Raptors down New Orleans
DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points to lift the Toronto Raptors to a thrilling 122-118 National Basketball Association victory over New Orleans on Thursday, ending the Pelicans’ three-game win streak.
Serge Ibaka added 19 points, while Kyle Lowry finished with 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds and Jonas Valanciunas grabbed a team-high 13 boards for Toronto (7-4).
Jrue Holiday topped New Orleans (6-6) with 34 points, while DeMarcus Cousins added 20 and Anthony Davis finished with 18.
Two nights after the Raptors’ ugly 119-114 win over Chicago, the game was an entertaining affair that saw the lead change hands 22 times.
The Raptors led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter, and then nine in the third, but by the end of the third quarter, the game was all tied up at 92-92.
The Pelicans led by four points in the fourth but the Raptors found another gear, and when DeRozan fell under the basket but still managed to find a wideopen Lowry lurking at the three-point line, Lowry’s long bomb gave Toronto a 109-107 lead with 3:20 to play.
Leading by two, and with a noisy and capacity Air Canada Centre crowd of 19,800 on its feet, DeRozan scored with 33 seconds left to give the Raptors a four-point cushion. DeRozan’s pair of free throws with 15 seconds left would prove the game-clincher.
The Pelicans posed a huge frontcourt challenge in Cousins and Davis, who are top six in the league in both points and rebounding.
“I’m sure in the history of the game, there’s been some pretty good bigs, but two that can do the same thing and really invert the floor as much as anything possible, they do a great job. … Our bigs’ job is cut out for them,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said before tip-off.
The Raptors now head on the road for three straight games, beginning Sunday in Boston. They’ll play at Houston and New Orleans and are back home Nov. 17.