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BASKETBALL REPORTER

It wasn't vintage Chris Bosh, but that says a lot about a player who's excelled in good times and bad in Toronto.

The Toronto Raptors won, for one thing, not always a given during his still-unfolding career as the club's franchise player in name and deed, and they did it without one of his trademark dominant nights.

Instead, it was a working class version who provided 22 points and 15 rebounds to help his club outlast the San Antonio Spurs 91-86 at the Air Canada Centre here. But it was enough and, as a result, the night that Bosh passed Vince Carter to become the club's career leading scorer will be a fond memory.

"[Winning]was the best part," Bosh said. "I was thinking it'd be nice to set the record but I wanted to win as well, that was the main focus of the whole day."

As brilliant and consistent as Bosh has been through his seven NBA seasons in a Toronto uniform, he's been the backbone of some bad teams.

This year's edition - in large part because of Bosh's career-best efforts - is gamely headed to respectability, or at least a playoff spot. Their win over the Spurs was their sixth in their past seven games and 10th in their past 15. It pulled them with a game of .500 at 17-18 and 11-5 at the ACC.

Bosh tied Carter's 9,420 career points as a Raptor with a jumper from just outside the elbow late in the third quarter, the weapon that has helped make him one of the most consistent scorers in the NBA.

And he broke Carter's mark with another jumper - set up with a little head fake and a dribble to his right at the top of the key. He now has 9,442 and counting, the 10,000-point mark is his next milestone.

If Bosh signs a long-term contract in the off-season - he's heading into free agency - and play the rest of his prime in Toronto, it's likely he'll set marks in all categories that will last decades into the future.

But producing is simply what's become expected for the veteran who joined the club as a skinny 19-year-old with one year of college basketball under his belt before being drafted No. 4 overall in 2003 by then-general manager Glen Grunwald.

The most unappreciated aspect of being the face of a franchise? "The biggest thing you have to do is make sure you show up every night," said Raptors coach Jay Triano, who has worked with Bosh since he broke into the NBA. "There's no hiding on the bench or deferring to the all-star and throw him the ball every time I get it. He knows the ball is coming to him and he has to perform and if he doesn't we're in a bit of a hole."

And Bosh has delivered.

"He is the face of the franchise here and faces of franchises get paid to do those sorts of things," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He's come through and done what they've paid him to do and he can be satisfied with that and he's done it with class."

Bosh received a standing ovation in between the third and fourth quarters after setting the record. A smile was his only acknowledgment, proof that at the grizzled old age of 25 he's already put statistical feats behind him even as he fashions his most impressive season with career highs in most important categories.

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TIPSHEET

Notes Both dressing rooms at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto yesterday were buzzing before the game last night as news continued to filter out about a report that Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards and teammate Javaris Crittenton were involved in an incident where guns were present in their locker room. The incident is being investigated by law-enforcement officials in Washington and the NBA, but Arenas has acknowledged storing firearms in his locker at the Verizon Center, a violation of NBA rules. The incident occurred Dec. 21 and is said to have stemmed from an unpaid gambling debt. Roger Mason of the San Antonio Spurs, a former teammate of Arenas, said at the ACC he couldn't imagine Arenas doing anything other than joking - Arenas is a well known prankster - but said guns at work are nothing to laugh about. "Knowing him as a person and a teammate, he's just a goofster. "Nothing surprises me with Gilbert," Mason said. "[But]come on, man. We're all adults. At the end of the day it's one of those obvious things. You don't bring a gun into your workplace." Said Toronto Raptors forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu, an off-season resident of the Washington area: "It's crazy to me that something like that could happen. Guns aren't a joke. I'm a pretty funny guy, but I'm not familiar with their type of jokes. It's not a joke when someone gets shot accidentally." ... Theo Ratliff was a surprise starter in place of Tim Duncan, who came off the bench for the Spurs for just the second time in his career when healthy enough to start. Jose Calderon has been working out on his own and will practise with the team in Orlando tomorrow with an eye to playing against the Magic. Calderon has been out of the lineup since Dec. 13 with a sore left hip.

Next Raptors at Orlando Magic, tomorrow, 7 p.m. Eastern

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Michael Grange

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