Raptors get even against Nets
The Toronto Raptors made Sam Mitchell a winner twice last night. Anthony Parker scored 26 points, Chris Bosh added 25 points and 13 rebounds, and the Raptors beat the visiting New Jersey Nets, 89-83, to even their first-round Eastern Conference series at a game apiece.
The Toronto Raptors made Sam Mitchell a winner twice last night.
Anthony Parker scored 26 points, Chris Bosh added 25 points and 13 rebounds, and the Raptors beat the visiting New Jersey Nets, 89-83, to even their first-round Eastern Conference series at a game apiece.
New Jersey's Bostjan Nachbar missed a three-pointer from the corner that would have tied the game with 8 seconds to play. Game 3 is Friday night in New Jersey.
Toronto's win came hours after Mitchell was honored as the NBA's coach of the year after leading the Raptors to a 20-win improvement and their first Atlantic Division title.
Vince Carter had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets.
In another game:
* At Chicago, Ben Gordon scored 27 points and Luol Deng added 26 to lead the Bulls to a 107-89 victory and a 2-0 Eastern Conference series lead over the defending champion Miami Heat.
Miami's Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade finished with 17 and 21 points, respectively.
* At Phoenix, Leandro Barbosa scored 26 points in 26 minutes off the bench as the Suns took a 2-0 Western Conference series lead with a 126-98 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant had 15 points on 5-for-13 shooting for the Lakers.
Noteworthy
* Seattle fired head coach Bob Hill and general manager Rick Sund following a 31-51 season, one of the worst in franchise history. Sonics majority owner Clay Bennett and vice chairman Lenny Wilkens will lead the search for replacements in both positions.
* Charges of aggravated battery against Boston guard Tony Allen were dismissed in a Chicago court. The development came on the second day of a trial stemming from a fight on Aug. 29, 2005, outside a restaurant near downtown Chicago. Allen and a number of friends entered the White Palace Grill in the early morning hours and a confrontation ensued. One man was wounded when gunfire erupted, police said. Marktwain Johnson, 29, was shot in the left arm and left side, and claimed Allen not only knew the shooter, but ordered him to shoot.
In other Celtics news, the team is severing ties with guard Sebastian Telfair, days after he was arrested in the New York area and charged with carrying a loaded gun in his car. Boston managing partner Wyc Grousbeck said Telfair, the 13th pick in the 2004 draft, would not be back with the team. Telfair pleaded not guilty to a charge of felony second-degree possession of a weapon, and was released Friday on $7,500 bail.
* Charlotte forward Walter Herrmann, a native of Argentina, said he won't compete in Olympic qualifying for his country for fear of injuries that could threaten his NBA career. *