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Duncan leads Spurs past Raptors
TORONTO (CP) - Sam Mitchell has been drilling his players since the first day of training camp to push the ball and be aggressive.
The Toronto Raptors seemingly tuned out the coach Sunday and wound up with a 103-94 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
''We've been preaching: be aggressive, push the ball, attack. But for some reason tonight, we just weren't aggressive,'' a disappointed Mitchell said after the loss.
Chris Bosh had 19 points and a game-high 17 rebounds to top the Raptors, who dropped to 1-2. T.J. Ford and Morris Peterson added 15 points apiece, while Anthony Parker finished with 11.
Tim Duncan poured in 26 points to lead the Spurs (2-1), while Tony Parker added 19 and Brent Barry finished with 16.
The Raptors played well in spurts and had an 11-point lead early in the game, but for the first time this season abandoned their gameplan to outrun their opponent. The Raptors took just 76 shots in the loss, 10 less than in Friday's win over the Bucks.
''We didn't push the ball up the court, we didn't run, we kind of settled into their kind of game, their half-court game,'' said Peterson. ''Against a team like that you don't want to do that because they've got so many guys on their who can play in the half-court set. The thing we talk about doing is running and we didn't do that.''
Bosh had no answer for why the team didn't play its game.
''I have no idea. It just happens,'' Bosh said. ''It's early in the season and we live and we learn.''
The Spurs took an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter, and barely looked back, stretching it to 13 on a jump shot by Parker with 6:01 left on the clock.
Toronto went on a brief run to pull within five, capped by a basket by Bosh with 3:11 left in the game that woke up the crowd of 18,098 fans at the Air Canada Centre. But that was as close as the Raptors would get. A basket by Manu Ginobili capped an 8-0 Spurs run and San Antonio was back up by 13 with 1:13 left to play and cruised to victory.
''It's always a great thrill to get a win on the road because that's the toughest place to play,'' said Spurs coach Greg Poppovich. ''(The Raptors) are young and they are just going to keep getting better and better. So, we are happy with the win because they are a very athletic team and they get up and down the court well. We are a little bit older but we stuck with them.''
The Spurs shot 50 per cent on the night, while the Toronto connected on just 42 per cent of its shots. San Antonio also held a 41-39 advantage on the boards and outscored the Raptors in the paint 48-40.
The damage done by Barry was one of the most disappointing aspects of the afternoon. The Spurs sharp-shooter came into the game having scored just two points over two games, but lit it up from behind the arc against the Raptors, connecting on all five of his three-point attempts.
''We let Tim come into the game and get 16 points and shoot threes, and that's what he does,'' said Mitchell. ''That's the disheartening thing.''
The game marked the return of former Raptors Matt Bonner and Eric Williams to Toronto. The pair were sent to the Spurs in the off-season trade that brought centre Rasho Nesterovic to Toronto.
Bonner finished with no points and one rebound in seven minutes. Williams didn't dress. Nesterovic, meanwhile, had two points and five boards in 17 minutes.
The Raptors shot a decent 47 per cent in the first quarter to open up an 11-point lead early in the game. Toronto led 25-17 heading into the second.
The Spurs used mostly their second unit to outscore the Raptors 32-21 in the second quarter, a three-pointer by Bruce Bowen giving San Antonio a five-point lead with just over a minute left. The Spurs led 49-46 at halftime.
Sparked by back-to-back threes by Barry and Beno Udrih, the Spurs stretched their lead to 13 points late in the third, and went into the fourth ahead 68-76.
Notes: The Raptors and Spurs have the most international players of any team in the league with six apiece. Said Barry: ''I was the only one out there with one vowel in my last name, which is kind of fun and exciting. When (Jorge) Garbajosa was at the free throw line I was trying to spell his name in my head without looking at the back of his jersey and I just couldn't do it. .. The Raptors have two more home games - Wednesday against Philadelphia and Friday against Atlanta - before heading out on a five Western road swing.
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