Lowry takes the ball and runs with it
Desperate for a victory, Kyle Lowry strapped his Toronto Raptors teammates to his back and carried the team to a massive 108- 106 win over the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday night at the ACC.
Lowry scored 33 points — none bigger than an absurd long two- pointer with Solomon Hill draped all over him — that gave the Raptors a two- point edge with 4.3 seconds remaining in overtime and the muchmaligned defence came through in the second half.
With l osses in si x- ofseven coming in, no DeMar DeRozan and a date at now division- leading Boston less than 24 hours away at tipoff time, the Raptors dug deep to overcome another dreadful defensive start.
Struggling through the worst defensive st r etch of t he season, t he Raptors piled up a number of strong late defensive stands against the Pelicans.
Most notably, there was a Jonas Valanciunas block to force overtime, two straight great stands in the extra frame and then a forced E’Twaun Moore air ball after Lowry’s winner.
It was not a classic game by any stretch.
Pelicans superstar Ant hony Davis was awful, shooting 4- for-18, including 2- for-16 until he hit two big field goals in overtime, and non- Lowry Raptors shot 4- for- 17 from three- point range and Toronto gave up 13 offensive rebounds to a team posting the worst offensive rebounding numbers heading i n, but the Raptors will definitely take it.
Lowry hit a big three to put Toronto up for with just under two minutes remaining in extra time, but Davis finally connected a couple of times, setting up the ridiculous Lowry finish.
They will be asking a lot of Lowry to match this performance in Boston after playing 45 minutes, but there was no way to get him more rest.
Both t eams had t heir chances in the fourth quarter, culminating in a Lowry turnover with 23 seconds left that gave the Pelicans the ball back in a tied game. But Valanciunas guarded the rim expertly, giving Toronto another chance.
One that the gritty group eventually took advantage of.