***Before you go off on Andy, this was written before the loss to the Celtics***

By Andy Charles

Things appear to finally be looking up for the Raptors although the kudos of a road win over the Philadelphia 76ers is not quite what it once was.

Toronto made it three wins on the bounce and eight from 10 with a last gasp win in the City of Brotherly Love, and even though the defense still has to be a worry for coach Jay Triano, winning these close games is a habit he will be happy to get into.

And the manner of the second-half performance, after trailing by 11 at the break, will give him even more heart, as Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh dominated in close against a Sixers side lacking Elton Brand’s size.

But the Sixers are a side with a real soft underbelly this season, losing for the third time straight, and in each of those games they have held a double-figure lead at some point only to throw it away.

Philly shot okay when given the space, but they could not match the ruthlessness of the Raptors, who shot 51% from the floor which made all the difference in a game that went down to a final three-point play from Bosh inside the last nine seconds.

Bosh made a superb off-balance layup under pressure from Sam Dalembert, and the Philly center was adjudged to have fouled as well to give the Raptors a two-point lead, which held up when Lou Williams missed a buzzer-beating three-pointer.

Bosh’s 29-point effort came in the wake of some scathing comments from Triano, who felt the big man was starting to fade after his quick start to the season in the fine win over Orlando that preceded Friday’s success.

The win also lifted Toronto above .500 for the first time since the middle of November and gave them a couple of games advantage in the race for an Eastern Conference playoff berth as the midway point of the season (already??) comes close. NBA Predictions certainly suggest they will be up there.

Triano said after the game: “I’m not going to say we’re a good defensive team. But we’re getting better at it, and I think that’s the biggest thing – that guys care about defence right now.”

And it really is making a difference, as the Raptors go into next week with a 13-0 record when they hold teams to under 100 points this season – keep that up and worries of not making the top eight will be a distant memory as far as NBA Picks are concerned.

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