Raptors sweep at home to start

Toronto taking 2-0 lead to Washington thanks to shining effort from DeRozan

TORONTO (CP) — DeMar DeRozan had one of the finest post-season performances of his career to give the Toronto Raptors a historic 2-0 lead in their opening-round playoff series with Washington.

But it took some prompting from teammate Kyle Lowry for DeRozan to talk about his accomplishment.

DeRozan matched his playoff-high with 37 points as the Raptors beat the Wizards 130-119 on Tuesday night, taking a 2-0 series lead for the first time in history.

“DeMar is an unbelievable player, all-NBA, MVP-type calibre player,” Lowry said.

“Every year I’ve been with him, he’s just continued to get better,” Lowry added.

Asked if the game is slowing down for him, DeRozan replied with a “Matrix” reference: “I’m like Neo now.”

Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and C.J. Miles added 18 points, while Lowry had 13 and 12 assists. Delon Wright tallied 11 points, while Serge Ibaka chipped in with 10 for the Raptors, who had 13 three-pointers on the night.

John Wall had 29 points to top Washington, while Mike Scott added 20. The series now moves to Washington for Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday.

“We’re down 2-0, but we have a lot of confidence,” Wall said.