O’Neal comes up big with 45 points
Shaquille O’Neal scored 45 points in his biggest offensive performance in nearly six years, powering the Phoenix Suns to a 133-113 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.
A week shy of his 37th birthday, O’Neal made 20 of 25 shots in the 49th 40-point game of his career but first in four seasons. He hadn’t scored this many since he got 48 for the Lakers against Boston on March 21, 2003.
Toronto decided against double-teaming O’Neal most of the night, and the results were disastrous for the Raptors in their 10th straight loss to Phoenix, whether the defender was Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh or Jake Voskuhl, who fouled out in eight minutes.
O’Neal also had 11 rebounds.
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