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TORONTO — That Jay Triano sure can coach.
The first Canadian to run the bench in an NBA game was rewarded with a blowout win last night as the Toronto Raptors crushed the hapless New Jersey Nets 109-91 at the Air Canada Centre to head into the all-star break on a positive note.
In truth, a bigger factor than Triano's coaching was that the Nets were playing without Jason Kidd, their all-star point guard, who sat out as the details of a pending trade to the Dallas Mavericks were being finalized.
Still, NBA teams have looked bigger gift horses in the mouth. To their credit, the Raptors came out hard and robbed the Nets of any illusion that they might make the Raptors work for their 28th win of the season.
Toronto Raptors forward Jamario Moon goes up for a slam dunk against the New Jersey Nets during the second half of their NBA basketball game in Toronto Wednesday night. (Mark Blinch/Reuters)
"The good start was imperative," said Triano, whose club was up by 10 points midway through the first quarter and never had a lead of fewer than eight points the rest of the night. "We attacked early and did not settle for jump shots like we'd been doing in previous games, and that set the tone."
Triano was working the sidelines because Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell was in Atlanta following the death of his father-in-law. Because the Nets were the scouting assignment Triano was responsible for, he became head coach for a day.
His best decision was to keep playing Jose Calderon and Chris Bosh, who were near flawless against a dead-legged Nets team that played in New Jersey on Tuesday night.
When Calderon found his way to the Nets' basket with ease, Triano was smart enough to say: "Run the same play."
Calderon scored 22 points on nine-of-12 shooting, including five layups, while finding time to dish 11 assists, many for layups or dunks.
"I was trying see what they were doing on defence and after that, I knew they were going over the top [of the screen] and I knew I could make some plays," said Calderon, who could be in line for a spot on the all-star team if the Kidd trade goes through, opening up a spot on the Eastern Conference team.
Calderon is heading for the Bahamas this morning for a brief holiday, but said he'd be pleased to turn around for New Orleans if the circumstances required it.
Bosh, who already has a spot on the Eastern Conference all-star team, worked himself loose for about as easy a 27-point, nine-rebound night as he's had this season. He connected on eight-of-12 shots and went 11-of-13 from the foul line against an overmatched New Jersey front line.
For good measure, Jamario Moon, who is headed for New Orleans to participate in the slam dunk contest, added 15 points on six-of-seven shooting, explaining why the Raptors shot 51.3 per cent from the floor.
The Nets were disconnected most of the night. Richard Jefferson scored 15 points but shot just six-of-18 from the field. Former Raptor Vince Carter, who drew the crowd's wrath at every turn, managed an ordinary 15 points on five-of-15 shooting as the Nets fell to 23-30 on the year.
"Anthony Parker has had trouble shooting the ball the last couple of games, but he had a great defensive effort tonight on Vince [Carter]," Triano said.
The uncertainty of the trade took a toll on the Nets. "It's just been a very, very, emotional day," coach Lawrence Frank said.
The deal meant a lot of wasted hours for Triano, who was in the office late Tuesday night watching tape on the Nets, but had to come in early yesterday to review new Nets footage that didn't include Kidd.
Riding Calderon was a sound strategy as he found his way to the basket easily against Marcus Williams.
The Raptors struggled briefly in the second quarter in part because T.J. Ford was out with an unspecified problem with his right wrist. The second unit struggled in his absence. At one point after the Nets picked up full court, the Raptors couldn't get the ball inbounds, causing Triano to become the first Canadian coach to call a timeout in an NBA game.
Calderon returned and the Raptors went on a 24-11 run, pushing an eight-point second-quarter lead to 21 points before the half.
It added up to a winning debut for Triano.
"It was a lot of fun," he said. "But I'll be glad when it's all over to slide over that 18 inches."
