NBA – Calderon back to his best as Raptors sting Hornets

TORONTO (NBA) - For anyone looking to take a positive out of what has been a hugely disappointing season for the Toronto Raptors, there is the recent play of Spain point guard Jose Calderon to consider.

Bringing back memories of his performances at EuroBasket 2007 with Spain when he was arguably the best performer of the tournament in Madrid, Calderon has been sensational of late.

He had 22 points and 16 assists on Tuesday night to lead the Raptors to just their 17th victory of the season.

In a 118-113 upset of Chicago on February 23, Calderon had 17 assists to go with his six points.

If he continues to shine, Calderon could end up averaging a double-double in points and rebounds this season.

He is currently averaging 9.9 points and 9.2 assists.

New Orleans coach Monte Williams, who is used to talking about the superb play of his own point guard, Chris Paul of Team USA, had this to say about Calderon.

"He was exceptional," Williams said.

"He made play after play after play against us.

“He's not just a veteran guard, he's way above average. He makes great decisions, can shoot the ball and he just made winning plays tonight."

San Antonio also have a point guard from Europe in Tony Parker but the Frenchman isn’t playing because of a calf injury he picked up at the weekend.

That contributed to the Spurs' 109-93 defeat at Memphis on Tuesday.

Argentina's Manu Ginobili spoke about the importance of Parker after the loss.

"His is our leader on the court," Ginobili said.

"He's the one that makes the decisions and calls the plays.

"He handles the pressure and creates for us, so he's a pretty big part of who we are."

Memphis center Marc Gasol, a Spain national team player, was ejected from the game in the first half after picking up two technical fouls.

Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers took advantage of San Antonio's slip.

The Mavs won 101-93 at Philadelphia to pull to within five games of the Spurs in the Western Conference and LA prevailed 90-79 at Minnesota to close their gap on San Antonio to seven games.

Jason Kidd finished with a triple-double for the Mavericks.

He had 13 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for Dallas, who lost Team USA center Tyson Chandler to a sprained ankle during the game.

The Mavs have won seven in a row while the Sixers had their four-game winning streak snapped.

The New York Knicks followed up their big win at Miami with a 116-110 defeat at Orlando, who got 30 points, 16 boards and five blocks from Dwight Howard.

Carlos Delfino of Argentina dominated for Milwaukee against Detroit on Tuesday night.

He scored 16 points, hauled in 10 rebounds, handed out four assists, came up with four steals and blocked two shots.

Richard Hamilton, who had been benched for insubordination, ended his long stay out of the Detroit line-up and had 10 points in 26 minutes.

In other games, Indiana won 109-100 over Golden State and Houston thumped Portland at the Rose Garden, 103-87.

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