Lowry & Raptors rip Nets

TORONTO — Kyle Lowry had 25 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in his 10th triple-double with Toronto, Jonas Valanciunas scored 23 and the Raptors beat Brooklyn 116-112 on Friday night for their 12th straight victory over the Nets.

DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points, Fred VanVleet had 16 and Pascal Siakam 11 as the Eastern Conference leaders bounced back from Wednesday’s loss at Cleveland.

D’Angelo Russell had 18 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his first career triple-double, but the Nets lost their second straight. Brooklyn, which let a 23-point lead slip away in Wednesday’s loss to Charlotte, couldn’t maintain a 14-point cushion over the Raptors.

Serge Ibaka scored 10 points for the Raptors, who improved to 30-6 at home — the best record in the NBA.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Allen Crabbe each scored 18 points, DeMarre Carroll had 14 and Jarrett Allen 13 for the Nets.

Brooklyn led 91-84 through three quarters but DeRozan scored eight points in a 9-2 spurt that cut it to 95-94 with 8:30 left.

Lowry gave Toronto its first lead of the second half with four straight free throws, putting the Raptors up 100-99 with 4:50 remaining.

Allen answered with a pair at the line before VanVleet hit a 3-pointer, giving Toronto the lead for good. Lowry followed with a layup and Valanciunas added a pair of free throws.

Carroll’s 3 with 34 seconds left cut it to 112-109, and an errant pass by Valanciunas gave the Nets the ball at the Raptors end of the floor, but Brooklyn was called for a five-second violation on the inbounds pass.

The Nets led 32-31 after one at 64-59 at halftime.

Toronto called a timeout at 8:13 of the third after a 3 by Crabbe capped a 10-1 run that put Brooklyn up 78-67.

—Associated Press