The game was played in Sioux Falls, SD.

Ryan Hollins had 14 points and five rebounds off the bench for the Timberwolves (3-5).

Chris Bosh put in a strong night with 27 points and 14 rebounds in the Raptors (2-6) losing effort.

Aleksandar Pavlovic put the game out of reach shortly into the fourth quarter with a three-pointer that made the game 80-68. Minnesota then held off the Raptors for the rest of the contest, despite a valiant effort in the attempted comeback.

Gomes gave the Timberwolves their first lead of the evening early in the third quarter with two free throws. Minnesota then began to pull away, going up 55-48 before Toronto stormed back to tie the game 57-57 with a Jose Calderon jump shot.

Minnesota’s Wayne Ellington nailed two straight jump shots, but Jarrett Jack hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to end the third with the Timberwolves up 72-64.

Raps start strong

The Raptors got off to a great start, leading 20-10 halfway through the first quarter, with Bosh and Andrea Bargnani adding six points each.

Minnesota did their best to chip away at Toronto’s lead, with both teams exchanging successful free throws and the period ended with the Timberwolves narrowing the score to 28-25. Gomes had seven points in the first.

Free throws continued to drop early in the second quarter with Hedo Turkoglu and Bosh each draining a couple.

Minnesota fought back briefly, before the Raptors pulled away again, highlighted by a DeMar DeRozan driving layup to go ahead 38-30.

The two teams then exchanged a flurry of baskets, which helped the Timberwolves make up some ground thanks to a Corey Brewer three-pointer late in the period. The half ended with the Raptors up by only two points 46-44.

Toronto will open the season Wednesday, at home, versus the Cleveland Cavaliers, while the Timberwolves host the New Jersey Nets on the same night.

Notes: Antoine Wright made his Raptors debut Friday, after missing the first seven pre-season contests with a sore right knee. He finished with eight points … He’s expected to challenge rookie DeRozan for the starting shooting guard position, the only position the Raptors don’t have figured out yet … Forward Amir Johnson returned to his old stomping grounds. He played in Sioux Falls a few years ago as part of the NBA’s developmental league … Minnesota was without two of their best players, as Kevin Love (broken left hand) and Al Jefferson (flu) missed the game. Both are key forwards for the Timberwolves.

The Raptors fell to 2-4, while the Rockets improved to 3-2.

Andrea Bargnani led the Raptors with 16 points, all in the first half. Chris Bosh and Hedo Turkoglu c0ntributed a quiet 13 and nine points respectively.

Toronto was expected to receive a big boost after Turkoglu made his debut Wednesday, but they have now gone 0-2 with all of their starting five players active.

Former Raptor Pops Mensah-Bonsu led the Rockets defensively with five blocks to go along with 17 points and seven rebounds coming off the bench.

The Rockets led 93-89 after three quarters before Battier hit a three to give Houston a seven-point edge early in the fourth.

Battier was red hot, finishing eight-for-nine from beyond the arc, and he made seven straight three-point attempts through the first three quarters.

Houston rode their momentum from the third quarter and went on a 10-4 run three minutes into the final frame. They had trailed by two midway through the third, but picked up the pace and took an 83-78 lead.

Raps fight back

Houston led by seven early in the first, but Toronto caught up and evened the score. Bargnani hit a field goal at the buzzer to give the Raptors a 29-28 lead after 12 minutes.

Toronto used its vision to create a few noteworthy plays in the second frame.

Bargnani faked a three-point attempt from the top of the key and dished it off to backup guard Marco Belinelli, who drove into the lane for the layup to put Toronto up by six.

A few minutes later, Jarrett Jack picked off a pass from Trevor Ariza and sent a no-looker to Amir Johnson, who threw down a monster jam, giving the Raptors a 43-33 edge.

The Raptors led 63-62 after 24 minutes.

They shot 50 per cent from field while the Rockets made 56 per cent of their shots.

Houston took a lot of chances from beyond the arc and made 13 out of 23 three-point attempts.

The Raptors will welcome the Boston Celtics into town on Sunday afternoon.

NOTES: Reggie Evans suffered a left foot sprain in Toronto’s loss to the Boston  on Wednesday. No timetable has been set for his return, but he is likely to miss the remainder of the pre-season.

According to a press release from the team, Bosh will miss the start of next week’s training camp in Ottawa with a strained left hamstring.

“He experienced initial discomfort last week while training in Dallas and reaggravated the hamstring during a workout Wednesday in Toronto,” the release said.

“He will be reevaluated when the team returns to Toronto and any update to his status will be released at that time.”

Bosh’s absence will hurt as the new-look Raptors try to gel together as a team.

Off-season moves leave only three returning players from last year’s roster and Bosh was set to be the centrepiece among all the new faces.

Through trades, signings and the draft, the likes of Marco Belinelli, Hedo Turkoglu, Jarrett Jack, Reggie Evans, Antoine Wright, Rasho Nesterovic, Amir Johnson, Sonny Weems and DeMar DeRozan will join the Raptors this season, completing changing the team’s chemistry.

Bosh is looking forward to playing with his new teammates and seeing what they were capable of.

“I think we’re looking like a good team,” he told the Globe and Mail. “I don’t want to do bad this year. I want this team [to] do well and be [as] successful as we can be.”

Questions about Bosh’s durability are now coming up, though. He has never played a full season, although he came close in 2004-05 with 81 appearances.

Most of Bosh’s layoffs have been due to issues with his knees and he has also missed time with groin, ankle and thumb injuries.

Bosh will become a free agent at the end of this season and most analysts predict he won’t be a Raptor this time next year.

Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo made so many off-season moves with the hopes of enticing Bosh to re-sign with the club.

The four-time all-star averaged a career-high 22.7 points and 10 rebounds last season.

Toronto will also be without Turkoglu for much of October as he rests following a hectic schedule with the Turkish national team.

The Raptors pre-season begins Oct. 6 in London, Ont. against the Philadelphia 76ers and the games count starting Oct. 28, as Toronto hosts the Cleveland Cavaliers.