Bosh leads with 24 points as Raptors top Clippers

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Toronto's Chris Bosh realized it was a game the Raptors weren't going to win on shooting and rebounding, so they had to just keep plugging away.

The Raptors got the job done, using tough defense and sure ball-handling to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 80-77 on Tuesday night.

Toronto shot just 37.5 percent from the field to the Clippers' 39 percent and were outrebounded 50-43.

Asked about the Raptors' poor shooting night, Bosh said, "We feel pretty fortunate. But our defense kept us in it. That's why you have to play good defense every night, because you're not going to shoot the ball that well every night.

"After a while your confidence isn't as high because you don't make those shots that you usually make. They played good defense, too. They clogged the lane up pretty good and they forced us to shoot a lot of jump shots."

He still scored 24 points and set a franchise rebound record, with his nine giving him 2,847 in his career. Antonio Davis had held the mark at 2,839.

"I just wanted to make fast, quick moves to the basket," Bosh said. "My shot wasn't falling, so I just wanted to be aggressive going to the basket and try to draw some fouls. As the leader of this team I knew I had to step it up in the second half and just play better and be more aggressive."

He finished 6-of-22 from the floor, but went 12-of-16 from the line and his 12 points in the third quarter helped put the Raptors in front to stay.

"We told Chris he had to take the ball to the basket," Toronto coach Sam Mitchell said of his halftime instructions. "He was 3-for-14, and we felt like we should be better on the post because since they had some of their guys out. We told Chris he couldn't settle for that jump shot."

Jamario Moon added 16 points for the Raptors, whose tight defense didn't give the Clippers much room near the basket. They also had only six turnovers to the Clippers' 15.

Corey Maggette scored 22 for Los Angeles, and Chris Kaman recorded his 20th double-double of the season with 12 points and 16 rebounds, but had just two points in the second half.

Down 71-62 with 6:16 left, the Clippers narrowed the gap to 77-75 on Richie Frahm's consecutive 3-pointers, the last with 27 seconds remaining. But the Raptors' Jose Calderon made a driving layup with nine seconds to play, and Carlos Delfino added a free throw 3 seconds later.

Maggette capped the scoring with a layup in the final second.

"We struggled making some shots," Los Angeles coach Mike Dunleavy said. "We did not get a lot out of our post game. We missed some shots around the basket.

"I thought we did a good job defensively."

Bosh, a 6-foot-10 forward, and 7-0 center Kaman were two of the most highly regarded big men in the 2003 draft, when Toronto took Bosh with the fourth pick and the Clippers chose Kaman with the sixth.

After trailing for most of the first half, Toronto caught Los Angeles at 58-58 on Bosh's free throw with 4:01 left in the third quarter. The Raptors then outscored the Clippers 7-2 to take a 65-60 lead into the final 12 minutes.

Los Angeles led 49-41 at the break, with Kaman and Maggette leading the way with 10 points apiece. Kaman also had 10 rebounds in the half.

Game notes
Los Angeles G/F Cuttino Mobley missed the game because of a stomach virus, but Tim Thomas returned to the lineup after sitting out with a sprained right ankle. He had 10 points. ... Kaman already has four more double-doubles than he had all of last season. ... The Raptors were coming off their lowest-scoring game of the season, a 90-77 loss to Boston.