Toronto Raptors head coach Jay Triano warned his team about a possible letdown before yesterday's return to the Air Canada Centre after a difficult road trip. The Raptors heeded Triano's advice, at least in the first half, and earned a 120-113 victory over the Miami Heat before a crowd of 19,800. It wasn't easy. The Raptors had a 69-49 point halftime lead hacked to one point with 3:41 left in the fourth quarter.
Chris Bosh scored 29 points and had 12 rebounds as the Raptors improved their home record to 4-1 at home and 6-7 overall.
Andrea Bargnani had 24 points, including a crucial three-pointer with slightly more than three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Jarrett Jack hit a three-pointer after a Miami turnover to make the score 110-103 with 1:48 left. He scored 17 for the game.
Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers each scored 30 for Miami.
Triano said it was a relief to come home after a four-game Western Conference swing, but warned: "If you relax at all and you come back thinking that just because you're home something good is going to happen, that's wrong. You can't do that in this league.
The Raptors led after the first quarter 26-24. An alley-oop dunk by swingman DeMar DeRozan off a pass from point guard Jose Calderon gave the Raptors a 15-12 lead with 5:54 left.
The Raptors poured it on in the second quarter with 43 points to give them a season-high 69 for a half. Hedo Turkoglu scored a buzzer-beating three after Chalmers missed his second free throw.
The Heat had a surge in the third quarter to cut the Raptors lead to 84-73 at the 3:24 left in the quarter after Wade completed a three-point play. Wade then converted two more free throws and the Raptors led by 10. The lead was down to six, 89-83, by the end of the third quarter as he hit a jumper with 24.9 seconds left.
Bosh missed two free throws at the beginning of the fourth quarter and Carlos Arroyo came back to cut the Raptors lead to four at 89-85.
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