RED- HOT RAPTORS RACK UP NINTH STRAIGHT WIN AT HOME

DeMar DeRozan poured in 31 points to lift the Toronto Raptors to a 114-105 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday, tying the franchise record with their ninth consecutive win at home. Kyle Lowry added 21 points, while Cory Joseph had 18 points off the bench. Jonas Valanciunas chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds for Toronto ( 3818). Andrew Wiggins led the T- Wolves ( 18- 40) with 26 points, while Gorgui Dieng added 21. The last time the Raptors had won nine in a row at home was back in 1999. The Raptors put together a nine-point lead in the fourth, but the T-Wolves chipped away at it, and a putback dunk by Zack LaVine tied the game with 3: 48 to play. But Toronto’s all- stars Lowry and DeRozan drilled consecutive three- pointers, putting the Raptors ahead 107-101 with just under two minutes to play. Lowry and DeRozan would sink another pair of threes to seal the deal for Toronto and send the capacity crowd of 19,800 fans home happy.