DeRozan rallies Raptors in first-place showdown

DeMar DeRozan scored 41 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 18 points and 23 rebounds as the Toronto Raptors came back for a 114-106 win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night at Air Canada Centre.

The win ended a two-game slide and prevented Boston (2315) from pulling even with the first-place Raptors (25-13) in the Atlantic Division standings.

Toronto trailed by 16 points midway through the third quarter but DeRozan helped bring the Raptors back into the game in the fourth. He scored six straight points before Kyle Lowry hit a three-pointer with 2:41 left to give Toronto a 104-102 lead.

An Isaiah Thomas layup pulled Boston even but DeRozan hit a pair of clutch jumpers down the stretch as Toronto scored eight straight points to pull away.

Thomas led the Celtics with 27 points while Al Horford had 14 points and nine rebounds.

DeRozan also had 13 rebounds while Kyle Lowry added 24 points for Toronto, which ended Boston’s four-game winning streak.

Valanciunas was an early force for the Raptors, who wore their Huskies jerseys for the third time this season. He had eight rebounds and six points in the first eight minutes before coming out after picking up a pair of early fouls.

Lucas Nogueira gave Toronto a spark off the bench, converting an alley-oop pass from Lowry to give the Raptors a 21-14 lead. Nogueira also contributed at the defensive end moments later with a punishing block on Boston’s Jonas Jerebko.

Toronto led 23-18 after the opening quarter.

Thomas was called for a technical foul with 4:41 left in the second quarter and the game tied at 42. It seemed to spur the Celtics, who went on an 11-0 run until DeMarre Carroll hit a threepointer with 13.9 seconds left in the half.

The Raptors had 12 turnovers over the first two quarters, leading to 14 Boston points.