ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Jorge Garbajosa scored 16 points, Fred Jones and Andrea
Bargnani each had 13, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers
103-81 Wednesday night to remain unbeaten in the preseason.
Toronto (4-0) rallied in the third quarter to take charge and then pulled
away from the Cavaliers (2-3), who played with LeBron James watching from the
bench.
T.J. Ford had 11 points and five assists, and Kris Humphries added 10 points
for the Raptors, who again played with out All-Star forward Chris Bosh (sore
left heel).
Drew Gooden led the Cavaliers with 15 points and 11 rebounds, Daniel Gibson
had 13 points and Sasha Pavlovic 12.
Cleveland trailed by as many as 13 in the first half before tying it at 53 on
two free throws by Gooden with 8:15 left in the third. But after Gooden's follow
just over a minute later gave Cleveland a 57-53 lead, the Raptors took off.
Jones pulled Toronto even at 57-all with a long jumper, then Garbajosa hit
three 3-pointers, all from the top of the key, and Jones converted a three-point
play to key a decisive 21-10 run.
A jumper from the left corner by Joey Graham, who had 12 points, gave Toronto
an 86-69 lead with 9:25 left as the Cavs went ice cold with their reserves on
the floor. Cleveland was outscored 25-14 in the final quarter, going just
6-for-18 from the floor.
A night after he nearly had a triple-double in 30 minutes in Cleveland's
93-67 exhibition victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv, James warmed up with his
teammates but did not play despite repeated chants of "We want LeBron! We want
LeBron!" by the near-sellout crowd of 9,200.
Cleveland coach Mike Brown is closely monitoring his star's playing time and
decided to rest James for the second time in the preseason. James did not dress
for last Friday's game against the Boston Celtics in Manchester, N.H.
"I've got to focus on my health and how I feel," said James, who sat out the
fourth quarter Tuesday night after registering 13 points, eight rebounds, eight
assists and three blocks. "I've got to do what's best for my team and my
teammates."
Ticket prices at Blue Cross Arena ranged from $25 to $150, and James, who was
listed as a probable starter before the game, sympathized with the fans.
"I would be disappointed if I came and saw someone play (warm up) and they're
not in action," James said. "I'm not injured. I'm just trying to get back to 100
percent from this summer."
James was a member of the U.S. national team that won bronze at the world
championships in Japan in early September.
The Cavaliers never led in the first half and faced their biggest deficit
before the break when Garbajosa hit a mid-range jumper from the left side with
8:08 left in the second quarter to give Toronto a 37-24 lead.
But the Raptors missed seven of their last eight shots of the period, and a
bank shot off the glass by Gooden with 73 seconds left pulled the Cavs within
49-42 at halftime.