Toronto Raptors Blog – Page 62 – NBA Blog

76ers interview Sam Mitchell

Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski met with Sam Mitchell in Dallas, TX today regarding the Sixers vacant head coaching position.

Joining Stefanski at the meeting with Mitchell was Sixers Sr. Vice President and Assistant General Manager Tony DiLeo and Sixers consultant Gene Shue.

“Sam has been a successful head coach in the league, having been named Coach of the Year in 2007, and we were very interested in speaking with him,” Stefanski said. “It was good to sit down with him to exchange ideas about our team and this opportunity.”

Bulls clinch 8th playoff spot in East

The AP reports:

The Chicago Bulls clinched the NBA’s last unclaimed playoff spot on Wednesday night, as Derrick Rose scored 27 points and Joakim Noah added 21 points and 13 rebounds in a 98-89 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

Overcoming numerous injuries, internal strife, key trades and a horrible stretch early in the season, the Bulls closed the regular season with a three-game winning streak to beat out Toronto for the right to face Eastern Conference top seed Cleveland.

Needing a win or a Raptors loss to New York to get in, the Bulls quickly took it to the Bobcats, never trailing and leading by as many as 18 points.

Tyrus Thomas had 16 points and nine rebounds against his former team, while Gerald Wallace scored 15 points and Stephen Jackson 14 for the Bobcats, who had already locked up the seventh seed in the East and a first-round matchup with Orlando.

Charlie Villanueva needs to learn defense

Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports:

When Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars signed Charlie Villanueva, 25, last summer to a five-year, $35-million contract as an unrestricted free agent from the Milwaukee Bucks, eyebrows were raised.

Villanueva, a highly skilled power forward with long-distance touch and the ability to score with either hand in the paint, also was known as a defensive liability and uninterested in rebounding.

But “stretch fours,” as Pistons coach John Kuester calls power forwards with three-pointer ability, are rare, and the thinking was Villanueva could be coached up on the grittier aspects of basketball.

However, that hasn’t happened this season. Villanueva is constantly exploited by opponents on defense, and it’s hard to count the number of offensive rebounds he has allowed. He hasn’t been completely healthy all season, either.

Hedo Turkoglu day-to-day after nasal injury

Raptors forward Hedo Turkoglu left Wednesday’s game versus Boston at Air Canada Centre at the 1:15 mark of the first quarter after being struck in the nose. A CT scan performed at Mt. Sinai Hospital revealed a small new non-displaced fracture on an old nasal fracture. The scan also showed no significant displacement, and no skull or midface injuries.

Turkoglu’s status is listed as day-to-day.

The Raptors travel to Atlanta to face the Hawks on Friday at Philips Arena (7:30 p.m., TSN/FAN 590).

Chris Bosh has surgery to repair displaced nasal fracture

$Chris Bosh has surgery to repair displaced nasal fracture$

Raptors forward Chris Bosh underwent successful surgery today to repair a displaced nasal fracture. The procedure was performed by Dr. Frank Papay at The Cleveland Clinic. Bosh will remain in the hospital overnight in Cleveland.

Bosh left last night’s game in Cleveland at the 9:52 mark of the first quarter after receiving an inadvertent elbow to the face. A CT scan taken at The Cleveland Clinic revealed both a non-displaced maxilla fracture and a displaced nasal fracture to the right side of his face.

The Raptors play host to Boston tonight at Air Canada Centre (7 p.m., TSN2/FAN 590).

Chris Bosh injured, taken to hospital

The AP reports:

Toronto All-Star forward Chris Bosh is undergoing tests at a hospital after being accidentally elbowed in the face during Tuesday night’s game.

Bosh dropped to the floor after he was struck by Cleveland’s Antawn Jamison in the first quarter. As play continued, a dazed Bosh got to his knees as blood dripped from his mouth and nose area. When there was finally a whistle, medical personnel from both teams went onto the floor to attend to Bosh, who was in obvious pain.

Bosh scores 42 but Warriors edge Raptors

The AP reports:

Don Nelson might not be much of a dancer, but he’s one heck of a coach.

Nelson tied Lenny Wilkens for the most wins by an NBA coach when the Golden State Warriors held off the Toronto Raptors 113-112 on Sunday night…

Golden State’s players danced in a circle around Nelson after the wild finish, which saw Chris Bosh steal the inbounds pass only to have his game-winning layup attempt roll off the rim as time expired…

Stephen Curry had 29 points and 12 assists, and Corey Maggette scored 31 points for the Warriors…

Bosh had 42 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who lost for the first time in four games. Jarrett Jack scored 19 points and Andrea Bargnani had 18 points and nine rebounds.

Raptors sign Joey Dorsey

The Toronto Raptors announced Sunday they have signed free agent forward-centre Joey Dorsey for the remainder of the season. Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed.

Dorsey, 26, was selected 33rd overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2008 NBA Draft. Following the Draft, he was traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for the draft rights to the 25th pick, Nicolas Batum. In 18 career games with Houston and Sacramento, the Baltimore native averaged 1.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 6.3 minutes. As a member of the Kings, he grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds February 5 at Memphis.

Dorsey has spent parts of two seasons with the Houston Rockets’ NBA D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He averaged 14.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 31.6 minutes in 16 games (all starts) this season. During the 2008-09 campaign, Dorsey appeared in seven games, starting five, and averaged 9.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 29.4 minutes.

A two-time Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year in his junior and senior seasons, Dorsey averaged 6.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 21.7 minutes in 149 career games at the University of Memphis. He finished his collegiate career as the school’s second all-time rebounder (1,209) and all-time leader in C-USA history.

The Raptors face the Golden State Warriors on Sunday at Air Canada Centre. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. (TSN/FAN 590).g

Melo buzzer jumper helps Nuggets beat Raptors

The AP reports:

Carmelo Anthony takes great pleasure in knocking the life out of a crowd.

Anthony buried an 18-foot fadeaway at the buzzer to lead the Denver Nuggets to a come-from-behind 97-96 win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

“I think hitting one on the road, you get that much more joy out of it,” said Anthony. “That much more satisfaction. You’ve got 20 thousand people against you and you can make a shot to silence them? That feels good.” …

Anthony scored 25 points and Nene added 20 for the Nuggets (48-25), who avoided their first four-game losing streak since February 2007. Billups chipped in with 18 points despite going just 4 for 18 from the field.

Chris Bosh had 18 points and 12 rebounds, DeMar DeRozan added 15 points in a rare reserve role, and Bargnani had 14 points and 15 rebounds for Toronto.

Chris Bosh drops 36 on Nets

The AP reports:

With the Toronto Raptors in the midst of a slump, Chris Bosh got a little pep talk from Jarrett Jack(notes), Antoine Wright and Marcus Banks before their game with the woeful New Jersey Nets.

The message was simple. Play some basketball, have some fun and score 30 points.

Bosh did that and more, scoring 23 of his 36 points in the second half and the Raptors kept the Nets on the road to an NBA single-season record for losses with a 100-90 victory Saturday night.

“They were just on me about playing basketball and that made it fun,” Bosh said after the Raptors won for only the third time in 13 games.

“They were telling me what they wanted to see from me and what they wanted me to do, and anytime that happens, I see that as a challenge, and you know you don’t feel like you are out there by yourself.”

Playing in his 500th game as a Raptor, Bosh hit 16 of 27 shots from the field in helping the Toronto rally from a seven-point deficit early in the third quarter.