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Mike James
Points: 39
Rebounds: 4
Assists:6
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| "I was very pleased with the effort and execution, it’s hard to complain," Sam Mitchell
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The Raptors shot 27-29 (93.1%) from the free-throw line.
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| Team |
RB |
ST |
BLK |
TOT |
| DET |
35 |
5 |
7 |
47 |
| TOR |
42 |
8 |
4 |
54
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April 14, 2006
TORONTO (CP) -- The Detroit Pistons seemed to be well on their way to an easy win when the right-handed Rasheed Wallace lofted up a lame three-point attempt with his left hand late in the third quarter Friday.
The shot missed badly and the Toronto Raptors saw it as a show of disrespect.
They got the last laugh though as Mike James poured in 20 of his career-high 39 points in the final five minutes, and shot a perfect 18-for-18 from the free throw line in a 108-103 win over the league-leading Pistons.
The Raptors were happy to have a chance to celebrate. (Ron Turenne/NBAE/Getty Images)
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``Hopefully we can end the season on a good note,'' said James, whose string of consecutive free throws was a franchise record. ``They say you're only as good as your last game, so let's finish the season strong.''
James and Wallace, former teammates with the Pistons, traded barbs all night on the floor and James literally took a chunk out of his pal.
``I bit him,'' James said. ``He grabbed me in a headlock and I bit him, and it felt so good.''
Morris Peterson added 20 points while Charlie Villanueva had 15 points for the Raptors, who improved to 27-53.
Richard Hamilton led the Pistons (63-16) with 16 points.
The game meant little to the Pistons, who boast the best record in the NBA and have already clinched homecourt advantage in the playoffs. Wallace spent the night laughing and joking and his three-point attempt, said Peterson, pretty much summed up what he felt about the opposition.
``That kind of upset me,'' said Peterson. ``For a guy to take a shot with his other hand, I'm definitely going to remember that. That was something I didn't like.''
Pistons coach Flip Saunders benched Wallace after the shot.
``I knew it was time to get him out of there when he did that,'' said Saunders.
The Raptors essentially played against the Pistons B team for much of the night with Saunders opting to rest his starters. But it was still a gritty effort by a Raptors squad that was without star forward Chris Bosh and forward Matt Bonner.
``Our guys all played well, and the effort was good,'' said Raptors coach Sam Mitchell. ``These guys deserve it, they've been working hard.''
The Pistons had a 10-point lead with 8:32 left in the game, and looked poised for an easy victory. But the Raptors poured it on in the final minutes, and James' three-pointer with 4:44 left in the game gave Toronto an 89-88, much to the delight of the 19,800 fans at the Air Canada Centre _ just the fifth sellout of the season.
James connected on another three two minutes later that capped a 20-4 Raptors run and put Toronto up 96-90.
Former Raptor Lindsey Hunter scored five straight points to make it a one-point game with 1:28 left to play, and the final minute came down to free-throw shooting, James' four foul shots in the final 12 seconds sealing the victory for Toronto.
James' previous career high in scoring was 38 points. Bosh, who's out for the rest of the season with a sprained thumb, held the previous record for consecutive free throws with 17.
``You've got to step up there and knock down shots,'' said James. ``When you're in that situation, you can't feel any fear, you can't think about anything, just go up there and shoot the ball.''
James shrugged off Wallace's left-handed three-point attempt, saying it was just Wallace having fun.
``He's a trip,'' James said. ``He practises them all the time, he thinks he can shoot left-handed. If anybody is going to do that I would expect it from him.
``He probably tried to mock us a little bit. I'm glad it was all backboard. It didn't even touch rim,'' James added, laughing.
Wallace spent much of the night needling the Raptors guard, who was a member of the Pistons team that won the NBA title in 2004. Wallace loudly teased James for not passing the ball, which has garnered James some criticism lately.
``That's my boy right there,'' said James. ``I think for the rest of our careers, as long as we see each other, we'll probably fight every night.''
Loren Woods and Jose Calderon had strong games for Toronto. Woods grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, as the Raptors outrebounded the Pistons 42-35. Calderon had a team-high nine assists.
The Pistons took an early six-point lead on Toronto. But the Raptors outrebounded Detroit 15-7 in the quarter and cut the Pistons' lead to just 24-23 heading into the second.
The Raptors took advantage of Detroit's bench players in the second quarter, taking a 52-47 lead into the locker-room at halftime.
Saunders went back to his starters for the third quarter and Pistons cruised to an 11-point lead _ their biggest of the game _ on an alley-oop by Maurice Evans with 56 seconds left in the quarter. The Pistons led 76-70 with a quarter to play.
Notes: The Raptors host Indiana on Monday in their final home game, then close out the season Wednesday in Chicago ... All of the Raptors' losses on their streak came without star forward Bosh.
