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By Carl Dispoto
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The Toronto Raptors madea statement in more ways than one.
Chris Bosh scored 11 of his 14 points in a dominant secondquarter and Andrea Bargnani helped Toronto put on a shootingdisplay as the Raptors avenged last season's playoff loss with a106-69 rout over the New Jersey Nets.
Juan Dixon made 5-of-10 shots en route to 14 points and JoseCalderon added 10 points and eight assists off the bench for theRaptors, who finished at 51 percent (39-of-77) and made13-of-22 shots from the arc.
The Raptors are the defending Atlantic Division champions buthave been somewhat overlooked entering this season in a divisionthat contains the re-constructed Boston Celtics, the turbulentNew York Knicks and the star-laden Nets.
But Toronto may have raised some eyebrows with the most-lopsidedroad victory and second most-lopsided overall victory infranchise history behind a 39-point win over Atlanta on April12, 2002.
"We have to let people know we are still here," Bosh said."Eventually they are going to start talking about us, but wecan't worry about that. We know we are one of the top teams inthe division and we're not going to make it easy for everybody.We want to win too. We feel we are one of the best teams inthe East and we are going to play like it."
"They showed why they are the division champs," Nets coachLawrence Frank said. "It's very disappointing to get beat as badas we did."
The Raptors also avenged their loss to the Nets in the firstround of the playoffs last season, a series which culminatedwith a dramatic 98-97 loss here in Game Six.
"That adds a lot to it," Bosh said. "Being in this building,that puts a significance factor to it. But this is a divisionopponent and they are a good team and one of the best teams inthe East."
Bosh attempted just one shot in the first quarter but helpedToronto seize control in the second. He made 3-of-4 shots inthe period and capped it in dramatic fashion, when heintercepted a long inbounds pass from Jason Kidd and launched atwo-handed 55-footer as time expired that went in and gave theRaptors a 56-41 lead.
T.J. Ford, Juan Dixon and Jose Calderon combined for 16 pointson 8-of-10 shooting in the quarter as the Raptors made 13-of-22shots.
It was more of the same in the third quarter as the Raptors made9-of-17 shots while the Nets were just 5-of-17 from the floor.Toronto reeled off 18 straight points after New Jersey's NenadKrstic opened the second half with a jumper and pushed its leadto as many as 31.
Bargnani made 7-of-11 shots overall and had 10 of his 21 pointsin the fourth quarter, when he made all four of his attempts.His 3-pointer with 7:30 left gave Toronto a 42-point lead,matching the largest in franchise history.
"We want to work on staying on teams and not letting them backin the game and we did a great job of that tonight," Bosh said.
Richard Jefferson scored 27 points, giving him 56 in two games,but Vince Carter was held to seven points and attempted just sixshots. Carter has made just 8-of-27 shots after two games andhas yet to display the offensive ability that made him theleague's eighth-leading scorer last season. Carter managedjust one point after the first quarter and none in the secondhalf against a Toronto defense that collected 10 steals and sixblocks.
"In order to compete in the Eastern Conference you have to playdefense," Toronto coach Sam Mitchell said. "I didn't evenrealize what the score was because we were on our guys forplaying defense. We understand we have to get betterdefensively."
Jason Kidd also struggled with two points on 1-of-5 shooting asthe Nets were held to just 37 percent shooting (25-of-68) andcommitted 19 turnovers.
"We didn't show any energy after the first quarter," Kidd said."I don't have any answers. The only thing I can think of isthat maybe we thought it was open practice and didn't realizethat the season has started."
New Jersey had an 18-11 lead less than eight minutes into thegame before Toronto scored 22 of the next 25 points, includingthe first 12 of the second quarter.
The Nets were within 51-41 with 24 seconds left in the firsthalf, but Ford buried a fadeaway jumper with two seconds left.Kidd attempted a long inbounds pass to Krstic at the oppositeend but Bosh caught the pass at the top of the key and restoredthe 15-point lead.
"It just looked good," Bosh said. "It just lined up with thegoal and I'm just happy it went in. I think it kind of sparkedus for the next half."
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The Toronto Raptors madea statement in more ways than one.
Chris Bosh scored 11 of his 14 points in a dominant secondquarter and Andrea Bargnani helped Toronto put on a shootingdisplay as the Raptors avenged last season's playoff loss with a106-69 rout over the New Jersey Nets.
Juan Dixon made 5-of-10 shots en route to 14 points and JoseCalderon added 10 points and eight assists off the bench for theRaptors, who finished at 51 percent (39-of-77) and made13-of-22 shots from the arc.
The Raptors are the defending Atlantic Division champions buthave been somewhat overlooked entering this season in a divisionthat contains the re-constructed Boston Celtics, the turbulentNew York Knicks and the star-laden Nets.
But Toronto may have raised some eyebrows with the most-lopsidedroad victory and second most-lopsided overall victory infranchise history behind a 39-point win over Atlanta on April12, 2002.
"We have to let people know we are still here," Bosh said."Eventually they are going to start talking about us, but wecan't worry about that. We know we are one of the top teams inthe division and we're not going to make it easy for everybody.We want to win too. We feel we are one of the best teams inthe East and we are going to play like it."
"They showed why they are the division champs," Nets coachLawrence Frank said. "It's very disappointing to get beat as badas we did."
The Raptors also avenged their loss to the Nets in the firstround of the playoffs last season, a series which culminatedwith a dramatic 98-97 loss here in Game Six.
"That adds a lot to it," Bosh said. "Being in this building,that puts a significance factor to it. But this is a divisionopponent and they are a good team and one of the best teams inthe East."
Bosh attempted just one shot in the first quarter but helpedToronto seize control in the second. He made 3-of-4 shots inthe period and capped it in dramatic fashion, when heintercepted a long inbounds pass from Jason Kidd and launched atwo-handed 55-footer as time expired that went in and gave theRaptors a 56-41 lead.
T.J. Ford, Juan Dixon and Jose Calderon combined for 16 pointson 8-of-10 shooting in the quarter as the Raptors made 13-of-22shots.
It was more of the same in the third quarter as the Raptors made9-of-17 shots while the Nets were just 5-of-17 from the floor.Toronto reeled off 18 straight points after New Jersey's NenadKrstic opened the second half with a jumper and pushed its leadto as many as 31.
Bargnani made 7-of-11 shots overall and had 10 of his 21 pointsin the fourth quarter, when he made all four of his attempts.His 3-pointer with 7:30 left gave Toronto a 42-point lead,matching the largest in franchise history.
"We want to work on staying on teams and not letting them backin the game and we did a great job of that tonight," Bosh said.
Richard Jefferson scored 27 points, giving him 56 in two games,but Vince Carter was held to seven points and attempted just sixshots. Carter has made just 8-of-27 shots after two games andhas yet to display the offensive ability that made him theleague's eighth-leading scorer last season. Carter managedjust one point after the first quarter and none in the secondhalf against a Toronto defense that collected 10 steals and sixblocks.
"In order to compete in the Eastern Conference you have to playdefense," Toronto coach Sam Mitchell said. "I didn't evenrealize what the score was because we were on our guys forplaying defense. We understand we have to get betterdefensively."
Jason Kidd also struggled with two points on 1-of-5 shooting asthe Nets were held to just 37 percent shooting (25-of-68) andcommitted 19 turnovers.
"We didn't show any energy after the first quarter," Kidd said."I don't have any answers. The only thing I can think of isthat maybe we thought it was open practice and didn't realizethat the season has started."
New Jersey had an 18-11 lead less than eight minutes into thegame before Toronto scored 22 of the next 25 points, includingthe first 12 of the second quarter.
The Nets were within 51-41 with 24 seconds left in the firsthalf, but Ford buried a fadeaway jumper with two seconds left.Kidd attempted a long inbounds pass to Krstic at the oppositeend but Bosh caught the pass at the top of the key and restoredthe 15-point lead.
"It just looked good," Bosh said. "It just lined up with thegoal and I'm just happy it went in. I think it kind of sparkedus for the next half."
