Chris Bosh poured in 24 points as the Toronto Raptors toppled the host Los Angeles Clippers 80-77 before a crowd of 14,455 at the Staples Center on Tuesday night.
But Bosh didn't stop there, pulling down nine rebounds to break Antonio Davis's franchise record of 2,839 by eight.
Chris Bosh shoots over Tim Thomas in Tuesday's 80-77 Raptors triumph.
(Chris Carlson/Associated Press)
Bosh missed his first eight field-goal attempts, but scored 12 points in the third quarter, tying it at 58-58 on a free throw at 7:59 and sparking a 7-2 run that put Toronto up 65-60 heading into the fourth.
"I just wanted to make fast, quick moves to the basket," he said. "My shot was not falling, so I just wanted to be aggressive going to the basket and try to draw some fouls.
"As the leader of this team, I knew I had to step it up in the second half. Just play better and be more aggressive."
"We told Chris he had to take the ball to the basket," Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell said. "He was 3-of-14 [at the break]."
The Raptors increased their lead to 71-62 with 6:16 left, but Richie Frahm trimmed the deficit to two points with consecutive three-point baskets in the final minute.
Toronto held firm, though, as Jose Calderon scored on a driving layup and Carlos Delfino nailed a free throw with six seconds remaining to make it 80-75 before Corey Maggette countered with a meaningless layup as time expired.
Calderon contributed 12 points and nine assists, while Rookie Jamario Moon chipped in with 16 points for the Raptors (15-11), who shot a pedestrian 37.5 per cent from the field and were outrebounded 50-43.
"We feel pretty fortunate," Bosh said. "But our defence kept us in it.
"That's why you have to play good defence every night because you're not going to shoot the ball that well every night. After a while, your confidence isn't as high because you don't make those shots that you usually make.
"They played good defence, too. They clogged the lane up pretty good and they forced us to shoot a lot of jump shots."
Maggette scored 22 points to pace the Clippers (9-15).
Frahm finished with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor.
Chris Kaman provided 12 points and a game-best 16 rebounds for his 20th double-double — six more than he managed last season.
"We struggled making some shots," Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy said. "We did not get a lot out of our post game.
"We missed some shots around the basket. I thought we did a good job defensively."
With files from the Canadian PressRelated
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