The Toronto Raptors welcomed back point guard T.J. Ford in Monday's 114-82 rout of the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena.

Ford played nearly 17 minutes in his first action since last Dec. 11, when he suffered a neck injury in a horrific spill with 92 seconds left in a 100-88 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
 
"I felt great," said Ford, who has a history of neck problems.

Jose Calderon defends Jason Williams in Monday's 114-82 Raptors victory.
(Lynne Sladky/Associated Press)

"I'm just happy to be out there. I'm in great shape, physically and mentally."

Ford entered Monday's game with 9:55 left in the second quarter and Toronto leading 39-18.

He didn't look the least bit reluctant to get involved, notching four points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field, four assists, two steals and a rebound.

"That is big for us," said Raptors centre Chris Bosh, who scored 20 of his game-high 24 points before intermission.

"He surprised me, I didn't expect him to play tonight," Bosh said. "He was ready to go tonight, I'm really proud of him."

Andrea Bargnani counted 22 points, five rebounds and four assists as the Raptors (26-21) shrugged off a surprisingly lopsided 121-101 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in their previous tilt.

Anthony Parker shot 4-of-5 from three-point range to finish with 18 points, Jason Kapono chipped in 13 points and four steals coming off the bench, and Jose Calderon had 11 points and a game-high 10 assists.

Toronto has won four of its last six games, and evened its overall road record to 12-12.

"It seemed like we had a little more pep in our step tonight," Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell said.

'Terrible basketball'

Dorrell Wright poured in a team-high 17 points for the Heat (9-37), losers in their last four games and 19 of 20.

Mark Blount and Dwyane Wade scored 12 points apiece, Chris Quinn had 11 points and Alexander Johnson 10.

"Terrible basketball," Wade said. "Maybe it is getting away."

"We're going to have to do some evaluation here," Heat head coach Pat Riley said.

Toronto hadn't prevailed at Miami since Nov. 30, 2004 — not that it was ever in doubt.

The Raptors dominated from the opening tip, outscoring the Heat 33-12 in the first quarter and building up a 39-point lead in the second half.

"We executed offensively, hit some shots," Parker said. "Defensively, we did a decent job in the first quarter, and just kept the pressure on them."

"Too quick, too efficient, too ready, too good — that was Toronto in the first quarter," Riley said. "An absolute clinic."

Toronto finished with a season-high 59.5 per cent shooting percentage (44-74), and a whopping 31 assists to Miami's 19.

"As a team, it is hard for us to play much better than we played tonight," Mitchell said.

With files from the Canadian Press