Bosh and Bargnani power Raptors past Mavericks

TORONTO,  (Reuters) – The Toronto Raptors used the  strong play of Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani to turn back the  Dallas Mavericks 110-88 on Sunday.

Bosh had 23 points and 13 rebounds and Bargnani added 22  points as Toronto won for the seventh time in their last eight  home games.

“We came out ready and didn’t have any lapses,” Toronto  guard Jarrett Jack, who had 11 points and seven assists, told  reporters. “We were able to put a very good team away early.”

The victory lifted the Atlantic Division’s No. 2 team above  the 500 mark to 21-20. The Raptors trail the idle Boston  Celtics by seven and a half games.

Southwest leader Dallas (26-14) was led by Dirk Nowitzki’s  19 points and Jason Terry’s 18.

Toronto overcame a 23-20 first-quarter deficit to outscore  the Mavericks by 16 points in the second quarter. The hosts were  never threatened after that, leading by as many as 26 points  late in the fourth.

“That was a great win for us against the second-best team in  the West,” said Toronto’s Jose Calderon. “We played for 48  minutes, everyone was ready to play and do things on the court.”

The defense especially impressed Raptors coach Jay Triano.

“We kept sharing the basketball and moving, had great energy  at the defensive end of the floor that leads to deflections and  leads to transition points,” he said.

A key also was slowing down Nowitzki.

“We tried to get in front sometimes, we tried to switch and  just make it difficult,” said Triano. “We did not want him to  get any type of rhythm going and Amir (Johnson) was a big part  of that, as was Antoine Wright.”

The loss was the third in four games for Dallas.