Raptors surprise Magic to end 6-game skid

[November 13, 2010]  ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Sonny Weems made a 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left and the Toronto Raptors hit four free throws from there to snap a six-game losing streak by beating the Orlando Magic 110-106 on Friday night.

Andrea Bargnani led the Raptors with 27 points, but it was Weems and DeMar DeRozan who made the key plays that ended Toronto's skid.

With the score tied at 103, Weems nailed a 3 over the outstretched arms of Magic center Dwight Howard. Jose Calderon and DeRozan followed with 4-for-4 shooting from the free throw line to hold off the Magic. DeRozan finished with 26 points, 11 in the fourth quarter.

Howard had 25 points and eight rebounds. Mickael Pietrus added 24 points on eight 3-pointers, but turned the ball over with the Magic trying to tie the game in the final 7.1 seconds. Jameer Nelson had 23 points and eight assists for Orlando.

Calderon started the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer that gave Toronto a 92-82 lead, the first double-digit lead of the game for either team. DeRozan's 18-footer with 9:19 left put the Raptors up 96-86, but their offense stalled there and opened the door for the Magic.

Pietrus hit his sixth 3-pointer with 2:25 to play to cut the deficit to 100-98. Pietrus hit another with 28 seconds to play that tied it at 103, but then committed the crucial turnover while trying to inbound the ball with 7.1 seconds to go.

Bargnani scored 21 points and Howard had 15 in a first half that was evenly contested. Both teams held four-point leads in the first five minutes of the game, but that was the biggest advantage either side held in the first two periods.

There were 25 lead changes and 12 ties as Bargnani and Howard waged an outside vs. inside competition. Bargnani hit 9-of-12 shots, mostly from the perimeter as the Magic had a hard time matching up.

Howard hit 7 of 12, all from inside the lane and the Raptors were having just as much trouble trying to contain him. He got help from Pietrus, who hit four 3-pointers in his first action in three games.

Things didn't change until the last two minutes of the third quarter, when Calderon and Julian Wright sandwiched 3-pointers around a dunk by Amir Johnson to give Toronto an 85-77 lead. It was 89-82 entering the fourth.

NOTES: Bargnani has scored in double figures in all nine games, but has yet to have a double-figure rebounding game. ... Magic G J.J. Redick is 0 for 11 on 3-point attempts his last four games. The Raptors played without one starter, Linas Kleiza (Achilles'), and two top reserves, David Andersen (flu) and Leandro Barbosa (shoulder). ... The Magic lost for the first time this season when scoring 100 points.

[Associated Press]

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