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Bosh’s double-double leads Raptors to fifth-straight win, 117-102 over Pacers – Metro US

Bosh’s double-double leads Raptors to fifth-straight win, 117-102 over Pacers

TORONTO – Losing a key starter early didn’t slow down the surging Toronto Raptors on Sunday.

Hedo Turkoglu went down just a minute into the game after being elbowed in the face, but the Raptors showed their depth in defeating the Indiana Pacers 117-102 to extend their winning streak to five.

Sure, Chris Bosh led the way as usual with 26 points, 15 rebounds and his season-best seven assists before an Air Canada Centre crowd of 16,715, but the win was also a group effort with seven Raptors (26-22) scoring in double-figures.

It needed to be that way against the pesky Pacers (16-32) who had six players in double figures and came back to tie at 97-97 with 7:59 left in the game.

But the Raptors’ depth prevailed.

“We are just getting good production from a lot of guys,” Raptors head coach Jay Triano said.

Starting guard DeMar DeRozan missed his third game in a row after suffering a sprained right ankle in practice Tuesday and Sonny Weems again took his starting spot, scoring a career-best 13 points with six rebounds.

Turkoglu left the game after being charged with a foul while driving to the basket only to be hit with an elbow, suffering what was diagnosed as a small, non-displaced orbital fracture beneath the left eye.

The club said there is a possibility that he could be fitted for a protective mask. He was replaced by Antoine Wright, who scored his season-best 15 points and had six rebounds.

The Raptors led 63-59 at the half.

“You look at the fact that we have seven guys in double figures,” Triano said. “When we go to the bench, Antoine (Wright) has been good, Jose (Calderon) has been good . . . Marco (Belinelli) didn’t play well tonight but Amir (Johnson) was very good. We had to throw Sonny (Weems) who”s usually coming off the bench into the starting lineup.”

Other Raptors scoring in double figures were Andrea Bargnani with 17, Jarrett Jack with 16 and Calderon and Johnson with 12 each.

Luther Head led Indiana with 15 points, Troy Murphy and Brandon Rush had 14 each, Mike Dunleavy and Roy Hibbert scored 12 each and Earl Watson had 11.

“We have a strong bench,” Bosh said. “I think that was one of the keys to our success this year, how our bench was going to play. So far we’ve played pretty well. We will need them to continue to play well. Just play hard, play with passion and play defence every night.”

With all the talk about Toronto’s depth, the Pacers did not forget about Bosh who recorded his 35th double-double of the season.

“Bosh was just too much for us,” Pacers head coach Jim O’Brien said. “We did not defend at a level that would allow us to beat these guys. Giving up 60 per cent is not going to get it done against these guys.”

The Raptors shot 60.2 per cent from the field and the Pacers shot 47.6.

Jack played last season with the Pacers. “They are a high power offensive team,” he said. “I played in the offence last year and know how difficult it is to guard.”

The Raptors have won 11 of their past 12 home games and is 17-6 there for the season, the fastest the Raptors have reached 17 home wins in franchise history. They did it in 24 games in 2005-2006.

The Raptors scored at least 100 points for a franchise-best 13th consecutive game and are 9-4 in those games.

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Notes: The Raptors visit the Pacers on Tuesday leading the season series 2-1. They return home to face the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday. . . Bosh leads the NBA in games in which he has had at least 20 points and 10 rebound games this season with 29. Zach Randolph of the Memphis Grizzlies was next with 21. Last season, Bosh reached the 20-point, 10-rebound plateau 30 times. . . Bargnani made a presentation to members of the Canadian Forces before the game on Troops Night. Nine members of the armed forces were recognized at the break after the first quarter. Nearly 400 military personnel attended the game, most of them as a result of ticket holder donations.