Miles leads Raptors to win over Pistons

TORONTO — C.J. Miles had 21 points as the Toronto Raptors pulled away for a 96-91 home win over the Detroit Pistons in National Basketball Association action 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.

The Raptors earned their third straight win over the Pistons.

Andre Drummond had 25 points for Detroit (22-21), which has lost three straight and four of its past 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 94-88 lead.

Detroit pulled to within 94-91 on Bradley’s three-pointer 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’ 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 7373 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 halftime lead to 54-51. The Pistons made 14-of-25 shots to outscore the Raptors 33-23 in the quarter.

Valanuciunas and Miles were Toronto’s leading scorers with 13 points as DeRozan was held scoreless.