DeRozan leads Raptors past Hornets

Dwane Casey admitted it wasn’t pretty, but Sunday’s 10398 Raptors victory over the visiting Charlotte Hornets showed the growth of his group.

DeMar DeRozan had a teamhigh 19 points, eight assists and four rebounds as Toronto stretched its win streak to four games and improved to a league-best 26-5 at home this season.

“A year ago, we would’ve probably lost the game,” Casey said. “But I think our guys are mature enough to make plays, the right plays — they’re dog days of the year right now. You can’t see the end of it, but it’s quite a few games to go and we’re playing like it.

“(Charlotte) didn’t play exactly their style of play either. Both teams were kind of sloppy.”

Jonas Valanciunas chipped in 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors (45-17), while Kyle Lowry added 14 and 10. C.J. Miles and Fred VanVleet each had 12 points off the bench.

The victory gave Toronto a two-game lead on idle Boston atop the Eastern Conference standings. The Raptors swept the season series, winning all four games against the Hornets.

“There’s going to be moments like that when we feel like nothing’s going our way,” said DeRozan. “The feel for the game wasn’t all the way there for us, but we still managed to do the things we needed to do to get the win.

“You find yourself playing the exact same way as them and you kind of get caught up in it, they kind of lure you that way. We got out of character a little bit, but we still managed.”

Kemba Walker had a gamehigh 27 points, six rebounds and four assists to lead the Hornets (28-36), who have now lost three straight. Frank Kaminsky III added 15 points and four rebounds off the bench and Jeremy Lamb added 16 points.

Charlotte cut Toronto’s lead to two with 5:11 to play in the fourth, but Kyle Lowry responded for the Raptors draining a 27-foot threepointer. Toronto led by at least three the rest of the way.

Ibaka had 17 and Valanciunas added 16 as the Raptors led 82-69 after three.

Walker had 15 points for Charlotte while Nicolas Batum and Dwight Howard each had 10 through three quarters.

Canadian Press photo Toronto Raptors forward C.J. Miles (0) collides with Charlotte Hornets guard Jeremy Lamb on his way to the basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday in Toronto.