Toronto pulls away in OT to down Washington

Mar 31, 2007, 2:25 GMT

Washington, DC - Morris Peterson drained a desperation three at the buzzer to send the game to overtime, and Chris Bosh scored eight of his 37 points in the extra frame as Toronto edged Washington, 123-118, at the Verizon Center.

Bosh also pulled down 14 rebounds for the Raptors, who have now won four of five games and remained in firm control of the Atlantic Division. T.J. Ford added 23 points and six assists, while Juan Dixon chipped in with 17 points.

'I think it just shows people that we deserve to be where we are at,' Bosh said. 'You just got to keep it going. We're trying to win basketball games.'

Gilbert Arenas netted 34 points and dished out seven helpers for the Wizards, who fell one-half game behind Miami in the Southeast Division after the Heat downed Minnesota, 92-77.

'It was like watching an NCAA tournament game and it felt like one,' said Arenas. 'It is hard to lose like that. We just have to suck it up and get ready for the next game.'

DeShawn Stevenson tallied 19 points and 10 boards and Caron Butler had 17 points. seven rebounds and five assists for Washington.

Bosh took over the game early in the extra frame. The All-Star buried three consecutive field goals to give the Raptors a 117-112 lead with 2:28 on the clock.

The Wizards battled back and drew with a point, 119-118, with 26 seconds left thanks to four consecutive Arenas free throws.

Dixon answered with a pair of free throws on his own and Bosh punctuated the win by swatting an Arenas shot in the final seconds.

The Wizards entered the final frame with a precarious two-point edge and continued to hold on to a small lead as the game headed toward the stretch. Arenas's long three from the right wing to made it 102-99 with 30.3 ticks remaining.

Toronto wouldn't give in, however. Ford drove down the right side of the lane to draw the Raptors within a bucket, 102-101, with 26.4 seconds on the clock.

After Stevenson made 1-of-2 from the line, Toronto had a chance to tie but Ford's driving layup fell off the rim and Butler pulled down the rebounds with 9.4 left.

Butler then calmly went to the line and dropped in a pair to seemingly seal things for Washington.

Dixon had other ideas and connected on a three with six ticks left to make it a one-point game again.

Jose Calderon and Arenas traded free throws from there before Toronto had one last chance to tie.

A long inbounds pass was lazily deflected by Michael Ruffin and Peterson, who just checked in for the first time in the game, nailed a desperation three at the buzzer to send things to overtime.

'The game is 48 minutes,' said Peterson. 'You've got to be ready to play. That's one thing I wanted to do. I saw the ball come to me and I threw it up and it went in. It gave us another chance.'

The Raptors took a 31-26 advantage after the opening 12 minutes and continued to set the pace at intermission, 57-54.

The Wizards rebounded and forged in front, 79-77, with a solid third quarter.

Game Notes

Toronto is 14-22 away from Canada this season...The Raptors won the season series 3-1..Toronto snapped at six game skid in Washington.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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