Raps ruin return of Vinsanity
Toronto Raptors beat Kings 108-93 for ninth consecutive home win
TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points, while Jonas Valanciunas had 13 points and a season-high 16 rebounds to lead the Toronto Raptors over the Sacramento Kings 108-93 on Sunday, for their ninth consecutive home victory.
Six Raptors scored in double figures, as Kyle Lowry finished with 16, Norm Powell had 14, OG Anunoby had 11, and C.J. Miles chipped in with 10.
The Raptors (20-8) improved their NBA-best record at the Air Canada Centre to 11-1.
Garrett Temple and Bogdan Bogdanovic led the Kings (9-20) with 18 points apiece.
The game marked likely Vince Carter’s last at the Air Canada Centre. The 40-year-old signed a one-year, US$8-million deal with the Kings last off-season, for his 20th NBA season.
“It’s a guy that everyone appreciates in the league, especially myself, me being here so long now, the things he did for this country,” Lowry said. “Not started basketball, but made everyone want to do it, he made it cool. You’re inspired by a guy who’s 40 years old still playing basketball and he can still play it at a high level.”
Carter, who played six seasons for the Raptors, finished with just four points in 25 minutes, but the crowd saluted the veteran with a standing ovation when he fouled out of the game in the dying seconds.
The Raptors had beaten the Kings 102-87 in Sacramento on Dec. 10, but Sunday’s game was a see-saw battle that saw nine lead changes through the first three quarters. Toronto took an 83-77 advantage into the fourth in front a subdued crowd of 19,800, before back-to-back threes from Powell and Delon Wright give the Raptors a 12-point lead less than two minutes into the final frame.
The Kings would cut the lead to eight, but a buzzer-beater by Fred VanVleet had Toronto back up by 11 with 1:38 to play. Lowry drilled a three after the ensuing timeout for a 14-point lead, all but sealing the victory.
Neither team led by more than four points in a back-and-forth first quarter until Powell’s cutting layup with 1:05 left, and the Raptors went into the second quarter with a 35-30 lead.
Toronto stretched its advantage to seven in the second, but the Kings closed the half with a 16-7 run, capped by a 46-foot buzzerbeater from George Hill.
The Raptors are in Charlotte on Wednesday, and Philadelphia on Thursday before heading home to host the 76ers on Dec. 23.