Chris Bosh

All star forward Bosh misses fourth straight game; to be out `indefinitely'

Chris Bosh missed his fourth consecutive game Friday against the New Jersey Nets with a bone bruise on his left knee, and the Raptors say the all-star forward will be out indefinitely.

Bosh last played Dec. 8 at Chicago when he injured his knee in a collision with Bulls forward Ben Wallace.

Raptors officials said before Friday's game that Bosh will not return until the swelling and pain in his knee subsides.

The 22-year-old leads the Raptors in scoring (20.5 points a night) and rebounds (12.2).

Jorge Garbajosa started in place of Bosh against the Nets.

The knee injury is the latest in a string of ailments that have plagued Bosh this season. He missed much of the pre-season with plantar fasciitis, then struggled with pain in his right knee plus an eye infection before this latest injury.

Last season, Bosh missed the final 13 games of the season, and the Raptors went 1-12 in his absence.

Raptors forward Bosh will be sidelined Friday against Carter and Nets

Chris Bosh pedalled a stationary bike with his good leg Thursday, his bad leg propped up awkwardly on a chair.

The all-star forward, who is sidelined with a bone bruise on his left knee, will miss his fourth consecutive game Friday when the Toronto Raptors (8-14) host Vince Carter and the New Jersey Nets (9-12).

And the way Bosh walked gingerly around the Air Canada Centre gym Thursday, he doesn't appear ready to return any time soon.

``It's still a little sore, the swelling is still there, it's just something we have to be delicate with because I want to come back 100 per cent,'' Bosh said.

Bosh didn't practise with the team Thursday (he didn't even bother to remove his huge yellow diamond earrings). Bosh, who spent most of the practice in the weight room and did a little shooting, said there's no timeline for his return and the team doctors are taking a cautious approach rather than risk rushing him back too soon.

``I don't want to come back and slow the team down and play on one leg and probably injure the other one,'' said Bosh. ``I want to wait until I'm ready to go. I could come back when there's still a little bit of pain, but that could cause some bigger issues. Then it might be a chronic problem. When it's completely healed I can come back and not worry about anything.''

The 22-year-old did receive some good news Thursday. He's second behind Cleveland's LeBron James among Eastern Conference forwards after the first returns of balloting for the NBA all-star game. James has 808,570 votes, while Bosh has 304,624. Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal (258,139), Boston's Paul Pierce (187,138), and Orlando's Grant Hill (168,695) round out the top five.

``I'm really excited about that,'' said Bosh, who made his all-star debut last season in Houston. ``I've just got to hurry up and get back now and keep up the good play. I've been trying to work hard every day to make sure I hit the ground running when I do get back.''

Bosh, who leads the team in scoring (20.5 points per game) and rebounds (12.2) last played Dec. 8 in a 93-90 loss at Chicago, hurting his knee in a collision with Bulls forward Ben Wallace.

Toronto has won one of three games in his absence. After a pair of lacklustre losses to Portland and Miami, the Raptors secured their first victory without their star player in a convincing 91-84 win Wednesday against the Eastern Conference-leading Orlando Magic.

``Normally after you lose one of your better players, your team kind of goes through a shock,'' said Mitchell. ``You're kind of finding your way now because this guy is so much a part of what you do offensively and rebounding. Now the guys realize: we don't know when Chris is going to be back and we've just got to go and play with what we have.''

Forwards Andrea Bargnani and Rasho Nesterovic, in particular, stepped up with big games at Orlando. Bargnani had a career-high 23 points, including five three-pointers, plus six rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Asked if he felt it was his best game as a Raptor, Bargnani replied: ``It was the game where I scored more, I don't know if it was the best.''

``I feel good,'' the rookie added. ``When we win like this, everything feels good. It's nice to win like this. When you play good you're happy, it's better.''

Nesterovic had a team-high 10 rebounds, five blocks and seven points, and logged a season-high 40 minutes, more than double what he'd been averaging this season.

``For him to play 40 minutes was just huge. And we needed him every minute he was on the court,'' said Mitchell. ``I kept asking him how he felt, because it seems like some nights he tires quicker than others. But he told me before the game, however long we needed him, he'd be ready to play.''

As for Bosh, Mitchell is focusing on the players he has rather than getting his hopes up for a speedy return.

``I try not to really focus on it a lot because I don't want to come in here and hear, `He feels better today,' and then you get all excited and then we don't have him tomorrow,'' said Mitchell. ``So my mind says, we'll have Chris when we have him, and until then we've got to keep getting these other guys better.''

The Raptors will be in tough against the Nets, who beat the Raptors 102-92 in the season-opener. The Nets are on a two-game win streak and coming off a 108-95 win Wednesday over Milwaukee. Carter scored 36 points, including six threes, in the victory, while Jason Kidd recorded his third triple-double in four games and the 80th of his career.

``It's amazing how everybody's saying he's done. We should all be that done,'' Mitchell said about Kidd. ``He's a warrior, he can play. Every year, everybody says he's done. He's playing 38 minutes a game still, and putting up unbelievable numbers.''

Raptors all star Bosh sits out game against Portland with knee injury

Chris Bosh is battling yet another injury.

The Raptors all-star forward sat out Sunday's 93-83 loss the Portland Trail Blazers with a bone bruise on his left knee, and will miss at least the next two games.

Bosh is believed to have injured the knee in a collision with Bulls forward Ben Wallace in Friday's 93-90 loss at Chicago.

``I was able to finish the Chicago game with a little bit of pain, but I woke up yesterday morning to some swelling ... so, another thing,'' Bosh said.

Bosh will remain behind for treatment while the team hits the road for games in Miami and Orlando. He'll be re-evaluated later in the week.

Bosh has been averaging 20.5 points and 12.2 rebounds to lead the Raptors this season, despite being hit with one nagging ailment after another. He missed much of the pre-season with plantar fasciitis, then was hobbled with a sore right knee, then missed two days of practice last week with an eye infection.

``It's tiring just having to deal with so many things, but it's part of it. I just have to accept it right now,'' said Bosh. ``It's just how it is right now. I just have to continue to take care of my body.

``The good thing about it is, it's not very, very serious, it could be worse.''

Sunday was the first game Bosh has missed this regular season. He's listed as day to day. The Raptors return home to host the New Jersey Nets on Friday.

``I'd like to get some practising under my belt, because I haven't really been happy with the way I've been playing the past two or three games,'' said Bosh. ``I just want to recoup and start playing like an all-star.''

Rookie Andrea Bargnani replaced Bosh in the starting lineup Sunday, earning his first career start.

Bosh missed the final 13 games of last season with a hand injury, and the Raptors went 1-12 in his absence.

Raptors' Bosh sidelined with eye infection a day before game against Cavs

The Toronto Raptors' best player is battling yet another nagging ailment.

All-star forward Chris Bosh is suffering from a viral infection in his left eye that kept him out of the past two days of practice, and could sideline him for Wednesday's game at Cleveland (The Score, 7 p.m. ET).

``I'm not blind. . . Well, I don't have my contacts in right now, so I'm blind kind of,'' said Bosh, squinting through a puffy and red left eye. ``But I've just got to wait one more day and see what happens.

``I've got a prescription to calm me down and everything. I'm here today, I didn't get to practise but I got a workout in, in preparation for (Wednesday).''

The eye ailment, which the Raptors hope will clear up before Wednesday's tipoff, is the latest in a string of ailments to bother the six-foot-10 forward this season. He missed much of the pre-season with plantar fasciitis, a painful injury to the bottom of the foot, and has been bothered the past couple of weeks with a sore knee.

``The NBA kind of is what it is,'' Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said Tuesday. ``He's had some problems, it's been one little thing after another.''

``It's new to me,'' Bosh said about his sore eye. ``There's a lot of stuff happening this year that's new to me.''

Bosh, 22, said his eye hurt _ and was extremely sensitive to light _ when he woke up Monday morning.

``It was painful, I literally couldn't walk outside,'' said Bosh. ``I'm looking at you now, I wouldn't have been able to do that yesterday.''

Despite his nagging injuries, Bosh hasn't missed a game, logging a team-high 37 minutes a night. He leads the Raptors in scoring with 21.1 points a game, and is averaging a career-high 12.2 rebounds a night.

If nothing else, he's learning how to play through pain, which Mitchell believes is key to a long and prosperous career in the NBA.

``It's tough, but he's done a good job, he's given us the best that he's got, and that's all you can ask for,'' Mitchell said. ``You've got to learn to play with discomforts and injuries.

``Ask those guys in the NFL after about Week 5, how many of them feel good . . . (they've) got to find a way on Sunday to get it done. In the NBA, you have to find a way, on Wednesday and Friday and Sunday, to get it done.''

Bosh shrugs off his latest ailment. Toronto (7-10) has won five of their last seven games, after all.

``We're on a little bit of a roll right now, and we're just going to try to keep it going,'' Bosh said. ``Physically, that's a part of the game, and I'm still playing.''

While Bosh is a question mark, the Raptors may have Morris Peterson back in the lineup against the Cavaliers (10-7), and they could use his hard-nosed defence to slow down LeBron James.

``You know he's going to bring it every night,'' Peterson said of the Cavs star. ``He's going to play hard and be ready to play. I guess that's an extra incentive for me to go out there and hopefully be in shape and play hard.''

Peterson has missed the past seven games with a partial tear in his left elbow, which ended his NBA ironman streak of 371 consecutive games.

The veteran swingman has been putting in extra time in the gym the past couple of weeks, doing sprints, riding the stationary bike and lifting weights. He insists he'll be ready to go if he plays Wednesday.

``I was concentrating on keeping my legs (fresh),'' said Peterson. ``That's the good thing about only having an elbow injury, I can run. I can keep in pretty good shape.

``But there's nothing like playing in a game, no matter what you do. I'll see tomorrow once I get on the court. I'm pretty sure I might get a little winded, but I'm going to be excited to get out there if I get a chance.''