Bosh leads Raptors past Pistons

Chris Bosh scored 21 points and T.J. Ford had 13 points and nine assists in his return to the starting lineup as the Toronto Raptors beat the Detroit Pistons 89-82 on Wednesday night.

Rasho Nesterovic had 15 points and Jose Calderon 13 as Toronto won for just the fourth time in 15 games. The Raptors avoided falling below .500 for the first time since a Nov. 24 loss at Cleveland dropped them to 6-7.

Trying to change its luck after a slide that saw the Raptors drop from fifth to seventh in the Eastern Conference, Toronto put Ford and Nesterovic into the starting lineup in place of Calderon and Andrea Bargnani.

Ford's last start came Dec. 11 at Atlanta, but he was injured that night and missed the next 24 games. He had served as Calderon's backup since returning Feb. 4 at Miami, but got into the lineup on Wednesday.

Chauncey Billups scored 24 points, and Rodney Stuckey, including 14 in the fourth, had 16 for Detroit, which has lost three of four.

The Pistons were without leading scorer Richard Hamilton (sore left hip) for the second consecutive game. Hamilton, who is averaging 17.7 points, was replaced by Arron Afflalo.

Ford started slowly, scoring just two points in the first half, but teamed up with Jamario Moon for two spectacular baskets in the third, feeding the athletic Moon for a dunk and then a one-handed alley-oop.

Ford and Bosh each had eight points in the third as Toronto took a 59-51 lead into the final quarter.

Bargnani's 3-pointer capped a a 7-0 run to start the fourth, giving the Raptors a 68-51 edge and forcing the Pistons to call timeout.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Tayshaun Prince and Billups cut it to 72-63 at 7:04, but Toronto answered with consecutive 3s by Calderon and Ford to open an 80-67 lead with 4:09 remaining.

A dunk by Amir Johnson and two more 3-pointers by Billups made it 80-75, but Bosh made two baskets and Nesterovic drained a free throw as Toronto pushed the lead back to eight.

Notes:@ The Raptors finished with 12 turnovers, while the Pistons had 15. ... Detroit guard Juan Dixon (sore left calf) was not in uniform.