Raptors send Sonics to fourth straight loss

SEATTLE – Chris Bosh made a team-record 17 free throws without a miss and finished with 29 points to help the Toronto Raptors beat the Seattle SuperSonics 121-113 on Friday night.

Bosh added 13 rebounds for his 19th double-double of the season. His 17 consecutive free throws in a game without a miss broke Vince Carter’s team record of 13. The 17-for-17 performance was the best in the NBA this season, besting Dirk Nowitzki’s 15 for 15.

Toronto made 36 of 39 free throws (92.3 percent) and shot 50 percent (11 for 22) on 3-pointers.

Jalen Rose continued his scoring surge with 28 points in his first start since Dec. 3. Coach Sam Mitchell inserted Rose into the starting lineup in place of rookie Joey Graham.

The move worked. Rose scored 14 in the first half, shot 9 of 12 and added seven assists. Rose had been averaging 20.6 over his last five games and helped the Raptors break a three-game road losing streak.

With the teams exchanging leads, Bosh finally put the Raptors ahead in the final minutes. His jumper with 1:26 left, as the shot clock expired, put the Raptors up 113-111. Ray Allen then missed for Seattle and Bosh, Rose and Morris Peterson made eight free throws in the final 90 seconds.

Rashard Lewis led Seattle with 25 points. Allen scored 24 in his return from a three-game suspension for fighting, but shot just 2 of 10 in the second half. Seattle dropped its fourth straight.

With the two worst defenses in the league on the court, a shootout was inevitable. Seattle was giving up a league-worst 105 points per game, and Toronto was next at 102.

They didn’t disappoint.

The teams combined for 122 points in the first half and were tied at 88 after three quarters. All five Raptors starters were in double figures midway through the third quarter.

Luke Ridnour scored 17 for Seattle and Reggie Evans added 11 off the bench. Seattle outscored Toronto 62-28 in the paint, but had 21 fewer free throw attempts.

Allen returned after being suspended for fighting with Orlando’s Keyon Dooling on Jan. 11. Seattle’s dependency on Allen became clear in his absence, as the Sonics went 0-3 and rarely challenged in any of the defeats to Miami, the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State.

Schrempf added to staff

Former Seattle All-Star Detlef Schrempf was hired by the Sonics to fill a spot on new coach Bob Hill’s staff.

Seattle was down an assistant after Hill was promoted to head coach following Bob Weiss’ firing on Jan. 3. Schrempf will join Jack Sikma and Ralph Lewis on the bench.

Hill was considering Schrempf and Tom Newell for the position.

“He’s familiar with the players, he understands my system because he played for me and I thought it made sense to give him half a season to see if this is what he wants to do,” Hill said. “I feel confident that he can help.”

Schrempf, who turns 43 today, worked as a volunteer during Seattle’s training camp, but didn’t carry that role over into the regular season.

Now, he’ll be responsible for working with the Sonics forwards. Schrempf will not travel with the team, but said he would have been willing to.

He will be providing reports and analyzing game tape while the team is away from home.

“I think it’s a good window of opportunity. I’ve been interested for more than a year and I let the Sonics know, but it never really materialized,” Schrempf said.