Bosh, Bargnani lead Raptors past Wolves again

TORONTO (AP)—Chris Bosh knows there’s no place for politeness in an NBA playoff drive.

Bosh and Andrea Bargnani each scored 26 points, Anthony Parker had 24, and the Toronto Raptors beat Minnesota 118-100 on Tuesday, their 10th consecutive victory over the Timberwolves.

Jose Calderon had 15 points and 13 assists for Toronto, with Jason Kapono adding 11 points and Shawn Marion 10.

“We have to realize nice guys sit at home and watch the playoffs,” Bosh said. “That’s just how I feel. Maybe I’m wrong, but if you play with more intensity you’re more likely to win and you’re more likely to play better basketball.”

Bosh backed that up in a face-to-face exchange with Minnesota’s Brian Cardinal after being fouled on a first-quarter drive to the basket. Both players were called for technicals afterward.

“I don’t accept people yelling in my face,” Bosh said. “I don’t do that to other people so I expect the same thing in return. I’m going to turn it up and, if guys do that, I hope they’re ready to handle where it’s going to go.”

Minnesota coach Kevin McHale felt too much was made of the incident.

“In our league if two guys aren’t kissing it’s an altercation,” McHale said. “There’s no altercations anymore. Go back 30 years and you’ll see some altercations.”

Randy Foye scored 25 and Ryan Gomes had 23 for the Timberwolves, who have lost 11 of 13.

Foye said Bosh and Bargnani are a tough tandem to defend.

“It’s like pick your poison with them,” Foye said. “Probably out of all the bigs in the league, those two might be the top two to guard because they both can shoot the ball and put it on the floor.”

Kevin Love had 11 points in the first quarter but finished with just 15, while Mike Miller matched a season high with 12 rebounds for Minnesota.

Toronto led 111-106 when Bosh missed a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down, but Parker grabbed the rebound and scored a layup with 2 minutes remaining.

“Mike (Miller) and Rod (Carney) both went up,” McHale said. “It slipped out and dropped right into Parker’s hands and he laid it in.”

After Bosh blocked Miller at the other end, Parker made a 3-pointer from the corner to give Toronto a 116-106 lead with 1:29 left.

Minnesota, which lost center and leading scorer Al Jefferson to a season-ending knee injury on Feb. 8, has been forced to play a faster, smaller game since and McHale said it’s taking too much out of his team.

“I’ve just got to get those minutes down,” McHale said. “I don’t think they can play at that style. We’ve got to get our minutes down a little bit. They get tired out there.

“When you’re playing at that pace it’s very hard to be disciplined defensively,” McHale added. “It seems like the pace gets going and the music gets loud and pretty soon everybody is out there playing like they do in the park. You can’t have that.”

It was all Minnesota early, with Love scoring 11 and Foye adding eight, including a pair of 3-pointers, as the Timberwolves led 37-25 after one.
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Rodney Carney, left, dunks the ball past Toronto Raptors forward Anthony Parker, right, during second half NBA basketball action in Toronto on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009.
Minnesota Timberwolves forward…
AP - Feb 24, 9:47 pm EST

“They made some good shots and some crazy shots to start the game,” Toronto coach Jay Triano said. “They were just on fire early. We had to call a timeout to see if we could cool them down a little bit. They were scoring on everything they did.”

Toronto fell behind 49-33 with 7:41 left in the half, then closed the gap to one with a 17-2 run as Minnesota missed six straight shots. Sebastian Telfair ended the drought with a layup before a 3-pointer and two free throws from Gomes gave the Timberwolves a 56-52 lead at the break.

The Raptors opened the third with a 13-4 spurt, going ahead on a three-point play by Parker. Minnesota called timeout at 8:54 after Bargnani’s dunk, then came out of the break with an 11-2 run over the next two minutes. Gomes had 11 in the quarter, one more than Bosh, but Toronto took an 84-82 lead into the fourth.

Raptors forward Joey Graham left after three quarters with a strained right hamstring. Graham, who came in averaging 8.0 points and 3.8 rebounds, scored six points in 15 minutes before leaving.

Minnesota guard Bobby Brown, acquired from Sacramento in a deadline day trade last Thursday, made his Timberwolves debut in the second and finished with two points in five minutes. Forward Shelden Williams, who came over from Sacramento in the same trade, has yet to play in the three games since.

Notes

Toronto’s 34 assists were a season-high. … Parker, who scored 24 in Sunday’s win over New York, topped 20 points in consecutive games for the first time this season. … Toronto guard Marcus Banks (back) did not dress for the second straight game. … Minnesota’s last win in Toronto was a 108-97 victory on Jan. 21, 2004.