"We needed that," Bosh said afterward. "Everybody was thinking about the whole New Year thing and how to start off fresh, and just get a change of momentum, and that was a good win for us. We were about overdue for it."

The unlikely victory to tip off 2009 came with point guard Jose Calderon sidelined for all but the first quarter with a hamstring injury, and with Jermaine O'Neal on the bench in street clothes.

But the Raptors got a balanced effort in their absence, with all 12 players scoring, and for the first time in a long time stayed focused offensively and defensively for all four quarters.

"I think we showed how good we can be tonight," Bosh said. "Everybody didn't really expect much out of us, no J.O., no Jose, J.K. (Jason Kapono) being nicked up a little bit -- nobody expected us to win tonight. But not only did we win, we won in a convincing fashion. We have to demand that out of everybody every night."

Joey Graham added 10 points, while Anthony Parker and Jake Voskuhl led Toronto in rebounding with eight apiece.

Von Wafer topped the Rockets (21-13) with 18 points, all in the fourth quarter. Yao Ming added 14, while Luis Scola had 13 rebounds.

The Raptors struggled mightily in December, toppling to the bottom of the Atlantic Division, and the sense of desperation around the locker-room was palpable.

They finally showed a decent dose of confidence, especially during the dreaded fourth quarter, which has been their undoing this season.

With the second unit on the floor for much of the final 12 minutes, Kris Humphries converted a three-point play, his basket coming from a behind-the-back pass from Roko Ukic that brought the fans to their feet and gave the Raptors a 25-point lead. Ukic then scored on a driving layup that put Toronto up 86-59 with 5:25 to go, a lead Toronto wasn't giving up on this night. The closest the Rockets would come again was 21 points, as the crowd ushered the team off the court with a standing ovation.

"I'm really proud of the way we continued to play the same way throughout the game," Bosh said.

The win was No. 5 out of 16 for head coach Jay Triano, who succeeded Sam Mitchell a month ago.