http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/277339Chris Bosh, good to his promise to dig deeper inside, kept trying to make the tough yards up the middle and was rewarded with 12 trips to the free-throw line in the first half. This surely is an effective battle plan, but there are limits. Bosh can’t take this kind of pounding for 82 games. No one could.

This team needs alternative scoring options beyond Bosh hammered left and Bosh hammered right. It has those options, clearly, in a handful of three-point shooters and it was a sudden fusillade of treys that restored order after Indiana’s big bodies had dominated the paint for a sizeable early lead.

This time it was Carlos Delfino with a couple of them and then Garbajosa who drained a couple of long putts. Anthony Parker made the longest, a third-quarter buzzer-beater from the far side of centre, as the team ended 12-for-23 from beyond the line.

It’s all well and good to win one like this on deadeye shooting, particularly after losing three in a row at home to good teams, which Indiana isn’t. But the Raptors are going to need a rotation that includes an effective Bargnani most nights and since he was sent to the bench, he hasn’t responded.

These are admittedly very small samples for comparison purposes, but as a starter for five games, Bargnani shot 43 per cent (24-for-56) including batting .500 (11-for-22) from the three-point provinces. Off the bench, he has hit only four of 13 triples and eight of 27 (29 per cent) overall.