The Toronto Raptors' 21-point halftime lead came with a warning from coach Jay Triano that the Indiana Pacers could heat up at any time. Triano was right, but the Raptors made sure it didn't cost them the game. Jos? Calder?n had a season-high 21 points as Toronto erupted for 74 first-half points, then held off repeated Indiana comeback attempts in a 123-112 victory.
Calder?n finished 8-of-11 from the floor and dished out seven assists as the Raptors (7-8) used a balanced attack to subdue the Pacers (5-7). Ex-Pacers guard Jarrett Jack had 18 points, while Chris Bosh, usually Toronto's big scorer, scored 16 points with 12 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu and Andrea Bargnani added 14 points each.
Danny Granger led the Pacers with a season-best 36 points -- including seven three-pointers -- and added nine rebounds. He had 13 points in the third quarter, when the Pacers reduced a 21-point deficit to just eight.
Triano informed his team at the half the Pacers had missed a lot of shots in the opening 24 minutes -- shots Indiana would normally make.
"Our defence wasn't as good (in the second half)," Triano said. "We cautioned our guys at halftime, 'They missed a bunch of shots in the first half.'
"I thought our defence was OK but they missed a bunch of shots and you know that Danny Granger is going to get going and sure enough, at the beginning of the second half, he got it going."
After outscoring Toronto 39-26 in the third quarter, Indiana moved to within seven points on Troy Murphy's three-pointer with 6:52 left in the fourth. The Raptors answered with a game-clinching 10-3 run capped by a Bosh dunk on an assist from Turkoglu, his seventh of the game.
Jack said the Raptors need to do a better job of focusing on defence.
"Just about everyone in this locker-room can step up and give you major offensive numbers," said Jack, who added six assists. "Our focus needs to be on the other end of the floor. I think sometimes we get too tied into the offence and allow the offence to dictate how we play."
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