Sports shorts Raptors hold off Wizards

DeMar DeRozan scored 32 points, Kyle Lowry had 17 points and 10 assists and the Toronto Raptors beat the Washington Wizards 108-98 on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the first-round series.

Toronto rebounded after losing Games 3 and 4 in Washington to take a 3-2 series lead back to Washington for Game 6 on Friday night.

The only team in the NBA to avoid a threegame losing streak this season, the Raptors went 5-0 following back-toback losses during the regular season, and have not lost three straight since last year’s secondround sweep against Cleveland. The last time Toronto lost three regular season games in a row was from Feb 8 to 14, 2017.

Delon Wright scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and Jonas Valanciunas had 14 points and 13 rebounds as the Raptors improved to 5-0 in home Game 5s over the past five years.

John Wall had 26 points, and Bradley Beal added 20 for the Wizards. They went nearly four minutes without scoring down the stretch. Marcin Gortat had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Washington shot 8 for 24 in the fourth quarter, and Toronto had 15 rebounds in the final frame.

The Raptors won despite being out rebounded 50-35.

Toronto trailed 87-82 after a three-point play by Kelly Oubre Jr. with 8:52 left, but regained the lead with a 6-0 run over the next 1:20.

After Washington’s Markieff Morris dunked with 4:06 left, Wright replied with a 3 and, after a missed shot by Wall, converted a layup off a pass from DeRozan to give the Raptors a 99-93 lead with 2:59 remaining.

Washington didn’t score again until Beal’s 3 with 16 seconds left.

Before the game, players from both teams held up banners with the hashtag “TORONTO STRONG” and a moment of silence was held to honor the victims of the deadly van attack Monday in Toronto. The Raptors, the Wizards and the NBA will make a donation to a fund for victims and those affected by the incident.

HAWKS PART WAYS WITH

BUDENHOLZER » The Atlanta Hawks and coach Mike Budenholzer have mutually agreed to part ways.

The team announced the move Wednesday night.

Budenholzer was 213192 in the regular season and 17-22 in the playoffs in five seasons with Atlanta. The Hawks were an Eastern Conference worst 24-28 this season.