Chris Bosh scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while rookie Andrea Bargnani chipped in 14 points Sunday afternoon to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 92-83 home win over the Indiana Pacers.

Jorge Garbajosa, the Raptors new starting centre, added 13 points and six rebounds, while Jose Calderon had 13 points and five assists in 24 minutes for Toronto (4-9), which never trailed.

Toronto Raptors Joey Graham, left, puts pressure on Indiana Pacers forward Stephen Jackson Sunday at the Air Canada Centre.
(Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Stephen Jackson and Danny Granger scored 18 points each for Indiana (7-7), while Jermaine O'Neal and Jamaal Tinsley had 15 apiece.

Bargnani turned in the second-highest scoring game of his young career, coming within a point of the 15 he had in Toronto's loss at Utah on Nov. 20.

The seven-foot Italian credited his improved play of late to increased playing time.

"How can you compare playing in one game 30 minutes and eight in another? You can't," said Bargnani, who got into early foul trouble in his first few games. "Some things are new for me, and the kind of game is completely different to the European game."

Bargnani showed the deft shooting touch that helped compel the Raptors to take him with the first overall selection in June's NBA draft, nailing a pair of three-pointers and going five-for-11 from the field.

Bosh said Bargnani has gotten over some early season jitters.

"It was a little bit of a shock to him coming in at first, but now he's gotten acclimated," Bosh said.

"He's gotten aggressive. He's been working in the gym every day and it's paying off. He can shoot the ball and keep people on their toes. He just keeps pressure on the defender. He goes by so quick that by the time the defender reacts he's going up for a jump shot."

Bosh, nursing a sore knee, improved on his sub-par 11-point performance in Friday's loss at Atlanta, but shot just six-for-18.

Running the floor

The Raptors caught the normally defensive-minded Pacers flat-footed in the first half, creating easy layups by running the floor.

Toronto also pressured Indiana's backcourt, forcing turnovers that set up their fast break and helped the Raptors race out to a 27-point lead early in the second quarter.

"We have a terrible way of starting off games," Jackson said of his team, which has trailed after the first quarter in 11 of 14 games this season. "It has been real contagious right now. It is hard to beat any team, whether it is the Raptors or not."

The Pacers fought back with a 36-15 run to cut Toronto's lead to four points midway through the third. Indiana couldn't close the gap any further, though.

The Pacers were within eight with 1:28 left, but a steal and basket by Garbajosa with 35 seconds left sealed the victory for Toronto.

With files from the Canadian Press