Raptors roll Kawhi-free
Taking over with Kawhi Leonard getting a night off, Kyle Lowry delivered 28 points and 12 assists last night to help the Toronto Raptors stay perfect with a 117-113 victory over the Wizards in Washington.
The Raptors rested Leonard on the second half of a back-to-back and third game in four days to open the season.
Washington finished the game without ejected coach Scott Brooks. Bradley Beal scored 32 points, going 6-for-11 on 3s, and John Wall added 25 points and six assists for the Wizards.
Beal broke Washington’s franchise record for most 3-pointers in a career, surpassing Gilbert Arenas’ previous mark of 868 by making his 869th with a little more than 41⁄2 minutes left in the game. Less than a minute later, he made another 3, cutting Washington’s deficit to 106-101, then skipping down the court.
Moments after that, Beal was called for charging, and at the other end, Lowry sank a 3-pointer while falling into the lap of a front-row spectator. That put Toronto back ahead 109-101 with 3 minutes remaining.
Two more baskets by Lowry followed, and Fred VanVleet added a jumper that made it 115-11 with 14.6 seconds to go.
Sixers 116, Magic 115 — JJ Redick hit a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left to lift host Philadelphia past Orlando.
Redick had his best game since moving to the Sixers bench at the start of the season, scoring 31 points on 10-of-20 shooting, including eight 3-pointers.
Aaron Gordon had a chance to tie it with 10 seconds remaining but missed his second free throw, and a desperation heave by Terrance Ross missed the net entirely.
Joel Embiid had 32 points and 10 rebounds for the 76ers, including 19 points by halftime. He did it with an outside game in the first half but was more of a force down low after intermission.
Dario Saric scored 13 points and Robert Covington had 12 for the 76ers.
Evan Fournier had 31 points to lead Orlando. Nikola Vucevic added 27 points and Gordon had 20.
Ben Simmons left the game after the first quarter with a tight back, meaning Philadelphia had to lean that much more on Embiid and Redick.
Pacers 132, Nets 112 — In Indianapolis, Victor Oladipo had 25 points and seven rebounds to lead Indiana over Brooklyn.
Kyle O’Quinn came off the bench and scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. Bojan Bogdanovic and Tyreke Evans each scored 15 points for the Pacers, who bounced back following a loss at Milwaukee on Friday, the first night of a back-to-back.
Joe Harris and Caris LeVert each scored 19 points for the Nets, who have lost seven straight at Indiana.
Elsewhere in the NBA — Memphis Grizzlies forward JaMychal Green has undergone surgery after breaking his jaw during a victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.
The Grizzlies announced that Green broke his jaw while taking an elbow to the face during the third quarter of the 131-117 triumph.
Grizzlies officials said the 6-foot-9 forward had surgery yesterday morning. No additional information was provided.