Toronto forward Chris Bosh, left, is fouled by Orlando centre Dwight Howard during the first quarter Sunday at the Air Canada Centre. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)Down two key starters, the Toronto Raptors refused to give in to the best road team in the NBA on Sunday at the Air Canada Centre.
Forward Anthony Parker poured in a season-high 26 points and Chris Bosh added 23 to pace the Raptors to a 108-102 victory over the streaking Orlando Magic.
"I've been struggling shooting, so the law of percentages say it's eventually going to even out," Parker, who shot 13-of-16 from the field, joked to CBC Sports.
"I've missed so much that one of these days [I] was due, and I'm really happy that it happened."
Toronto (14-20) won its second straight game despite playing without guard Jose Calderon and forward Jermaine O'Neal.
Calderon left Friday's home victory against the Houston Rockets early in the second quarter after straining his right hamstring and will likely skip the team's road trip to Milwaukee and Washington, according to coach Jay Triano.
O'Neal, meanwhile, missed his third straight game with a sore right knee. Andrea Bargnani, O'Neal's replacement, scored 18 points for the Raptors.
Road warriors
The win was especially stunning because it came against a Magic team that owned a 12-4 road record heading into Sunday's contest.
"This team stayed together through [tough times] and we're just really happy on the effort," said Parker. "[We were] down a point guard and a big guy and guys just stepped up here, came in and battled."
Orlando (26-8) lost for only the second time in its last 11 games.
Toronto was brilliant from the free-throw line, going 23-24 for the game. Bosh led the way with a 13-for-14 performance.
All-star centre Dwight Howard led the Magic by tying his career high of 39 points and eight rebounds. Howard leads the league with 24 double-doubles, his last one coming in Friday's 86-76 win over Miami.
The Raptors got the edge on Orlando early and built a 16-point lead in the second quarter. But with Howard's help, the Magic chipped away at Toronto's advantage and took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter.
The teams traded leads several times before Bosh hit four straight free throws to put Toronto ahead 103-101 with 2:27 left.
Guard Roko Ukic offset the loss of Calderon with the best basketball of his young career. Ukic, who scored 12 points, sealed the game with 38.1 seconds remaining after draining a one-handed floater over Orlando guard Jameer Nelson to give Toronto a 105-102 lead.
"It was a big basket," Parker said of Ukic's drive.
"We were going back and forth down the stretch and it seemed like the play broke down, but he made something happen. That was probably the turning point in the game."
The much-maligned Raptor defence took over from there, thwarting six Orlando possessions to preserve the win.
