Raptors down Bobcats; Okafor, Wallace injured

The Bobcats lost leading rebounder Emeka Okafor and leading scorer Gerald Wallace to injury in the third quarter. Okafor left with a strained left calf while Wallace was forced to leave the game due to a strained groin. There were no immediate updates on the condition of either player.

Jose Calderon deposited 16 points off the bench for Toronto, which has won nine of 11 games. T.J. Ford add 15 points for the Raptors, who have beaten the Bobcats six of the last seven times the teams have met.

Matt Carroll and Adam Morrison scored 13 points each for Charlotte, which had its franchise-record-tying four game winning streak snapped.

The Raptors took advantage of Charlotte’s injury problems, opening the fourth quarter with a 12-0 surge and taking a commanding 80-59 lead with 8:20 left in the game. Bosh scored eight points during the stretch.

Charlotte never threatened the rest of the way.

A Radoslav Nesterovic layup sparked a 9-0 Raptors run to open the game. Charlotte responded with a 14-1 surge, however, capped by a Wallace reverse layup.

Toronto led 19-18 after the first stanza.

The two Eastern Conference foes exchanged buckets throughout the second period and Toronto took a 44-41 advantage into the intermission.

After a Primoz Brezac jumper pulled Charlotte to within one, 44-43, Toronto started to pull away with a 10-2 run. A Ford dunk highlighted the spurt, putting the Raptors ahead 54-45 with 7:21 remaining in the third quarter.

Toronto took a 68-59 lead into the final quarter.

Game Notes

Charlotte was without Sean May due to his sore right knee...The Bobcats shot just 33 percent from the field and 19 percent from three-point range...Juan Dixon was scoreless in his Raptors debut, despite playing 16 minutes...This was the second of three meetings so far this season between the clubs. Toronto leads the season series 2-0.