THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Jose Calderon didn’t like the way he was shooting, but there was nothing wrong with his passing game.
Calderon equalled his career best and franchise record with 19 assists to go with six points and the Toronto Raptors snapped a 13-game losing streak with a 111-100 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
"I was tired and couldn’t make a shot, so I was going in slow motion and trying to make plays for my teammates," said Calderon. "I didn’t feel comfortable shooting the ball, so I was trying to be aggressive (and) the defence was on me."
Calderon was 2-for-7 from the floor, but made his only two free throws to put the Raptors ahead by nine with 40.2 seconds left in the game.
"We just needed to win," he said. "It was a team win."
One of the players Calderon was setting up was Andrea Bargnani who scored 30 points as the Raptors won for the first time since Jan. 9 against Sacramento.
"It feels good, almost a month without a win," said Bargnani. "Jose played unbelievable today, it was definitely the key. He was finding everybody, finding the open man, distributing the ball, collapsing the defence and kicking it to the outside."
DeMar DeRozan added 20 points, 10 in the first quarter when Toronto (14-37) took a 33-31 lead, and had three assists. Amir Johnson added 19 points with 12 rebounds, six assists and three assists. Sonny Weems chipped in with 16.
Kevin Love, who was selected to the NBA all-star team earlier in the day, led Minnesota (11-38) with 20 points and 15 rebounds — his 35th straight double-double.
Sebastian Telfair added 16 points while Darko Milicic and Corey Brewer each scored 15 for Minnesota.
The string of 13 losses equalled the second longest in team history, matching 13-game streaks in 2001-02 and 1997-98. The club record is 17 from Nov. 7 until Dec. 9, 1997.
Six of the 13 games before Friday were decided by six or fewer points.
"It is a big relief, we worked for this game tonight," Johnson said. "Everybody pitched in, had the hand in the pot today. We played hard and that’s what we have to do every game."
The Raptors gained control and with 40.2 seconds left as Calderon made two free throws to put Toronto ahead by nine points, giving the crowd a sense the streak could be over.
Telfair’s three-pointer with 2:59 to play brought Minnesota within four points. But DeRozan put the Raptors up by six and Johnson made the lead eight with a dunk off a fast break with 2:18 left after a Minnesota miss.
The Raptors were leading by six points entering the fourth quarter and Trey Johnson and DeRozan had the margin up to 10 after two minutes.
Brewer brought Minnesota back to within four with a layup off a turnover followed by a three-pointer from the corner, and it was a two-point game when Brewer made one of two free throws with 6:09 left.
But Bargnani hit one of two free throws and came back with a three-pointer from 25 feet and Toronto was up by six again. Weems hit a 16-foot jump shot and Toronto led 98-90 with 4:53 to play.
Bargnani’s three-pointer from the top of the key increased Toronto’s four-point half-time lead to nine early in the third quarter. Love’s three-pointer brought the Timberwolves back to within four at 70-66.
The margin was still four when Trey Johnson went to the line with 1:28 to play in the third and made both free throws to put Toronto ahead by six.
Wesley Johnson missed a 25-footer and Toronto came back to take an 84-76 lead on DeRozan’s fade away bank shot from nine feet.
Telfair and Toronto’s Julian Wright each made layups in the final minute before Nikola Pekovic ended the quarter with a tip shot, cutting Toronto’s lead to 86-80 after three.
Bargnani led Toronto with 13 first-half points and Weems had 12.
"I thought all our guys played well, guys that had to play well," said Raptors head coach Jay Triano. "We’ve been saying if we are going to be successful we have to have more than one or two guys playing well and tonight we did."
"It feels good. Our focus has been not on what has happened in the past, it has been on the game at hand."
Toronto’s 103-87 loss at Minnesota last Saturday ended a 12-game winning streak against the Timberwolves.
Notes: Minnesota forward Michael Beasley hopped off the court to the dressing room with an ankle injury with 2:28 to play in the first half and did not return. … Raptors guard Leandro Barbosa (hamstring) was a game-time decision and did not dress. … Guard Jerryd Bayless who suffered a sprained knee Wednesday also was out. … Forward Linas Kleiza (knee) is out for the season after surgery. … Forward Reggie Evans (foot) is still out. … The Raptors’ two wins last month was the lowest total for January in team history. … Toronto plays next at Milwaukee on Tuesday. …Air Canada attendance was 14,389.
