Bench propels Raptors over Jazz
SALT LAKE CITY Kyle Lowry had 17 points and 11 assists to lead four Raptors with 17 points as Toronto beat the Utah Jazz 124-111 on Monday night.
Serge Ibaka, OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet also had 17 points as the Raptors were bolstered with six players in double figures to win their fourth straight game.
The matchup lost some lustre — and nearly 49 points a game — when Utah’s Donovan Mitchell was ruled out with a left ankle sprain and Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard sat with a sore left ankle as well.
Alec Burks led Utah with 22 points and Rudy Gobert had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Raptors broke the game open with a 15-3 run that bridged the second and third quarter. The spurt was capped when Danny Green hit a 3-pointer to make it 71-55 for Toronto, which stretched the lead to as many as 26 early in the final period.
ROCKETS 98, PACERS 94
INDIANAPOLIS — James Harden made a tiebreaking 3pointer with 34.8 seconds left and then closed out the Houston Rockets’ victory over the Indiana Pacers by making four straight free throws.
The reigning MVP scored 28 points as the Rockets won their third straight since starting 1-5. And the victories have been coming in large part because of an improving defence. It’s the fourth time in six games the usually highscoring Rockets failed to hit the 100-point mark.
THUNDER 122, PELICANS 116
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder won their fifth straight game by beating New Orleans, but they lost star point guard Russell Westbrook to a sprained left ankle.
Julius Randle scored 28 points and made all 10 of his shots for the Pelicans.
BULLS 116, KNICKS 115, 2 OT
NEW YORK — Zach LaVine scored a career-high 41 points, including the game-winning free throw with 0.2 seconds left, as Chicago beat New York in double overtime. Enes Kanter led the Knicks with 23 points and 24 rebounds.
Emmanuel Mudiay’s coast-tocoast layup tied the score with 2.7 seconds left. Lavine, who scored all eight of Chicago’s points in the second OT, was then fouled by Mudiay and made the first free throw.
MAGIC 102, CAVALIERS 100
ORLANDO, Fla. — Evan Fournier hit a 22-foot jumper at the final horn and Orlando came back from a five-point deficit in the last 24 seconds, taking advantage of a late collapse by struggling Cleveland.
HEAT 120, PISTONS 115, OT
DETROIT — Josh Richardson scored 27 points to lead short-handed Miami past Detroit in overtime.
Richardson hit four clinching free throws in the final 2.1 seconds, ending Miami’s three-game skid. Detroit has dropped five in a row.
Andre Drummond had 25 points for Detroit, and the NBA rebounding leader pulled down 24 boards.