DeRozan, Powell lead Raptors past Wizards
DeMar DeRozan scored 32 points, including a key 3-pointer late, and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Toronto Raptors defeated the Washington Wizards 114-106 on Friday night despite giving back a 19-point first-half lead.
Norman Powell added a seasonhigh 21 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter, as the Raptors (37-25) pulled back into a tie with the Wizards (36-24) for third place in the Eastern Conference.
Toronto also secured a 2-1 victory in the season series, a potential tiebreaker for playoff seeding, two days after losing to Washington 105-96 in the first game of a home-and-home set.
John Wall scored 30 points and Bradley Beal added 27 for Wizards, who have now lost nine consecutive regular season series to the Raptors.
Washington shot 37 per cent (34 of 92) from the floor. After their second unit played a key role in a 26-1 secondquarter run on Wednesday night, the Wizards’ bench was outscored 44-14 by the Raptors’ reserves.
Beal’s baseline 3-pointer gave Washington its only second-half lead at 72-71, before DeRozan hit a baseline jumper a few possessions later to give Toronto the lead for good, 76-74 late in the third.
Washington last got within one possession when Wall’s 3 cut it to 108105 inside a minute, but DeRozan answered with his own 3-pointer from an almost identical spot with 20.9 seconds left. TIP INS Raptors: Outscored Washington 16-0 in the paint to open the game . ... Shot above 60 per cent for most of the first half and entered halftime shooting 59.5 per cent (22 of 37) . ... Coach Dwane Casey picked up his 300th win.
Wizards: Assigned Chris McCullough to Northern Arizona of the NBDL . ... Wall had six of his seven assists in the second half . ... In his first game since signing with Washington after he was waived by the Knicks, G Brandon Jennings was scoreless on three field goal attempts over 10 minutes. JENNINGS’ ROLE With Jennings joining the Wizards, coach Scott Brooks is hopeful he can find a few extra chances to rest Wall.
“If I can get him to 35 (minutes per game),” Brooks said of Wall. “Right now, he’s a little over 36. So a couple of minutes here and there.” UP NEXT Raptors: Complete their 14th of 17 back-to-back game sets on Saturday in Milwaukee.
Wizards: Look to avoid a three-game season sweep when they welcome Orlando on Sunday.