DeRozan lifts Raptors’ to win over Pelicans

DeMar Derozan says there’s no better feeling than having the ball in his hands when the clock is ticking down in a close game.

DeRozan scored 10 of his 33 points in the final two-and-ahalf minutes Thursday, lifting the Toronto Raptors to a thrilling 122-118 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

“It’s everything,” DeRozan said. “As a competitor, you want to be in the situation where you just indulge in the moment, in the crowd on their feet, close game, it starts getting loud . . . It’s one of those feelings that you dream about and you try and reenact when you’re a kid, watching all your favourite players. It’s always big for me to just be in that moment.”

Serge Ibaka added 19 points, Kyle Lowry finished with 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and Jonas Valanciunas grabbed a teamhigh 13 boards for Toronto (7-4).

Jrue Holiday had 34 points to top the Pelicans (6-6) in their first loss in four games, while DeMarcus Cousins added 20 and Anthony Davis finished with 18.

Two nights after the Raptors’ ugly 119-114 win over Chicago, the game was an entertaining affair that saw the lead change hands 22 times.

The Raptors led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter, and then nine in the third, but by the end of the third quarter, the game was all tied up at 9292.

The Pelicans led by four points in the fourth but the Raptors found another gear, and when DeRozan fell under the basket while driving to the hoop, but still managed to find a wide-open Lowry lurking at the three-point line, Lowry’s long bomb gave Toronto a 109-107 lead with 3:20 to play.

New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry called it the “biggest play of the game.” The Raptors never trailed after that.

“(DeRozan) falls in the lane and in some kind of way gets it to Kyle for a three-point shot,” Gentry said. “That’s a possession that we should have had, at worst, a jump ball.”

Leading by two, and with a noisy and capacity Air Canada Centre crowd of 19,800 on its feet, DeRozan scored with 33 seconds left to give the Raptors a four-point cushion. DeRozan’s pair of free throws with 15 seconds left would prove the game-clincher.

The Pelicans posed a huge frontcourt challenge in Cousins and Davis, who are top six in the league in both points and rebounding.

The Horns men (1-6-1) look to put an end to a six game losing streak as they face the Golden Bears (8-00) starting tonight at 7 p.m.

The Pronghorns have scored the fewest goals in Canada West with 15 goals in eight games. They have also allowed the second-most goals against with 35.

The Pronghorns power play is ranked seventh (10.5 per cent) and the penalty killing unit is ranked sixth (76.7 per cent).

Horns captain Mitch Maxwell leads the Pronghorns in scoring with four goals and 13 points in eight games. Justin Valentino is the only other Pronghorns with more than one goal on the season with two.

Goaltender Garret Hughson has started five of the team’s eight games and has a 1-3-1 record with a 3.62 goals against-average and a 0.895 save percentage.

Saturday’s game is at 5 p.m.

The men’s and women’s games will also be streamed live on