WIN SNAPS RAPTORS MINI SKID.
21 POINTS FOR MILES
C. J. Miles had 21 points as the Toronto Raptors pulled away for a 96- 91 home win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.
Kyle Lowry added 18 points for the Raptors — who led by as many as 15 points in the contest — while DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points apiece.
Toronto (30-13) outscored Detroit 23- 18 in the final quarter to secure its first win in three games after losses to the Golden State Warriors and the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Raptors earned its third straight win over the Pistons.
Andre Drummond had 25 points for Detroit (22-21), which has lost three straight and four of its last five games.
Three-pointers from Miles and Lowry gave Toronto a 90- 83 advantage with 4: 47 to play before Valanciunas’s two free throws boosted the lead to 92- 83 with 2: 23 remaining. Avery Bradley’s three- pointer pulled Detroit to within 92-86 with 1:48 left before DeRozan countered with less than a minute to play to give the Raptors a 9488 lead.
Detroit pulled to within 94- 91 on Bradley’s threepointer but Delon Wright’s two free throws with 5.9 seconds remaining gave Toronto its winning margin.
Three-pointers from Dwight Buycks and Langston Galloway early in the fourth put Detroit ahead 79-75 before Miles’s threepointer and Jakob Poeltl’s basket gave Toronto a narrow 80-79 lead with 8: 44 remaining.
Drummond’s free throw with 20 seconds left pulled Detroit into a 73-73 tie at the end of the third. The Pistons again outscored Toronto 22-19 in the quarter to create the tie after Poeltl’s dunk with 32 seconds remaining gave the Raptors a 73-72 advantage.
Bradley’s driving layup with 19 seconds remaining capped a 16-7 Detroit run that cut Toronto’s half- time lead to 54- 51. The Pistons made 14- of-25 shots to outscore the Raptors 33- 23 in the quarter as Bradley finished the half with a team- high 11 points.
Valanciunas and Miles were Toronto’s leading scorers with 13 points as DeRozan was held scoreless.
DeRozan had 10 points to help stake Toronto to a 31-18 lead after the first. Detroit shot 30 per cent ( 6 of 20) from the field and was outre- bounded 17-10 as the Raptors made 11-of-26 shots (42.3 per cent) and led by as much as 15 points in the quarter.