BOSH LIFTS T.O. PAST PHILLY

Our own Neil Acharya was in the upper bowl at the Air Canada Centre for the Raptors' dramatic 106-104 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Toronto Raptors have a lot to be happy about this morning – they beat the Philadelphia 76ers and the Franchise, Chris Bosh, made an improbable big shot, hitting a pair of late triples to pull out the win. How improbable? I'll trust Sager to fill that part in -- Neate's obsessive enough that he knows exactly where to go, even in the middle of the night, to find out how many threes Chris Bosh made in all of '05-06.

(Neate: Zero. Bosh tried 13 three-pointers in '05-06 and didn't make a single one. Back to Neil.)

Firstly, the Raptors didn’t play a great game and still managed to win, which seldom happened in the past. Moreover, the play of bench players such as Kirk Humphries, Fred Jones and especially Joey Graham was great. They picked up for the slack of not having MoPete play the second half and T.J. Ford's subpar performance (and after all the pregame hype over how he would match up with Allen Iverson).

The ACC looked cavernous at times with entire sections looking as though tumbleweed would blow through at any second. For someone who has never seen Iverson play live, it seems like he evokes a reaction like no other player I've seen to date. He has the aura of a rock star and even when he is on the road, he draws the thousands of screaming teenage girls. Not bad for a guy the NBA seems to want to downplay as a draw. I'm sure if he just settled for a fade instead of cornrows they wouldn't be so threatened by him.

The ACC was kind to the man who knocked down 35 points and showed no signs of slowing down. In typical Iverson fashion, he utilized the high screen to his advantage. He had the killer crossover and the fade away working, but he could not propel his team to victory. Chris Bosh took it upon his shoulders in the late going, attacking the basket for "and 1" plays a couple of times in the dying minutes. His second three-pointer of the night in the final seconds won it.

In the locker room, Iverson, the man the people hate to love spoke bluntly and accurately about the night's proceedings: "He (Bosh) hit the shot, that's what you need your big players to do at the end of the game," he told the assembled media.

After Jose Calderon missed his second free throw with the Raps up by just two, a scene similar to last January when Vince Carter came to town seemed imminent. The Sixers pushed the ball up the floor, Andre Iguodala took the shot and... just missed, throwing the crowd into celebration.

Of course, it wouldn't be the Raptors if there wasn't some sign of their dubious past. Iguodala, who had a good night for Philly, is the guy the Sixers took 9th overall in the 2004 draft, one pick after Rob Babcock selected Rafael (Hoffa) Araujo, and I think we all know how that turned out.

Of course, Humphries, who was huge last night, went 14th in that draft. Hindsight being 20/20...

Send your thoughts to neil__acharya@hotmail.com.