Point guards Sergio Rodriguez and Jose Manuel Calderon have gone from bit-part players to vital contributors for Portland and Toronto, respectively.

And Jorge Garbajosa is turning into quite a side-kick for Chris Bosh in the Raptors’ frontcourt.

All four Spaniards, key main in their country’s gold medal triumph at the FIBA World Championship in the summer, had solid games on Wednesday.

Calderon came off the bench for Toronto and played more than 23 minutes, scoring 11 points on five of eight shooting and dishing out nine assists as Toronto rolled to a 101-85 win over an out-of-sorts Sacramento.

"Jose has been playing great for us all year and tonight he had one of his biggest games," team-mate Mo Peterson said.

"He not only ran the team and got guys the ball, defensively he played well and he made some big shots for us."

Garbajosa also put his recent struggles to the side and poured in 16 points on seven of 15 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers, while also hauling down six rebounds in 39 minutes.

He was important in the clutch as well.

Toronto trailed, 69-68, going into the final period but opened with a 14-5 run, capped by Garbajosa’s three-pointer and three-point play for an 82-74 lead with 7:47 remaining.

Rodriguez, who had a breakout game on Saturday against Denver with a career-high 23 points, played over 23 minutes in the Trail Blazers’ 94-76 thumping of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The point guard finished with nine assists.

Gasol played more than 45 minutes and had 12 points and 12 rebounds in Memphis’ 116-102 triumph over Philadelphia.

Ilyasova hits career-high in Bucks’ triumph

The Milwaukee Bucks’ Ersan Ilyasova is making the most of the injury crisis in his team.

In more than 31 minuts on the floor against the Chicago Bulls, he scored a career-high 22 points and collected nine rebounds but the Bucks lost, 99-90.

"Ersan shot with confidence and he's getting an opportunity and he's making the most of it," Stotts said. "I was pleased, obviously, with the way he played. Like most guys, I'm sure he'd rather have a win."

Indeed he would.

"Defensively, we didn't play well," said Ilyasova, who was voted MVP of the Ostchem U20 European Championship Men in Izmir last year. We gave up easy layups and too many turnovers. I don't know why. I think we've got to pick it up, just looking forward."

The Bulls’ international contingent also shone.

Argentina’s Andres Nocioni scored 21 points, London-born Ben Gordon had 20 and Britain’s Luol Deng scored 19 and grabbed nine rebounds for Chicago, who outscored the Bucks, 32-17, in the final period to secure the victory.

Bryant bowls over Spurs

Kobe Bryant collected 34 points and eight assists and led three players in double figures as the Los Angels Lakers won their third consecutive game with a 100-96 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Bryant, a member of the Team USA squad, connected on 12 of 19 shots and made 10 of 11 free throws en route to his 12th 30-point game this season, while also grabbing six rebounds.

France’s Tony Parker scored 25 points for San Antonio, who have dropped two straight games after a four-game winning streak.

Parker and Argentina’s Manu Ginobili had combined to score 10 points during a 12-2 surge to help the Spurs open a 91-90 advantage with 2:54 remaining but they could not hold on.

Hawks swoop

FIBA World Championship star Joe Johnson of Team USA scored 29 points and dished eight assists and high-flying Josh Smith scored 21 points as the Atlanta Hawks coasted to their third straight win with a 105-88 triumph over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Canada ace Nash leads Suns

Steve Nash collected 21 points and 14 assists and Raja Bell scored nine points in a decisive fourth quarter run as the Phoenix Suns posted a 100-91 victory over the Houston Rockets.
Amare Stoudemire of Team USA also contributed 22 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenix, who shot 17 of 34 (50%) from the arc to extend their winning streak to 11 games.

The Butler did it

Caron Butler scored the crucial basket with two seconds remaining as the Washington Wizards secured a dramatic 99-98 victory over the New York Knicks to record a second straight win.

Butler contributed 27 points and 10 assists for Washington, who won despite Gilbert Arenas shooting just four of 14 from the field.

Washington trailed 98-97 with with 12.4 seconds remaining, but DeShawn Stevenson drove from the left wing and found a wide-open Butler under the basket for the game winning score.

Carter leads Nets past Bobcats

Vince Carter scored 26 points and Jason Kidd added 17 as the New York Nets won for the seventh time in nine games with a 92-85 triumph over the Charlotte Bobcats.

New Jersey built a 23-point lead in the third quarter and took their road record to 6-10 this season by winning for the fifth straight time on the Bobcats home court.

Williams fires Jazz past Detroit

Deron Williams scored a career-high 31 points and had handed out 10 assists and Mehmet Okur added 22 points as the Utah Jazz snapped a four-game losing streak with a 100-99 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

Ross is the boss

Quinton Ross scored a career high 24 points and Sam Cassell added 23 and 13 assists as the Los Angeles Clippers recorded a 115-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors to snap a two-game losing streak.

Article courtesy of www.fiba.com