Lethbridge Herald

Raptors top Nets for fourth straight win

- THE CANADIAN PRESS — TORONTO

Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and 11 rebounds on Friday to lift the Toronto Raptors to their fourth consecutiv­e win, a lopsided 122-105 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

Eight Raptors scored in double figures. Pascal Siakam had 16 points, Serge Ibaka chipped in with 14 points and nine boards, OG Anunoby and Norman Powell had 13 points apiece, Delon Wright finished with 12, and Fred VanVleet and Greg Monroe each had 10 for the Raptors (32-12), whose seventh straight win at Scotiabank Arena tied their season high.

Leonard has scored 20-plus points in a career-high 18 straight games.

D’Angelo Russell had 24 points to top the Nets (21-22).

The Nets are seventh in the East but arrived in Toronto on a hot streak, and Raptors coach Nick Nurse expected a tough test.

“It’s a good team, man, 13 and 4 in their last 17. Somebody should talk about that,” Nurse said before tipoff. “I’ve been hearing about Boston’s 15 and 5 ... 13 and 4’s pretty good, too. These guys are playing well. They’ve got a system they’re running, got guys brought in to fit it.”

But the Raptors, who were playing the third of a three-game homestand, were in control for most of the night, shrugging off a lackadaisi­cal first-quarter defensive effort to take a 12-point lead in the second. By the end of the third quarter they led 99-75.

Nurse sat his starters for the final frame, allowing Leonard and Kyle Lowry a rare fourth quarter off. The Nets capitalize­d, slicing the Raptors’ lead to 13 points with a 12-0 run capped by a Shabazz Napier basket with five minutes to play.

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