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TORONTO — When Chris Bosh speaks, Toronto Raptors fans listen — and chant, boo, sing and generally carry on.
The Raptors' captain put himself on the spot by calling out what he thought to be a dormant Air Canada Centre crowd earlier this week.
Bosh delivered on his end of the bargain, his teammates followed right along and the 32nd sellout of the season at the Air Canada Centre was wired for sound on the way to a 113-85 win over the New Jersey Nets and the man Raptors fans love to hate, Vince Carter.
The presence of the former Raptor always pumps up the crowd, but they seemed to be following Bosh's lead, too, as he put his heart on his sleeve and some sweat on the floor.
The Nets' Vince Carter looks up at the scoreboard during the Raptors' 113-85 win Friday night in Toronto. The loss officially eliminates the Nets from playoff contention. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)
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Questioning the crowd while in the midst of a season-ending slump can backfire — and nearly did as the Raptors played turnstile defence in the first quarter and trailed 30-18. But the Raptors rallied and so did the crowd.
"No matter what happened, if I played a good game or a bad game, you were going to be able to tell that I tried my best, and sometimes that's all people want to see," said Bosh, who posted a video on YouTube yesterday inviting Raptors fans to bring more energy. "They want to see you trying to get every loose ball, rebounding the basketball. Sometimes a shot may not fall, but if they see the effort is there as opposed to lagging around and being lazy, they can appreciate that."
Was he nervous when the Nets, led by Carter, came out energized and seemingly had a clear path to the Raptors' basket as they shot 60.9 per cent in the first quarter?
"I was nervous because I wanted to win the basketball game," Bosh said.
The game turned in the third quarter when Toronto held the Nets to 33-per-cent shooting and scorched the visitors 37-19 to take a 16-point lead into the fourth, the crowd responding to every moment of the surge.
By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Nets were far in the rearview mirror as the Raptors rewarded themselves and the crowd with a blowout win, sweeter because Carter — who at one point warned the crowd, "Ya'll better keep booing," as he carved out 13 points first-half points on just eight shots, though sputtered to just 21 for the game — was the victim.
Bosh even levelled Richard Jefferson, who ended the playoffs series between the two teams last year with critical basket and a steal in the sixth game of the teams' first-round series, with a hard foul late in the third quarter; a rarity for the peace-loving Raptors as Toronto officially eliminated the Nets from playoff contention with the win.
The victory improved the Raptors to 40-39 and, combined with a loss by the Philadelphia 76ers, moved Toronto into the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Coming off their second consecutive win after losing three games in a row, the Raptors will play the No.ƒ|2 Detroit Pistons in Detroit tomorrow afternoon as the Raptors make a rare appearance on U.S. television.
"It's a good test for us," Bosh said. "It's a really good test. A win like that over a solid team and everyone will really pay attention to that. It won't be 'It's the Nets, it's the Bucks, they're supposed to win.'ƒ|"
The Raptors were led by Carlos Delfino, who had made just one three-pointer in his past five games and none in his past four, but squeezed off six last night on his way to a game-best 24 points. Bosh had 21 points and nine rebounds, although point guards T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon combined for 25 points and 18 assists without making a turnover.
The perceived responsibility of the crowd at the Air Canada Centre was a major talking point leading up to the game.
Whether it was Bosh's admonition or the presence of Carter, there was no faulting the crowd last night.
Carter was booed. The "Let's go, Raptors" chants were up early, as were the chants of "Defence, defence."
The only problem was that the Raptors never let the crowd get to the second D before one Net or another was slashing to the rim for a layup. The Raptors finally rewarded the crowd with a 14-2 run sparked by some old-fashioned hustle — always a crowd favourite — and some timely three-point shooting.
The high point came when Bosh dove out-of-bounds at midcourt to save a loose ball that led to one of Delfino's four first-half triples as the Raptors went into the half on a roll and down by a basket.
The crowd loved that.
