Raptors cruise past Bobcats

Jose Calderon notched 19 points and 11 assists for the Raptors, who have won three of four. Andrea Bargnani scored 14 points, while Morris Peterson added 11. Rasho Nesterovic contributed 10 points in the win.

Gerald Wallace posted 19 points and nine rebounds and Raymond Felton had 19 points and eight assists after sitting out two games with an ankle injury for the Bobcats, who have lost three of their last five. Emeka Okafor scored 13 points, and Matt Carroll added 10 points and six boards.

Raptors point guard T.J. Ford sat out with a sore right ankle, which got stepped on December 29th against Chicago, and Bobcats center Primoz Brezec was also sidelined with a bulging disc in his lower back.

"I’m always ready to play when the coach calls my name and I know my teammates, I know they are going to help me," Calderon said. "I just try to play basketball. Some days it’s better, some days it’s worse, but we’re just trying to win games here."

Toronto got going on a 13-2 run midway through the first quarter, capped by a Bargnani three-pointer with 3:32 remaining, and led 37-27 heading into the second.

Charlotte answered with a 12-3 spurt to open the second and cut its deficit to just one with 8:06 left. However, Toronto closed the stanza on a 12-5 run, sparked by a Calderon jumper with 4:54 remaining to hold a 56-53 halftime advantage.

The Raptors blew the game open in the third. After a Wallace slam, they scored the next 10 points, and outscored Charlotte 21-8 in the stanza to lead 77-61 heading into the fourth.

"Our main problem is that we didn’t swing the ball, we didn’t move the ball and then we didn’t make shots in their zone," Wallace said. "They had it working for them and we couldn’t get open looks or penetration in their zone."

Toronto started the fourth on a 10-2 spurt, capped by a Peterson reverse layup with 6:33 left to seal the win.

Game Notes

Charlotte’s eight-point third quarter was a franchise-low by the Bobcats and by a Toronto opponent...Charlotte is 1-3 at Toronto...This was the first meeting of the season between the squads.