, that is what it is.''

Category: Sports
Uploaded: January 10th, 2008 @ 5:10 pm
Author: monuow

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