Leonard scores 31 points as Raptors down Sixers
LOS ANGELES: Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points as the toronto rap to rs bounced back from their irst loss of the season to defeat the philadelphia 76 e rs in a hard-fought Eastern Conference duel on Tuesday.
Leonard, who had been rested in Toronto’s defeat against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, also had seven rebounds and four assists after the Raptors saw off a late charge from the Sixers to seal a 129-112 win.
The victory saw Toronto improve to 7-1 while the Sixers are 4-4 after another uneven performance from Brett Brown’s side.
Jonas Valanciunas scored 23 points while Kyle Lowry added 20 for the Raptors, who built up a comfortable 35-26 lead in the first quarter to take control of the contest thereafter.
“Good bounce back, good win,” Lowry said afterward. “It was a good win. We were very active tonight, we were all over the place. It was a very scrappy night defensively and our guys played really great on defense.”
Toronto led 67-53 at half-time and looked to be cruising to victory until a fightback from the Sixers late in the fourth quarter.
A three-pointer from Joel Embiid got the Sixers back to within striking distance at 117-111 with 3min 30sec left in the fourth quarter before Toronto went on a 12-0 run to clinch the game. cameroon star Embiid led the scoring for the Sixers with 31 points while Robert Covington had 15 points. J.J. Redick had 13 off the bench.
In Boston, Kyrie Irving scored 31 points to lead the Celtics to a 108-105 win over the Detroit Pistons.
Blake griffin had another solid outing for the Pistons with 24 points, but the Celtics subdued a fourth quarter Pistons rally to improve to 5-2 and move up to third in the Eastern Conference table. In Houston, the Rockets’ sluggish start to the season suffered another setback with a defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers.