The Toronto Raptors opted for long-term potential with the fifth overall selection in the NBA Draft, selecting Lithuanian PF/C Jonas Valanciunas.

The 6’11” 19 year old played in Lithuanias top league last season averaging 11.7 points and 7.4 rebounds for Lietuvos Rytas.

The Raptors may have to wait before seeing Valanicunas in Toronto unless they can work out a buyout for his Euroleague contract. Valanciunas is hopeful a deal can be done though.

I’ve heard Valanciunas described as a poor mans Joakim Noah meets Andris Bierdins.

In 2006 experts said Andrea Bargnani was a poor mans Dirk, instead he’s just been a poor mans Italian.

Here we go again, nice job Bryan Colangelo.

The Toronto Raptors have completed their head coaching search and are expected to announce this afternoon that Dwane Casey is their next head man. Casey has been one of the more prominent names mentioned throughout the great 2011 coaching search, with teams like Houston, Detroit, Golden State and Indiana all showing interest in the Dallas Mavericks assistant.

“Dwane Casey would be a great hire for Houston, Golden State or Indiana,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told reporters last month. “His communication skills, experience and work ethic would be a tremendous asset to any franchise.”

They certainly were in Dallas, where his defensive schemes had a great deal to do with the Mavs becoming one of the best defensive teams in the NBA after years of mediocrity. That process began with Avery Johnson, of course, but kicked into high gear over the last three seasons with Casey pushing the team to ever-higher levels of defensive intensity.

Casey’s signing will also mean that Lawrence Frank becomes the frontrunner for the Detroit opening, as Casey and Frank were believed to be the frontrunners for the Pistons position. Detroit is also considering Bucks assistant Kelvin Sampson and former Piston Bill Laimbeer, but Frank is said to have “blown away” the Pistons in his recent interview and will likely be announced soon.

Source: hoopsworld.com

Lawrence Frank and Dwane Casey are on the Toronto Raptors’ list of coaching candidates, but sources say there is a strong third candidate: Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach Maurice Cheeks.

The Raptors are not expected to make a decision on their coach until GM Bryan Colangelo returns from a scouting trip in Europe. They are also expected to wait until they can interview Mavericks assistant coach Casey, after the NBA Finals.

Cheeks, 54, has a career record of 284-286 as a head coach over six-plus seasons, splitting time between the Portland Trail Blazers and Philadelphia 76ers.

Via Ric Bucher/ESPN The Magazine

Asked in a feature interview where he’d like to play if he could rub a magic lamp and transport himself to another NBA city, Andrea Bargnani told Italy’s Sky Sports: “I want to stay in Toronto, at least this is the politically correct answer. If (I am) to go somewhere else, I’d like a warm climate city and a team where I can actually play in my role.”

Bargnani spoke those sentiments in Italian; the translation was provided by a trusted source, fluent in both Italian and English, and confirmed as accurate by the journalist who conducted the interview, Alessandro Mamoli.

Jay Triano has been kicked upstairs by the Toronto Raptors.

The team announced Wednesday it is declining to pick up an option year on Triano’s contract as the team’s head coach and he will become “a consultant to the basketball team as a special assistant to the president and general manager.”

Triano, the 52-year-old native of Niagara Falls, Ont., was due to make just over $2 million as the head coach next season, which would have been his third full year after replacing Sam Mitchell as the seventh head coach in the 16-year history of the franchise.

Toronto Raptors forward Amir Johnson has undergone surgery to repair instability in his left ankle, the team announced Friday.

The procedure was performed by Dr. Robert Anderson, a foot and ankle specialist, in Charlotte, N.C.

Johnson missed nine games in 2010-11, including the final five contests of the season, with a sore left ankle.

Johnson, who signed a five-year deal worth $34 million last summer, will conduct his rehabilitation in Los Angeles and is expected to be ready for training camp.
Source: RealGM.com

http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=367590

Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo is sticking around.

Colangelo confirmed on Tuesday afternoon, ahead of the NBA’s draft lottery that he has “agreed in principle” to a contract extension.

Colangelo’s contract was set to expire on June 30 and though it was announced last week that he would represent the team at Tuesday’s draft lottery, his status had been unclear for months.
The Toronto Sun first reported on February 15th that: “While there is no timetable for an announcement,” according to a source with knowledge of the thinking of the upper echelon of the MLSEL board, “It is 99% certain that (Colangelo) will be re-signed before the end of his current contract.”

It took a while, but that information proved correct in the end, though Colangelo had faced strong opposition from Glen Silvestri, a board member representing majority owner Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan and others.

In other Raptors news, the team will pick 5th in next months entry draft after dropping down after this evenings lottery.

The team has a bunch of needs, but here are my top three players that could and should still be on the board when the Raps send in their pick:

1) Kemba Walker – 6’0” PG UCONN

2) Brandon Knight – 6’3” PG Kentucky

3) Alec Burks – 6’6” PG/SG Colordo

Lets hope BC gets it right with his first pick after the new contract!

J.J. Hickson scored 28 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 104-96 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night in a game between teams playing out the story lines on similar seasons.

Jerryd Bayless scored 28 points for the Raptors (21-57), who have four games left in their disappointing season. DeMar DeRozan added 19 points, while Reggie Evans had a season-high 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Sonny Weems finished with 17 points.

Baron Davis added 19 points for the Cavs (17-61), while Ramon Sessions chipped in with 15, Ryan Hollins finished with 14, and Alonzo Gee added 10.

With LeBron James leaving Cleveland last summer and Chris Bosh bolting Toronto to join him in Miami, both teams have endured miserable seasons.

“They’re in the same boat as us, developing young players, trying to play hard and finish off the season,” said Raptors coach Jay Triano.

The Raptors, battling fatigue in their fourth game in five nights and missing the services of Andrea Bargnani and Amir Johnson, trailed from the outset, digging themselves a 22-point, first-half hole with sluggish shooting and a token defensive effort.

The crowd of 14,886 booed when Gee drove effortlessly to the net for a slam dunk midway through the second quarter. The Cavaliers led 77-64 heading into the fourth.

The Raptors left the court to a smattering of boos after their loss to the last-place team in the Eastern Conference.

Bargnani’s sore right ankle kept him out of his fourth game of the last six, while Johnson didn’t play after his troublesome ankle swelled up during warmup.

There were some tense moments late in the third quarter when former Raptor Joey Graham took a run at James Johnson and had to be held back by teammates. Johnson had caught Graham in the face with a block attempt, and was assessed a flagrant foul. Graham, who had three points, received a technical.

Fatigue was obvious in the Raptors’ sluggish first quarter that saw them shoot 29 percent and trail by as much as 12 points. The Cavs took a 28-17 lead into the second.

Toronto couldn’t contain Cleveland in the second quarter as the Cavaliers shot 59 percent and maintained a double-digit lead. Hickson’s free throws stretched the Cavs’ advantage to 22 points before a slam dunk by Toronto’s Alexis Ajinca cut the Cavs’ lead to 60-40 at halftime.

Doug Collins called himself a fixer.

“That’s my nature,” the 76ers coach said.

The Sixers are far removed from the state of disrepair he inherited last summer. He stabilized the franchise and turned them into winners. With the playoffs ahead for his young team, the Sixers proved his work isn’t over yet.

Elton Brand scored 22 points, Thaddeus Young had 20 and the Philadelphia 76ers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 98-93 win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

It was a win, just not an impressive one.

“We need to go into the playoffs feeling good,” Brand said.

Andre Iguodala scored 16 points for the Sixers, who could still finish sixth in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers had already clinched their first playoff appearance in two years. With 41 wins and two games left, the Sixers can finish with a winning record for the first time since 2004-05. They went 41-41 two years ago.

The Sixers are not in postseason form with time winding down to get ready for a bullish battle against Miami or Boston. They blew a 15-point lead against a Toronto team long out of postseason contention. They missed four straight free throws in the fourth that had an eight-point lead cut to two.

They overcame poor free-throw shooting and missing eight of 11 3-point attempts to give their win total – and confidence – an overdue boost.

It’s just not enough to soothe Collins’ concerns.

“We’re just a little bit off-kilter right now,” Collins said. “We’re not as connected as we’ve been. Our rotation is a little screwed up right now.”

He held the Sixers longer than usual with his postgame speech and stressed the need to keep their focus. He gave them Saturday off and hoped a day away from hoops would clear their minds.

“I’m personally anxious,” Brand said. “I hope we’re not looking ahead. Maybe that has a little bit to do with it.”

The Sixers are clearly missing Lou Williams. The reserve guard was an energetic scoring force off the bench. He was fourth on the team in scoring with 13.7 points when he was lost for the rest of the regular season with a strained right hamstring. He was hurt last Saturday and the Sixers don’t know if Williams can return for the first round.

“We’re out of sync,” Collins said. “You lose a big part of the team.”

Evan Turner, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, gobbled the minutes devoted to Williams and scored 10 points. Turner and Young were the only Sixers reserves to play more than 3 minutes.

DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 27 points and Jerryd Bayless had 24. Ed Davis scored 14. Raptors forward Sonny Weems left the game in the second quarter with a sore right knee and did not return.

Bayless kept the Raptors in it with a 3-pointer with 28.5 seconds left that pulled them to 96-93. Toronto snagged Iguodala’s missed driving layup, and set up one last play out of a timeout.

Bayless shot an airball to end the threat.

Raptors forward Reggie Evans was whistled for a technical late earlier in the fourth after arguing a no-foul call. Coach Jay Triano also was hit with a ‘T’ and was ejected for arguing the same play.

Jodie Meeks made 1 of 2 free throws for the Sixers to make it 88-80. The Sixers were 23 for 31 from the line – the kind of performance that could cost them in a tight playoff game.

Triano said he had “no idea” why he was tossed.

“We said we weren’t going to quit and we didn’t,” he said. ”

The Raptors played the first half like a team that couldn’t wait for the season to end. They missed 14 straight shots over the first and second quarters, dribbled the ball off their feet and passes were sloppy.

Brand led the Sixers early and Iguodala’s jumper midway through the second put them up 33-18.

Down 54-42 at the break, the Raptors finally got their game together. The Raptors found their touch and made 12 of 18 shots in the third. Bayless’ 3 with 21 seconds gave the Raptors a 72-70 lead.

Young, though, ended the third with a three-point play and Iguodala opened the fourth with one of his own to help the Sixers get some breathing room.

“I just want to see us keep growing, not go backwards,” Brand said.

As another wretched season comes to a close, the New Jersey Nets haven’t stopped trying. Unfortunately, they haven’t stopped losing, either.

Jerryd Bayless scored 19 points, James Johnson had a season-high 18 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Nets 99-92 on Sunday night to snap a three-game losing streak.

New Jersey trailed by as many as 21 before mounting a fourth-quarter comeback, cutting the deficit to four with less than a minute left. But they didn’t have enough to beat the Raptors, who got 18 points each from DeMar DeRozan and Ed Davis and 10 from Julian Wright.

“We had a such a bad first half, in every way,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said. “We didn’t play good on either side of the ball. We weren’t very good in the third quarter, either, but we put together a pretty nice fourth quarter.”

Reggie Evans had 15 rebounds for Toronto, which had lost nine of 10.

Brook Lopez had 35 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets, who have lost three straight and nine of 11. Sasha Vujacic, who scored 19, was the only other Nets player to reach double figures.

“We gave ourselves an opportunity and I think that’s important, especially when (this is) the third-to-last game of the season and we’re not checking out,” Lopez said.

The Nets host Charlotte in their home finale on Monday night, then wrap up the season at Chicago on Wednesday.

“We’re not just here to get it over with,” Vujacic said. “We want to compete every night.”

Vujacic, who began the season with the Los Angeles Lakers before joining New Jersey in a December trade, acknowledged it’s hard not having a postseason series to look forward to.

“It’s a sad feeling not being in the playoffs,” he said. “It hurts a little bit. But we have two more games and we can’t just quit.”

Toronto led 92-76 with 5:51 play but New Jersey rallied, and a 3-pointer by Vujacic cut it to 94-87 with 2:28 remaining. Bayless answered with a driving layup to give the Raptors a nine-point lead with 2:12 to play.

Lopez was fouled on consecutive possessions and made three of four from the line before Wright missed a pair for the Raptors. New Jersey turned the ball over on an errant pass before the Raptors were called for a 24-second violation, giving the Nets one more shot inside the final minute. Lopez made a driving hook shot with 46 seconds left, cutting it to 96-92.

Lopez fouled Bayless on a drive to the basket and the Toronto guard made both, giving Toronto a six-point edge with 35 seconds to go. Vujacic missed a 3-point attempt and, after a replay review, the Raptors were granted possession. Bayless was fouled and capped it by making one more free throw.

Vujacic was upset with himself after missing an open look from long range.

“I’ve got to make nine out of 10 if not 10 out of 10,” Vujacic said. “I’m a little bit frustrated.”

Already dealing with injury problems, the Nets lost rookie Ben Uzoh early in the fourth when he slipped and bruised his right knee. Uzoh was able to stand and walk slowly to the bench, and Johnson said he could play Monday.

Guard Mario West went down clutching his left shoulder late in the fourth and had to be helped out of his jersey as he undressed in the locker room.

Both teams were without several key players. New Jersey’s Deron Williams, who will undergo right wrist surgery Monday, missed his third straight game, while leading rebounder Kris Humphries (right heel, right ankle) has not played in six games and is expected to miss the rest of the season. Anthony Morrow (left knee), Damion James (right foot) and Sundiata Gaines (hip) were also absent.

Toronto dressed just nine players. Leading scorer Andrea Bargnani (right ankle) and guard Jose Calderon (left hamstring) sat for the fifth time in six games, and Leandro Barbosa (left pinky) missed his fourth straight. Amir Johnson (left ankle) was sidelined for the third straight game and Sonny Weems (right knee) was also unavailable.

DeRozan scored 14 points in the first, including two on an alley-oop pass from Bayless, as the Raptors made seven of their first eight shots to open a 31-22 lead after 12 minutes.

James Johnson had 11 points in the second and Wright came off the bench to score eight as Toronto extended its advantage, building a 61-42 lead at the half.

Bayless had nine points in the third, helping the Raptors take an 82-62 lead into the final quarter.

The Nets missed their first eight 3-point shots before Vujacic made one in the fourth.

NOTES: The Raptors outrebounded the Nets 45-31. … Morrow is scheduled to undergo an MRI on his knee on Monday and will likely miss the remainder of the season, coach Avery Johnson said. … The Nets signed West for the remainder of the season. … Raptors coach Jay Triano said Amir Johnson is unlikely to play again this season. … Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos attended the game.

If this was Michael Redd’s last home game for the Milwaukee Bucks, at least he went out with a win.

Redd didn’t play much in Milwaukee’s 93-86 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, scoring two points on 1-for-6 shooting.

After knee injuries cost him most of the past two seasons, Redd has gone from being the face of the Bucks’ franchise to being a bench player. His contract is up at the end of the season, and he hasn’t spent much time thinking about what might be the end of his time in Milwaukee.

“I haven’t,” Redd said. “Before the game, people were mentioning it. I’m just focusing on being healthy and trying to win a ballgame tonight, so I wasn’t really focusing on it too much. I know the connection here is special between myself, the city and the fans, so it’s been an awesome 11 years.”

With Redd potentially fading into the background, the Bucks turned to their new young star to salvage a win in their final home game of what has been a disappointing season.

Brandon Jennings broke free for three straight fast-break scores to give Milwaukee the lead in the fourth quarter, and the Bucks held on to beat the undermanned Raptors.

“We were able to get down and get a stretch of easy layups for a change instead of having the burden on our half-court offense to get shots,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said.

John Salmons scored 24 points and Jennings added 21. Drew Gooden had 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Jerryd Bayless scored 20 for Toronto in a matchup between two teams eliminated from playoff contention. The injury-riddled Raptors used only eight players – and it showed in the fourth quarter, when they committed six of their 20 turnovers.

“I think that’s how the game went,” Raptors coach Jay Triano said. “They wore us down in the second half.”

The Raptors shot 23 free throws before halftime to the Bucks’ 11, but struggled to get to the line in the second half.

“We didn’t drive as much in the second half as I would have liked,” Triano said. “Our guys were just worn down a little bit.”

Bayless was unhappy with his six turnovers, including three in the fourth quarter.

“In the second half I was careless with the ball, I missed shots,” Bayless said. “I played terrible.”

Toronto finishes the season at home against Miami on Wednesday. The Bucks finish the season at Oklahoma City on Wednesday.

Redd, the Bucks’ second-round pick in the 2000 NBA draft, is making approximately $18 million in the final year of a $91 million, six-year contract he signed in 2005. A productive scorer most of his Milwaukee career, Redd has missed most of the past two seasons because of two separate injuries to his left knee.

Redd has played sporadically off the bench since he returned to the court this year, and was on the bench to start Monday’s game. The entire team was introduced before the final home game, and Redd received warm applause from the crowd when his name was called.

It wouldn’t have taken long to introduce the entire Toronto squad. The Raptors brought only nine players to Milwaukee, then found out that forward Reggie Evans was unable to play because of a sore left index finger. Joey Dorsey started in his place.

Leandro Barbosa has a sore right pinky finger, Andrea Bargnani a sore right ankle, Jose Calderon a sore left hamstring, Amir Johnson a sore left ankle and Sonny Weems a sore right knee.

Still, Toronto controlled most of the game against a Milwaukee team that has played well on defense for most of the season but struggled to guard in recent games. Then the Raptors started turning the ball over, and the Bucks took advantage.

Trailing by two, the Bucks shot to an 81-77 lead with 5:31 left on three straight fast-break scores by Jennings, including an emphatic slam dunk.

Toronto later cut the lead to two with 1:33 left, but Gooden hit a layup and converted a three-point play to put the game out of reach.

The Dinos close out the year Wednesday night at home vs Chris Bosh and those other fools from “South Beach”.

Finally healthy after long absences, Drew Gooden and Michael Redd are giving the Milwaukee Bucks a big boost in their chase for a playoff berth.

Brandon Jennings scored 25 points, Gooden and Andrew Bogut each had double-doubles and the Bucks beat the Toronto Raptors 104-98 Wednesday night.

“The guy that hurt us was Gooden,” Raptors coach Jay Triano said. “When he came in he made jump shots against our second unit and that hurt us.”

Gooden had 22 points and 11 rebounds and Bogut had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks, who had lost three of their previous four games. Carlos Delfino added 14 points for Milwaukee.

“Drew is a big part of this team,” Jennings said. “He’s a great rebounder and he’s a great screen-and-pop shooter. When he’s out there making shots, it opens up the offense a lot.”

The Bucks are three games behind Indiana for the final playoff spot in the East. Milwaukee, which has eight games left to play, visits Indiana on Friday night.

“This is probably do or die for us,” Bogut said. “This game is everything for us and probably everything for them, too.”

Jennings agreed with Bogut’s assessment of the looming matchup with the Pacers, who beat Detroit on Wednesday.

“This might be the biggest game of the season for us,” he said.

Gooden and Redd returned from injury in Monday’s one-point loss at Charlotte. Redd had missed 14 months after two knee surgeries, while Gooden had not played since Jan. 21 with plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

“You can say it’s similar to making a trade and having two guys come in, but we didn’t trade anybody,” Gooden said. “It’s a plus for us to be healthy right now and contributing down the stretch.”

The strain of an extended spell on the sidelines showed in Gooden’s performance against Charlotte, when he missed five of six shots. He was more comfortable against Toronto, making his first five attempts.

“Even though we didn’t win against Charlotte, to have an opportunity to go out there and play really eased a lot of pressure off my shoulders,” Gooden said.

Held scoreless in Charlotte, Redd finished with five points in eight minutes, notching his first points since Jan. 8, 2010, on a second quarter 3-pointer.

“He got a real good look at the 3 and put it right in the middle,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said.

Andrea Bargnani scored 22 points and DeMar DeRozan had 20 for the Raptors, who lost their fifth straight. Leandro Barbosa had 18 points and Jose Calderon scored 13 before leaving with a sore left hamstring.

Bargnani (right ankle) and Reggie Evans (right foot) returned to Toronto’s lineup after sitting out Saturday’s road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Bucks led 85-80 with 7:19 remaining, but DeRozan made two free throws and a jump shot and Bargnani added a driving layup to put the Raptors up 88-87 with 4:49 left.

Delfino answered with a 3-pointer and Gooden drained two from the line to give Milwaukee a 92-88 lead with 2:50 to go.

Toronto twice cut the deficit in half on reverse layups from Jerryd Bayless and Barbosa, but a hook shot by Bogut and a jumper from Gooden put Milwaukee up 98-92 with 43 seconds left, and the Bucks sealed victory at the free-throw line.

The Raptors started hot, making 10 of their first 11 shots to open a 24-12 lead. But Toronto made just two more field goals in the final four minutes of the quarter as Milwaukee closed the gap to 28-22 after one.

Jennings scored eight points in the second and Earl Boykins had seven as the Bucks rallied to take a 52-49 lead at the half.

Bargnani scored 12 points in the third and Evans made a layup with 4 seconds left in the quarter to tie it at 76 heading to the fourth.

Derrick Rose remembered the celebration the last time the Chicago Bulls met Toronto. He wasn’t about to let the Raptors yuck it up this time.

Rose had 36 points and 10 assists, and Chicago took another step toward the top seed in the Eastern Conference with its 15th victory in 17 games, hanging on to beat the short-handed Raptors 113-106 on Saturday night.

The Bulls lead Miami by three games and Boston by 3 1/2. They also are within one of San Antonio for the NBA’s best record after squeezing by one of the league’s weakest teams.

Rose scored at least 30 for the third time in five games and got a measure of revenge for a perceived slight in a loss at Toronto in late February.

“I just remember them celebrating after they won back in Toronto,” he said.

To Rose, it was embarrassing.

“When you see people celebrating when they normally don’t do that if you watch other games after they win, it kind of gets to you, especially being the person that I am,” he said. “I just try to feed off of anything, where by nature I’m just a quiet guy trying to get along with a lot of people.”

Jerryd Bayless, charged with the unenviable task of guarding Rose, had nothing but praise for him.

“That’s what an MVP is I guess,” Bayless said. “I think he should be it. I can’t speak highly enough about him.”

Thanks in part to his star, Tom Thibodeau broke Phil Jackson’s club record for wins by a first-year coach as the Bulls improved to 56-20, but Rose was hardly alone.

Carlos Boozer added 18 points and 10 rebounds despite early foul trouble, and Luol Deng scored 17 points, Taj Gibson had 15 points and nine rebounds. Kyle Korver came up big down the stretch to finish with 10 points, and Chicago won despite some shaky stretches on defense, with Toronto shooting just over 50 percent.

It helped that the Bulls outrebounded the Raptors 43-33 even though Joakim Noah missed his third straight game because of a sprained right ankle. The Raptors were no picture of health, either.

With leading scorer Andrea Bargnani sidelined by a sore right ankle and guard Jose Calderon staying home because of a sore left hamstring, the Raptors dropped their sixth straight.

Bayless, filling in for Calderon, and DeMar DeRozan each scored 26 points for Toronto. Leandro Barbosa added 18 points, and Ed Davis had 17 points and 11 rebounds in Bargnani’s place.

“We kept the momentum at our pace,” DeRozan said. “They just executed well and we made few mistakes at the end of the game.”

The Bulls led by as much as 13 in the first half and were up 53-43 at the break, but the Raptors wiped that out in the third, tying it at 74 at one point before Chicago regained the lead. The Bulls got it back up to 11 in the fourth quarter and hung on after seeing it shrink to four several times.

It was 102-98 after DeRozan drove for a layup with 2:30 left, but Kyle Korver buried a 3 from the right corner with 1:40 remaining.

Then, after Bayless banked in a runner, Korver nailed a jumper at the shot-clock buzzer to make it 107-100 with just over a minute left.

The Raptors weren’t quite finished as Barbosa banked in a runner.

Rose answered by nailing a floater with 26.3 seconds left to boost the lead back up to seven – 109-102 – and give the Bulls some breathing room, although he followed that with a poor defensive play. He flew out at Bayless and fouled him as he attempted a corner jumper with 20.3 seconds left.

Bayless hit both free throws after the shot was downgraded from a 3, but Korver hit two from the line and the Bulls hung on.

“You have to win different ways,” Thibodeau said. “The bottom line is getting the win. They were short-handed. They played extremely well. They played hard, they played smart, they played unselfishly. They put a lot of pressure on us, and in the end, I thought we did the things that we needed to do.”

DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points, Jerryd Bayless had 21 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Orlando Magic 102-98 on Sunday to snap a six-game losing streak.

Leandro Barbosa added 14 points for the Raptors, James Johnson and Sonny Weems each had 11, and Reggie Evans finished with 17 rebounds.

Dwight Howard had 31 points and nine rebounds and Jameer Nelson scored 21 points for the Magic, who have lost three of four. Brandon Bass and Jason Richardson each scored 13 points and Hedo Turkoglu had 11.

Toronto outscored Orlando 29-19 in the fourth quarter.

Trailing by eight points, 81-73, after Turkoglu scored the opening basket of the fourth, Toronto answered with a 12-3 run to take an 85-84 lead with 8:56 remaining.

Nelson tied it at 90 on a running jumper with 5:22 left but DeRozan replied with a three-point play.

Howard made just one of four from the line after being fouled on consecutive possessions, allowing Toronto to maintain a 95-93 lead with 3:41 left.

Orlando trailed 97-95 with 1:10 to go when Raptors rookie Ed Davis stepped in front of Howard to steal a pass from Nelson. Barbosa missed a jumper with the shot clock winding down but Bayless came up with a key rebound and was fouled as he drove to the basket. Bayless made both, giving the Raptors a 99-95 lead with 24 seconds to play.

Nelson missed a 3 at the other end and Howard got the rebound, but DeRozan stole it. Bayless came up with the ball and was fouled, making one of two to put the Raptors up five, 100-95, with 13.3 seconds left.

For the fourth consecutive game, the Magic were limited to just nine healthy players. Guard Gilbert Arenas (illness) did not travel to Toronto while sixth-man J.J. Redick, out since March 11 with an abdominal strain, rejoined the team after spending the past several days in Vancouver, British Columbia, undergoing treatment on his lingering injury. Guard Chris Duhon missed his third straight game with a sore right thumb.

Toronto also was without two starters. Center Andrea Bargnani sat for the third time in four games with a sore right ankle while guard Jose Calderon missed his second straight game with an injured left hamstring.

NOTES: Toronto had just 22 hours turnaround time between its Saturday night loss at Chicago and Sunday’s game against Orlando. … Eight members of the Blue Jays attended the game but, due to a ticketing mix up, pitchers Ricky Romero and Casey Janssen were seated on press row. … Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer sat courtside.

Monta Ellis had 27 points and 10 assists, Dorell Wright finished with 26 points and the Golden State Warriors scored an NBA season-high 84 points in the first half in a 138-101 rout of the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

Stephen Curry added 23 points and eight assists to help the Warriors snap a six-game losing streak in blowout fashion. The first-half point total topped this season’s previous high of 80 set by Denver in a 127-99 victory over Cleveland earlier this season.

DeMar DeRozan, Leandro Barbosa and Ed Davis scored 19 points each in a demoralizing defeat for a Toronto team also assured of missing the playoffs. They trailed by 26 points at the half, by 47 in the fourth quarter and were never competitive.

The Raptors also lost Jose Calderon to a strained left hamstring. The injury did not appear serious, but it could sideline him against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night.

Toronto’s offseason couldn’t come soon enough.

The Warriors turned things into a personal highlight show: Curry threw a full-court pass that led to a dunk by Wright; Ellis sliced his way through the paint for several sizzling layups; and Curry, Ellis and Wright combined to go 7 for 9 from beyond the arc in the opening half alone.

The result was a complete dismantling of the Raptors in every offensive phase.

Golden State shot 68 percent in the half, 77 percent from long range, outrebounded Toronto 20-12 and had 20 assists.

Not that the Warriors were done after the break.

They continued the offensive onslaught in the third quarter, giving fans at least a little incentive to stay for a team all but assured of missing the postseason again. David Lee, who had 21 points and seven rebounds, also made a rare 3-pointer. A series of alley-oops and uncontested dunks ensued, and the Warriors went up 47 in the fourth and never relented.

Chris Kaman’s return to the Clippers last month has, for the most part, had an adverse effect on Blake Griffin’s rebound totals per game.

Griffin was averaging 9.8 boards in the first 18 games with Kaman back in the lineup, compared to the 12.8 he had during the 7-foot center’s 45-game absence. On Saturday night, they both were equally efficiently on the glass in a 94-90 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Griffin grabbed 16 rebounds along with 22 points, and Kaman complemented his 17-point effort with 12 rebounds.

“I’m not trying to mess anything up for anybody. I just want to go in there and do my job,” said Kaman, one of only four players with at least 4,000 rebounds in a Clippers uniform. “I’m usually close to the basket, so I just try to make sure my guy doesn’t get it.

“The rebounding is what it is. I mean, if they come your way of it, you go get them, it just depends on the night, who we’re playing and who Blake’s guarding,” Kaman added. “If he’s guarding a guy who’s more on the perimeter, he’s less apt to have as many defensive rebounds. If he’s got a guy who works inside, he usually does a really good job of getting the rebounds and making the plays.”

Eric Gordon, who missed his first 11 shots in Friday’s 112-104 loss to the Lakers, had 17 points after getting into early foul trouble. Mo Williams finished with just nine points after scoring a season-high 30 against the two-time defending champions.

Ed Davis had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who ended a 1-4 road trip in which they fell behind by more than 40 points to both Denver and Golden State. Toronto had won its previous five meetings with Clippers by an average of 17.4 points.

Jose Calderon, who sat out the second half of Friday’s 138-100 loss to the Warriors because of a strained left hamstring, was back in the starting lineup and scored 16 points in 34 minutes.

Raptors leading scorer Andrea Bargnani was scratched because of an ankle problem. In Friday night’s 138-100 loss at Golden State, Bargnani scored just seven points in 27 1-2 minutes after averaging 23.3 over his previous six games.

The Raptors, who set a franchise record for most points allowed in a half by surrendering 84 in the first 24 minutes against the Warriors, led Los Angeles 44-43 at intermission. They went up by as many as 10 with 8:27 remaining before the Clippers pulled ahead 85-82 with a 15-2 run capped by Kaman’s layup off an offensive rebound with 3:21 left.

“We’re not moving the ball that well,” coach Jay Triano said. “That comes with experience, and we have to be better. I will take the responsibility for that. Teams are going to play zone against us, so the ball has to go inside and side-to-side. We’re a team that sometimes holds the ball. And when you do that, the zone can match up.”

Toronto regained the lead at 88-87 on a layup by Davis with 1:58 to go, but Griffin got it back for good with a dunk, and Gordon hit the Clippers’ first 3-pointer of the game with a minute left to give Los Angeles a 92-88 margin. Williams helped sealed it with a pair of free throws.

“We just switched up our defense and got stops, then went out in transition,” Griffin said. “Even in our halfcourt sets, we made plays and finished them. Down the stretch, everybody did a good job of distributing the ball and getting easy open shots.”

DeMar DeRozan, who was born in nearby Compton and played his high school ball there, started out 0 for 9 from the field and was 3 for 15 overall with seven points in 34 minutes. He finally ended his shooting drought on a 14-footer with 9:56 to play, extending Toronto’s lead to 77-68. But the Raptors still lost their fourth game in a row.

“Anytime you can kind of discourage a player early on and keep him from getting hot, so to speak, it’s always good,” Griffin said. “I thought we did a pretty good job of contesting his shots and not giving him too many easy ones.”

This was DeRozan’s first visit to Staples Center since All-Star weekend, when the USC alum competed against Griffin in the slam-dunk contest and waited two days before publicly expressing his displeasure about Griffin’s dunk over a car.

“I heard them, and in some ways I agree,” Griffin said of DeRozan’s remarks, “but what are you going to do if you don’t have props? There’s not a whole lot of creativity and not a whole lot of stuff left to do that people haven’t done. I only used one prop on the very last dunk.”

Notes: DeRozan was watching from the bench just a few feet away when Griffin blew an alley-oop dunk attempt on a lob pass from Randy Foye with 3:25 left in the first quarter. … The Clippers were 0 for 8 on 3-pointers before Gordon’s clutch shot. The last time they went an entire game without making one was Jan. 15, 2008 (0 for 6). … Fourth-year Toronto forward Julian Wright spent the entire game on the bench in uniform after refusing to report into Friday’s game in the third quarter with the Raptors being blown out by the Warriors. He wasn’t suspended, but did apologize to his teammates.

The Phoenix Suns were a tired bunch before and after their 114-106 win over the Toronto Raptors.

Winning will help the Suns sleep a lot better. They won a game they had to have to keep alive their postseason hopes.

Playing 20 hours and 21 minutes after their triple-overtime loss in Los Angeles Tuesday night, the Suns didn’t seem to have enough in the tank Wednesday, falling behind by 13 points late in the third quarter.

But backup point guard Aaron Brooks energized the team with nine of his 25 points over the final 2:30 of the third, and his 3-pointer with 54.9 seconds left in the game sealed the Suns’ win.

“I just wanted to be aggressive, as Coach asked me to, and if the shot was there, take it,” Brooks said. “We played hard. It was kind of hard. We got in late and we got it done.”

The Suns took a 110-105 lead on Brooks’ three from the left corner, and the Raptors couldn’t recover despite 27 points from forward Andrea Bargnani. Phoenix (36-34) remained three games behind Memphis for the eighth and last Western Conference playoff spot and extended its winning streak over the Raptors to 14, the longest active win streak against an opponent.The Suns were already at a disadvantage playing so soon after a long night. Then they lost starting guard Grant Hill to flulike symptoms and forward Mickael Pietrus to a sprained right knee before the first quarter was over, and neither returned.

That meant extended minutes for Brooks and the bench, which scored a combined 63 points. Marcin Gortat added 15 and Jared Dudley 13 and the Suns hit 12 of 28 3-pointers.

Coach Alvin Gentry called it the Suns’ best win of the year.

“After (Tuesday) night and the emotional drain, then coming away with nothing really tangible to show with the effort, I thought it was great to be able to come back and put in that kind of effort and win the game,” Gentry said. “We told them we can’t be tired. We take off more days than Johnny Carson did. There is no reason why we couldn’t finish the game and be active.”

The Raptors led for almost all of the first three quarters before Brooks helped tie the score at 86 going into the fourth quarter. Toronto (20-51) scored six straight points in 35 seconds to go up 103-97 with 4:25 to play, but a layup and blocked shot by Gortat set the stage for Brooks to hit the decisive three.

“We shoot a better percentage than them, we out-rebound them and they made 3-point shots, and that’s what this team does,” Raptors coach Jay Triano said.