
Jay Triano finally has his first victory as the Toronto Raptors' head coach.
Jason Kapono scored a season-high 25 points to lift the Raptors to a 101-88 win over the Indiana Pacers last night, marking Triano's first victory as head coach and ending the team's season-long losing streak at five games. Chris Bosh added 21 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto (9-12), while Jamario Moon had 17 points, Jos? Calder?n had 11 points and 14 assists and Joey Graham added 12 points. Jermaine O'Neal finished with 10 points and nine rebounds in the first game between the two teams since the off-season trade that brought the six-time all-star to Toronto for T.J. Ford and Rasho Nesterovic.
Danny Granger had 22 points to top the Pacers (7-14), who suffered their sixth consecutive loss.
Toronto and Indiana paced each other through a pedestrian first half last, before the Raptors finally found some energy in the third quarter. Toronto led 77-65 heading into the fourth.
The Raptors promoted Triano to interim head coach a week ago to replace Sam Mitchell, making the Niagara Falls, Ont., native the first Canadian-born coach in the NBA.
Triano led the Raptors to a win over New Jersey last season with Mitchell away on a family matter, but the game officially went on Mitchell's record.
NOTES: Calder?n broke the record of consecutive free throws by a Raptor. The guard has made 55 in a row, beating the previous mark of 51 held by Chauncey Billups ... The Raptors beat Indiana in three of four games last season, and in the one loss on Feb. 29, Bosh played just 10 minutes because of a knee injury.