The Toronto Raptors crushed the Washington Wizards 122-83 on
Wednesday, equaling the franchise record for the biggest winning
margin and gaining revenge for an overtime loss to the same
opponent a day earlier.
The 39-point margin matched Toronto's previous biggest win - a
112-73 victory over Atlanta on April 12, 2002.
A day after losing 108-104 in overtime to the Wizards in
Washington, the Raptors rebounded with a dominating performance,
shooting 57 percent and making 13-of-18 3-point shots.
Andrea Bargnani led the Raptors with 19 points, while Chris Bosh
added 16 despite sitting out the fourth quarter. The Raptors held a
31-point lead after three quarters.
"After a bad game yesterday, we came back and played really good
today," Bargnani said.
"We can be a very good basketball team when we rebound the ball
and share the ball like we did tonight."
Bosh said the huge win showed how good the Raptors could be.
"I think we learned from this victory that we have the potential
to be a really good team in this league," Bosh said.
"We can rebound, we can play good defense and we can score as
well as the better teams in this league."
Anthony Parker chipped in with 15 points and Jose Calderon added
11 and 11 assists despite also not playing in the final 12
minutes.
Toronto (25-20) won a season-high sixth consecutive game at home
and for the eighth time in the last 11 games overall.
DeShawn Stevenson led the Wizards (24-20) with 16 points, but
Washington offered little resistance without the injured Caron
Butler for the second game in a row.
"They played very well and we didn't play well at all,"
Washington coach Eddie Jordan said.
"We didn't play well right from the beginning and just couldn't
get it going."
In New Orleans, Stephen Jackson scored 26 points, and the Golden
State Warriors beat New Orleans 116-103 to snap the Hornets'
nine-game NBA winning streak on Wednesday.
Former Hornets star Baron Davis hit five 3-pointers and finished
with 23 points and nine assists for the Warriors.
Chris Paul had 28 points and 12 assists and David West had 24
points and 13 rebounds for New Orleans.
The Miami Heat lost for the 17th time in 18 games, going down
107-91 to the Orlando Magic. Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O'Neal and
Udonis Haslem all sat out with injuries for Miami (9-35).
Al Jefferson had 26 points and 20 rebounds as the Minnesota
Timberwolves in an 83-67 win over the Chicago Bulls.
(Agencies via China Daily February 1, 2008)