Andrea Bargnani hit a crucial three-point bucket late in the fourth quarter and Chris Bosh poured in 22 points as the visiting Toronto Raptors rallied to beat the lowly Memphis Grizzlies 95-89 Wednesday night.
The victory snaps a four-game losing streak to Memphis for the Raptors, who lost a tough game against the Dallas Mavericks a night earlier after letting a 24-point lead slip away.
Toronto's Chris Bosh drives to the basket between Grizzlies defenders Juan Carlos Navarro, bottom left, and Rudy Gay (22) Wednesday night in Memphis.
(Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
It was the first time Toronto (6-6) has defeated the Grizzlies (3-7) since Dec. 1, 2002.
"For us to go out there when we shot 39 per cent on the road and win against a team that scores like that, is something," Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said. "This was as good a win as any when you consider it was a back-to-back, and we won it shooting like that."
Aside from his scoring output, Bosh also grabbed 19 rebounds while Bargnani added 13 points and 11 boards.
Jason Kapono added 14 points and Carlos Delfino scored 13.
Trailing by a point late in the game, Bargnani drained a three-point shot with more than two minutes remaining to give Toronto an 83-82 lead over the hometown squad.
Bosh then extended Toronto's advantage by three when he made a jumper from the top of the key.
With their defence tightening down the stretch, the Raptors put the game away as Bargnani fed a wide open Delfino, who stroked a three-point shot from the left wing for an 88-82 lead.
"It's no secret we love the three-point ball," Bosh said. "If we have open shots, we're going to keep shooting, no matter where it is on the court. We have enough 3-point shooters. We just tell our guys: 'Just stay in there. Keep your feet set. Shoot it with confidence, and eventually, it will start falling.'"
Memphis, which ranks third in the NBA in three-point percentage, missed its first 11 shots and finished the game 5-of-24.
"It was not a pretty game," Memphis coach Marc Iavaroni said. "Once again, we did not make the little things happen."
The Raptors won despite missing their second-leading scorer, T.J. Ford. The point guard sat out the final 16 minutes of Tuesday night's road loss to Dallas after taking a knee to the chest while trying to draw a charge.
With files from the Associated PressRelated
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