… Toronto get season-high third straight win
(REUTERS) – Amir Johnson made a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining to give the Toronto Raptors a 102-101 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
Italy’s Andrea Bargnani scored a game-high 29 points for Toronto, who squandered a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and trailed by three with 21 seconds remaining.
Sonny Weems made a driving layup to pull the Raptors within one and Johnson drained two free throws in the final seconds as Toronto (5-9) snapped an eight-game skid against Boston (9-4).
“When I got fouled I knew already I was going to make the free throws because I was hitting them all game,” Johnson told reporters. “My (confidence level) was definitely up.”
Paul Pierce scored 19 points but missed his shot as time expired and Nate Robinson had a season-high 22 points starting in place of All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo who missed the contest with a hamstring injury.
The Celtics have lost two straight and their first to the Raptors since 2008.
“We didn’t play great tonight obviously but we still had a chance to win the game, and we should have won the game,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “But we put ourselves in the position to lose the game and we did.”
Toronto, who won three straight for the first time this season, fell behind by 11 in the first quarter but seized a 38-27 lead in the second where Bargnani recorded 13 points.
The red-hot Italian is averaging 28.3 points in his team’s last three wins. Johnson finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors.
Spain’s Jose Calderon added 11 points as he took over the starting point-guard role since Toronto traded away Jarrett Jack in a five-player deal with the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday.