FEAR THE BEARD: Bargnani and his beard score 13 in the third

Andrea Bargnani scored 24 as the Raps downed the Kings 113-97.

Going into this game, the Sacramento Kings were 0-17 against the Eastern Conference. The game was close until the half. The Kings had six threes in the first quarter but the Raps managed to stay with the Kings as Chris Bosh had six points in the first quarter. By halftime, the Raps were up 56-53 and Chris Bosh had 17.

In the third Jose was hype to be back , he got the steal, passing it to Anthony Parker for the dunk. By the mid third quarter, Chris Bosh had 23 pts and 6 rebounds. Andrea Bargnani nailed a three to get up 71-62 on the Kings. He scored 13 points in the third quarter as the Raps went on a 21-6 run. Andrea Bargnani got into a scuffle with Francisco Garcia after a hard foul under the basket. Bargs went face to face with Garcia when Joey Graham got in the middle, Garcia was called for the technical. Bargs’ hot third quarter put the Raps up 87-74 after three quarters. Chris Bosh also had an excellent game and started the fourth quarter with a jumper and the and 1. The Raps led it the rest of the way as the Raps outscored the Kings 57-44 in the second half. The Raps shot 52% for the game as they got back to back wins.

Jawai Watch – Nathan Jawai made an appearance in fourth quarter garbage time.

The line: 1:49 of garbage time, 0 points, 1 foul, 1 airball

It may be a little pre-mature but I’d like to give Nathan Jawai a new nickname as “The Toronto Human Victory Cigar”.

Key Notes:
Toronto Raptors outrebounded the Kings 43-32
Chris Bosh had 31 and 8 boards
Andrea Bargnani had 24 pts, 7 rebounds
The Parker/Calderon combo: 11-18 shooting, 27 pts, 15 assists, 8 boards, 4 steals

Jose: 0 turnovers
Jermaine O’Neal double double: 11 pts, 10 boards
John Salmons led the Kings with 21 pts, 7 rebounds

The Sacramento Kings are now 0-18 against the Eastern Conference and now face Boston & Cleveland

Check out Raptors Republic for the roll call.

Raps play VC and the Nets on Wednesday.