Andrea Bargnani scores 30 as Toronto Raptors defeat the Charlotte Bobcats 92-87: NBA Recap
On Tuesday night at the Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, the Toronto Raptors finally defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 92-87. Bobcats, the team with the worst record in NBA this season, had beaten the Raptors in the previous six
meetings between the two teams.
Raptors forward Andrea Bargnani scored the last 4 points in under 30 seconds of the game to hold off the Bobcats for a narrow win. This was the first time Toronto was able to win back to back home games since December 2010.
Charlotte held an upper hand in the rebounding department, despite being under-sized. They out-rebounded the Raptors 46-38 and had grabbed 7 more offensive rebounds then their opponents. But, they did not do much with those second
chance opportunities.
Both teams combined together for a total of 24 turnovers in the game, Raptors being responsible for 10 of those while the Bobcats had the other 14.
Bargnani`s late scoring charge turned to out to be the difference between the two teams as he came up strong in the closing stages of the game. The Italian giant ended the game with 30 points while DeMar DeRozan had 20 points on
the night for the Raps. Linas Kleiza managed to score 18 points and Jose Calderon dished out 11 assists on the night.
From the Bobcats side, Byron Mullens scored 20 points and D.J. Augustin who came off the bench managed 18 points but all this effort was of no use and they could not prevent the Bobcats from losing their 8th consecutive
game.
The only significant advantage the Bobcats had in the entire game was the quick start given to them by Mullens and Williams as they raced to a 6-0 lead but that did not last for long as Toronto came charging back to take a two
point lead at the end of the first period, 24-22.
The home team who had held a marginable advantage went on to extend their lead in the second quarter. Behind Kleiza`s spectacular shooting from long range - he hit four 3-pointers in the second period – the Raptors were able to
end the half with the lead of 53-46.
Despite having the worst record in the league, Bobcats gave the Raptors a tough time as they managed to make a comeback in the game late in the fourth quarter. Bobcats had a 6-0 run midway during the final quarter and were able
to get back to with two points of their opponents 79-81 with 2:44 remaining on the clock.
Raptors, who looked comfortable at the start, now had a very arduous task on their hands. In these kinds of situations, a lot of teams gets bamboozled under the pressure and give away their advantage but tonight Andrea Bargnani
was having none of that. He scored 9 of his 30 points in under 2 minutes remaining in the game to extinguish any chance the Bobcats had of making a comeback into the game.
Raptors, who relied on Bargnani and DeRozan for 50 of those 92 points need to work on their other offensive options.
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