TORONTO, (Reuters) – The Toronto Raptors used the strong play of Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani to turn back the Dallas Mavericks 110-88 on Sunday.
Bosh had 23 points and 13 rebounds and Bargnani added 22 points as Toronto won for the seventh time in their last eight home games.
“We came out ready and didn’t have any lapses,” Toronto guard Jarrett Jack, who had 11 points and seven assists, told reporters. “We were able to put a very good team away early.”
The victory lifted the Atlantic Division’s No. 2 team above the 500 mark to 21-20. The Raptors trail the idle Boston Celtics by seven and a half games.
Southwest leader Dallas (26-14) was led by Dirk Nowitzki’s 19 points and Jason Terry’s 18.
Toronto overcame a 23-20 first-quarter deficit to outscore the Mavericks by 16 points in the second quarter. The hosts were never threatened after that, leading by as many as 26 points late in the fourth.
“That was a great win for us against the second-best team in the West,” said Toronto’s Jose Calderon. “We played for 48 minutes, everyone was ready to play and do things on the court.”
The defense especially impressed Raptors coach Jay Triano.
“We kept sharing the basketball and moving, had great energy at the defensive end of the floor that leads to deflections and leads to transition points,” he said.
A key also was slowing down Nowitzki.
“We tried to get in front sometimes, we tried to switch and just make it difficult,” said Triano. “We did not want him to get any type of rhythm going and Amir (Johnson) was a big part of that, as was Antoine Wright.”
The loss was the third in four games for Dallas.
