VanVleet’s career night carries Raptors past Heat
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Fred VanVleet scored a career-high 36 points and made seven
3-pointers, and the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors added to their strong restart with a
107-103 victory over the Miami Heat on Monday. VanVleet finished 7 of 12 from beyond the
3-point arc and was a perfect 13 of 13 from the foul line, besting his 34-point total against the Pelicans last December.
Pascal Siakam added 22 points and Kyle Lowry had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Raptors, who are 2-0 since play resumed last week. Toronto resumed its season by beating the Lakers and remains in second place in the Eastern Conference.
Goran Dragic had 25 points for the Heat.
Nuggets 121, Thunder 113, OT
Michael Porter Jr. scored a career-high 37 points and Nikola Jokic had a triple-double to help Denver top Oklahoma City.
Jokic had 30 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to help Denver strengthen its hold on third place in the Western Conference standings.
Porter, who averages just 7.5 points, had the big performance in only his third start of the season. His previous career high was 25 points. He also grabbed 12 rebounds.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points,
Chris Paul had 23 and Danilo Gallinari added 20 for the Thunder, who also were short-handed. Thunder coach Billy Donovan said Dennis Schroder, Oklahoma City’s No. 3 scorer for the season, left the bubble to join his wife for the birth of their second child.
Pacers 111, Wizards 100
T.J. Warren kept up his red-hot restart with 34 more points, helping Indiana pull away from Washington.
Two nights after scoring a career-best 53 points in the Pacers’ first game at Disney, Warren had 16 points in the third quarter to spark a 22-2 run after Washington had fought back into the game.
Warren shot 14 for 26 from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who improved to 2-0 since resuming the season. They played without star guard Victor Oladipo, who rested on the first night of back-to-back games.
Malcolm Brogdon had 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists in his Disney debut, and Myles Turner and Aaron Holiday each added 17 points.
Thomas Bryant had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Wizards, who fell to 0-3 at Disney and likely won’t be sticking around terribly long. They dropped to 7 1/2 games behind eighth-place Brooklyn and need to be within four games to force a play-in for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.