Tucker proved his worth Sunday, scoring 18 points to lead the new-look Raptors to a 119-110 pre-season win over the New Jersey Nets. Along the way, the Texas product provided toughness and energy off the bench that Toronto has sorely lacked in the past.

``This kid just battles. And he knows how to score around the basket. That's the thing we liked about him,'' Mitchell said of Tucker, who was the 35th pick in the 2006 draft. ``We feel we got lucky him being in the second round.

``He's just so physical and so active, he just works. He's just a class individual, he's just a good kid. ''

Fred Jones added 14 points, Morris Peterson finished with 13, and T.J. Ford, looking more confident running the offence, had 10 points and 11 assists for Toronto, which improved to 3-0 in the pre-season.

``I think he had been a little disappointed at himself, the way he'd been playing the last couple of days in practice and the last couple of games,'' Peterson said of Ford. ``Today, he came out and played a little more relaxed and pushed the ball up the court, he's finding out what guys' strengths are, and he's moving the ball.''

Antoine Wright scored 21 points for the Nets (0-3). Former Raptors star Vince Carter, in his first action of the pre-season _ he missed the previous two games with sore ribs _ finished with 10 points on 5-for-15 shooting, and was booed whenever he handled the ball.

``They play hard, a scrappy team,'' Carter said of the revamped Raptors. ``They are undersized but if they play hard like they played, run the floor and defend, all that doesn't matter in my opinion.''

On an odd afternoon, the game was delayed by six minutes in the fourth quarter when the lights went out in the Air Canada Centre, part of a power blip in downtown Toronto. Five minutes of the fourth were played in a dimly-lit arena, before the lights reached full power with just two minutes to go.

The Raptor mascot also went down with an injury, taking a tumble off a ladder in the first half. He didn't return to the game, Toronto officials saying he suffered a ``lower body injury.''

Raptors all-star Chris Bosh sat out the game to rest a sore left heel.

``It was just a thing that progressed over time with a lot of playing,'' said Bosh. ``It just became sore, and we're just taking a precautionary measure, making sure it doesn't turn into anything bad.''

In Bosh's absence, several young Raptors were left to step up and shoulder the scoring load, with six players scoring in double figures. Tucker shot 6-for-7 from the floor, and was strong on the defensive end. Versatility is something he prides himself on.

``That's what I do, I go from guarding (guard) Marcus Williams to guarding the centre. . . just help the team out, play hard, play defence, finish plays.'' said Tucker.

Kris Humphries, acquired in an off-season trade with Utah for the seldom-used Rafael Araujo, finished with 11 points and game-high 12 rebounds, injecting some much-needed energy into the Raptors in a key third quarter.

``P.J. Tucker, he and Chris Humphries, those guys just bring us some energy, some toughness, get us some loose balls and some rebounds,'' said Mitchell.

Rookie Andrea Bargnani added 11 points, while sophomore Joey Graham looked more confident than he has in a long while, finishing with 10 points. Graham converted a three-point play with 3:27 left in the game that gave Toronto an 11-point lead.

Carter was most interested in Raptors' rookie Jorge Garbajosa. The Spaniard wears Carter's No. 15.

``Yes that was weird,'' said Carter. ``(Garbajosa) looked at me like, what the heck am I doing? It was just very weird to see.''

The Nets led 31-27 after one quarter. They stretched their advantage to as much as 17 points in the second before Toronto connected on four straight three-pointers to cut the Nets' lead to 62-52 at halftime.

Humphries grabbed seven rebounds in the third to help the Raptors pull even with the Nets, and the game was tied 82-82 with a quarter left to play.

NOTES: The Raptors released forward LaVell Blanchard and centre Cezary Trybanski after the game, leaving Toronto's training camp roster at 15 players. . . The Raptors play Cleveland in Rochester, N.Y., on Wednesday, then host Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday. . . A Raptors' pre-season game against Greek team Panathinaikos at the ACC in 2003 was shortened because of a power outage.