With the Toronto Raptors in the midst of a slump, Chris Bosh got a little pep talk from Jarrett Jack, Antoine Wright and Marcus Banks before their game with the woeful New Jersey Nets.
The message was simple. Play some basketball, have some fun and score 30 points.
Bosh did that and more, scoring 23 of his 36 points in the second half as the Raptors kept the Nets on the road to an NBA single-season record for losses with a 100-90 victory Saturday night.
"They were just on me about playing basketball and that made it fun," Bosh said after the Raptors won for only the third time in 13 games.
"They were telling me what they wanted to see from me and what they wanted me to do, and anytime that happens, I see that as a challenge, and you know you don't feel like you are out there by yourself."
Jack added 15 points and Hedo Turkoglu had 13 as the Raptors sent New Jersey (7-62) to its seventh straight loss.
At 7-62 with 13 games left, the Nets are in danger of breaking the NBA mark for single-season futility, set by Philadelphia (9-73) in 1972-73.
Devin Harris, returning after missing two games because of a respiratory infection, had 22 points for the Nets, who extended their franchise-record losing streak at home to 13 games. Brook Lopez added 18 points and 13 rebounds.
"The effort was definitely better, but we're still floating around that 42-minute mark, where we really need to get that effort for 48 minutes," Harris said. "We played well in the first half, but in the third quarter they came out very aggressive. Bosh got going and it carried them through the game."
Coupled with Chicago's win over Philadelphia, the Raptors maintained their 2½-game lead over the Bulls in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Bosh, who was playing in his 500th game as a Raptor, was the difference in this game. He was 16 of 27 from the field and seemingly wanted the ball in the second half with the Raptors down three points at the half.
After the Nets extended their lead to 55-48 in the opening minutes of the third quarter, Bosh hit 7 of 10 shots the rest of the period to key a 32-15 run that gave Toronto an 80-70 lead entering the final quarter.
Bosh was particularly good at getting away from Lopez to hit the open jumper or blowing by him when he came out to guard him.
Raptors forward Reggie Evans just smiled when asked about Bosh's game.
"That's why you hear him with the talk about Dwyane Wade and LeBron James," Evans said. "That's nothing new for him. That was a good game for him and all of us. When he gets it going it opens doors for everyone."
New Jersey got within seven points a couple of times down the stretch but Bosh hit two free throws with 4:58 to go and Sonny Weems scored on a layup the other time for a 94-85 lead. Bosh iced the game with a big dunk seconds later.
"It was good to get tonight because sometimes we've played to the level of our competition when we haven't been doing good," Evans said. "It was a win not to play to the level of our competition. … Give credit to everyone, we played well. We just won a game we were supposed to win."
