<font size=""4"">Raps ratchet it up</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Shooting 59% from the field -- including a team-record tying 70% in the first half -- the high-flying Raptors shot down the Los Angeles Clippers 122-110, improving their season record to 25-23, the first time since 2004 that the team has found itself two games over .500 after Jan. 1. The Raptors also improved to 16-7 at home, surpassing their home win total of all of last season (15-27). The 122 points also was a season-high and a Clippers opponent season high. "I'm proud of the way my team is playing," head coach Sam Mitchell said. "They're playing with confidence, they're playing together, they're executing and if we do that, we're going to be tough to beat." </div> <font size=""4"">Point guards a great pair</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Calderon has played exceptionally well while Ford was out of the lineup. But now that Ford is getting healthier by the day, the Raptors have two excellent options at the one spot to run the offence. "It's a beautiful thing when you have both point guards playing well and are on the same page," forward Morris Peterson said. "They're the cogs, they get everything going, they know everybody's game. And to their credit, they work hard and they deserve all the success they're having this year." </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The key, said Ford, is to pack the egos away. "We've been complementing each other very well all year," he said. "There are no egos. Everybody plays their role on this team, and that's what makes it a lot of fun. And that's what allows us to be successful." </div> <font size=""4"">Little Lue big in OT</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Lue hit a 23-foot jumper at the buzzer to lift the Hawks to a 101-99 overtime victory against the New Jersey Nets yesterday, posting their first three-game road winning streak since December 2000. </div> <font size=""4"">Raptors roll past L.A.</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"We got the job done," added Peterson. "When we move the ball and make the extra pass, we have so many guys who can make shots, it makes it easy for us. I think guys are really starting to buy in." "We let one get away from us," said Clippers point guard Sam Cassell. "Give them a lot of credit. They played well. They made shots. Everything we did to try and stop them, they did better."</div> <font size=""4"">Raptors show a knack for putting wins away</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">A thorough 122-110 pasting of the Los Angeles Clippers was in the books yesterday afternoon and everyone should have been scattering to some Super Bowl party. But 40 minutes after the game, there were pockets of players and officials in the lounge and the shower area, watching television. They were cheering and moaning and discussing strategy, watching the Atlanta Hawks pull out a last-second overtime victory over the New Jersey Nets and it's been a long, long time since scoreboard watching of such fervor went on around these parts.</div> <font size=""4"">Clippers treat Sunday game as day of rest</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">It underlines what alert observers have sensed for a while; that the Raptors, because they're one of the few NBA teams to play regularly on Sunday afternoon, are at a competitive advantage in those games. Adding to the advantage is the idea that Toronto's array of Saturday-night pleasures ? nightclubs and restaurants and various emporiums of artistic expression ? doesn't hurt the home team's cause. When the Clippers got to the arena yesterday, it was a little before 7:30 a.m. Pacific time. For athletes who live a late-shift existence, playing mostly night games and eating mostly midnight suppers, the result was completely predictable.</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">So the win streak grew to three and there's no reason it shouldn't stretch on for at least a couple more games. The schedule is in the Raptors' favour. Struggling Orlando, which visits Wednesday, is in Milwaukee tomorrow night. The Lakers, who visit Friday, are in Detroit the night before, and their game at the Air Canada Centre will be the seventh outing of a marathon eight-game road trip. And yes, the Raptors have to head to Detroit on Saturday night for the second end of their home-away back to back. Most scheduling advantages even out into disadvantages.</div> <font size=""4"">Garbajosa on a three spree</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jorge Garbajosa needed a day like that like a drowning man needs a life raft, a day when every shot was a good one and a lot of them went in, a game not only to boost his confidence but that of his teammates. By making four of five three-pointers, the most prolific long-range shooting day he's had on this side of the Atlantic, Garbajosa shook off a prolonged slump and played a vital role in Toronto's 122-110 victory yesterday over the L.A. Clippers.</div> <font size=""4"">Raptors hold off Clippers</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Shooting nearly 60 per cent on the day, the Raptors got double-figure scoring from six players and overcame some nerve-wracking moments at the end of the game to run their home winning streak to five games and go to 25-23 on the season. Three Morris Peterson three-pointers, two in the final minute and one with about two minutes to go, helped Toronto hold off the Clippers.</div> <font size=""4"">Raptors revel in victory and Nets' loss</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Toronto Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell kept his postgame comments short and then hustled off as though he had some place to be.</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">In the coach's office, Mitchell, his coaching staff, assistant general manager Maurizio Gherardini and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment chairman Larry Tanenbaum were gathered, intently watching the New Jersey Nets and Atlanta Hawks duel it out in overtime. And judging from the whoops and hollers coming from the nether regions of the locker room, Mitchell's players were doing the same.</div> <font size=""4"">RAPTORS GAIN GROUND IN ATLANTIC</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Balanced scoring helped the Toronto Raptors take a three-game lead in the Atlantic Division standings. </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"It's unbelievable," said Toronto's Jose Calderon. "Everybody in this locker room is better than they were in the preseason because we've learned to play as a team." </div>
