Boston’s bullying of the Atlantic Division is over. Toronto’s torrid outside shooting took care of that.
The Raptors were 15-for-21 from 3-point range Wednesday night, beating the Celtics 114-112. Boston had been 10-0 against division foes, with three of those victories coming against Toronto.
“It was really important to beat them – so we could see if we could,” guard Jose Calderon said. “We knew how to play them after already playing them three times.”
As good as the Raptors were, Cleveland may have been better. Just ask LeBron James.
James scored 23 points, Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 24 without missing from the floor and the Cavaliers handled the Washington Wizards 121-85 for their season-high fifth straight victory.
“Offensively we were unbelievable, nearly perfect,” James said. “It was pretty dang gone good.”
Ilgauskas went 10-for-10 from the field as the Cavs set season highs in margin of victory, assists (39), points in a quarter (43) and field-goal percent shooting (56).
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Cavaliers, who had a season-low six turnovers, are the first team since 1977-78 – when turnovers became an official statistic – to have at least 39 assists and six or fewer turnovers.
“It was painful, bordering on embarrassing,” Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. “They really brought it to us and we didn’t respond. We weren’t quick enough, we weren’t strong enough and we weren’t athletic enough.”
In other games, it was: Detroit 86, Philadelphia 78; Dallas 102, Charlotte 95; Orlando 112, Memphis 85; Minnesota 117, Phoenix 107; New Orleans 96, Portland 81; Chicago 108, Indiana 95; Denver 107, Atlanta 100; San Antonio 103, the Los Angeles Lakers 91; Houston 109, Seattle 107; and the Los Angeles Clippers 111, Sacramento 85.
In Boston, Calderon converted a go-ahead, three-point play with 10.5 seconds left and finished with 24 points and 13 assists. Chris Bosh and Anthony Parker scored 23 points apiece, Andrea Bargnani had 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and the Raptors carved up the team with the NBA’s best record.
“Fifty-eight percent (from the floor); 71 percent from the 3; 100 percent from the foul line. At least the foul line wasn’t guarded,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “Half the guys in our league couldn’t shoot 15-for-21 if they were in a gym by themselves. It was almost like we didn’t believe they would shoot another one.”
Toronto (23-19) won for the sixth time in eight games, improving to 1-3 against Boston (33-7).
Kevin Garnett scored 26 points for Boston, which had won three in a row. Paul Pierce had 19 points and nine assists, and Ray Allen also scored 19 for the Celtics.
Spurs 103, Lakers 91
At San Antonio, Tim Duncan had 28 points and 17 rebounds, Ime Udoka added a season-high 18 points, and four other players scored in double digits in the Spurs’ second straight victory.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 29 points and 12 rebounds.
Hornets 96, Trail Blazers 81
At New Orleans, Jannero Pargo scored a season-high 24 points in 24 minutes, and the Hornets extended their season-best winning streak to six games.
David West scored 22 for the Hornets (29-12), who have won 14 of 16 games and lead the Southwest Division after their best first half of a season in franchise history. Chris Paul had 18 points and 10 assists for New Orleans.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points for Portland, which wound up 3-4 on its seven-game road trip.
Timberwolves 117, Suns 107
At Minneapolis, Al Jefferson had a career-high 39 points and 15 rebounds, and the Timberwolves won two in a row for the first time this season.
Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 33 points, but only 19 of them came in the last 43 minutes. The Suns had their four-game winning streak stopped.
Steve Nash had 21 points and 16 assists, but it wasn’t enough to keep Phoenix from losing to Minnesota for the second time this season.
Rockets 109, SuperSonics 107
At Seattle, Tracy McGrady scored 28 points and took over in the final 90 seconds, helping Houston hand the SuperSonics their 12th straight loss.
Kevin Durant had 25 points for Seattle, which has yet to win in 2008. Seattle’s 12-game skid is the worst single-season losing streak in franchise history.
Pistons 86, 76ers 78
At Philadelphia, Richard Hamilton scored 21 points and Chauncey Billups had 19 to help the Pistons snap a rare three-game losing streak.
Willie Green scored 16 points for the Sixers, who have lost 10 of 12.
Magic 112, Grizzlies 85
At Memphis, Tenn., Hedo Turkoglu scored 26 points, and Orlando made a team-record 18 3-pointers.
Rudy Gay led Memphis with 20 points, and Pau Gasol had 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Mavericks 102, Bobcats 95
At Charlotte, N.C., Devin Harris scored 23 points, Josh Howard added 21 points and 12 rebounds and Dallas improved to 7-0 all-time against the Bobcats.
Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace had 22 points and 11 rebounds despite playing with a strained left calf.
Bulls 108, Pacers 95
At Chicago, Kirk Hinrich scored a career-high 38 points, and the Bulls won without the injured Ben Gordon and Luol Deng.
Danny Granger did all he could to keep Indiana in the game, scoring a career-high 33 points.
Nuggets 107, Hawks 100
At Denver, Allen Iverson scored 29 points and Linas Kleiza added 23 for the Nuggets, playing without All-Star Carmelo Anthony.
Marcus Camby finished with 13 points and 21 rebounds for Denver. Josh Smith had a triple-double for the Hawks, finishing with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
Clippers 111, Kings 85
At Los Angeles, Chris Kaman had 21 rebounds and 20 points, and rookie Al Thornton scored 23 points for the Clippers.
Mike Bibby scored 16 points for the Kings, who fell to 0-9 on the road this season against Western Conference teams. Brad Miller added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
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