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Italian Pushes Toronto to Victory over Indiana

Andrea Bargnani is beginning to payoff for the Toronto Raptors who took a chance on the Italian forward with the top pick in the draft. 5 Raptors reached double figure scores, including Chris Bosh who scored 17 points and had 11 rebounds. Toronto beat the Indiana Pacers 92-83 in Sunday`s game. Bargnani had 14 points for the Raptors, who were in the lead throughout the whole game. In the first quarter Toronto had an imposing 32-17 lead over Indiana and continued in the second quarter with a 14-2 run, out of which eight were scored by Bargnani.

The Italian forward, who was the first European player to be taken No. 1 overall in the draft, got off to a slow start this season, but he has been slowly progressing as Sam Mitchell, the Raptors` coach, has been giving him more time on the court. "I am getting more comfortable," said Bargnani. "I am playing with more confidence." Bargnani`s teammate Anthony Parker commented on his to reporters saying: "His decision making is getting better. We see it week after week in practice, and now he`s starting to show it in games."

The Pacers` Stephen Jackson and Danny Granger each scored 18 points, who have been behind after the first quarter in 11 of their last 14 games. Rick Carlisle, the Pacer`s coach said: ``It`s hard digging out of a 15-point hole with 36 minutes to play,`` Carlisle said. ``It`s something that we have addressed. We`ve done a lot of lineup shifting. Maybe there will be more lineup shifting, I don`t know, but these kind of starts are going to get you beat on a consistent basis.``