Raptors beat Mavericks for 1st win in 3 games

TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points to lift Toronto 100-78 over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, a much-needed win in the Raptors’ battle for playoff positioning.

Jonas Valanciunas added 14 points and 12 rebounds as the Raptors (39-28) won for the first time in three games. Norman Powell chipped in with 19 points, while Patrick Patterson and Delon Wright added 11 apiece.

Dirk Nowitzki, who at 38 recently became one of six players in NBA history to score more than 30,000 points, led the Mavericks (28-38) with 17 points.

Back home after going 2-3 on the road, and playing their 10th straight game without three-time all-star Kyle Lowry, the Raptors led for much of the night but didn’t put double digits on their opponent until the third quarter. Toronto took a 79-66 advantage into the fourth.

Just two points were scored in the first four minutes of the fourth before Patterson knocked down a threepointer to give the Raptors an 18-point lead. He would drill another long bomb to stretch the gap to 21 points with 6:10 left in front of a capacity Air Canada Centre crowd of 19,800.

A basket by Powell with 4:04 left made it a 23-point game, sending some satisfied Raptors fans to the exits.

The Raptors shot 47 per cent on the night, and dominated the glass, outrebounding Dallas 53-34.

With 15 games left in the regular-season, the Raptors — fourth in the Eastern Conference — continue to chase Washington and Boston.