Raptors make it five in a row
TORONTO 114, BROOKLYN 113 (OT)
NEW YORK — DeMar DeRozan scored 35 points, including a goahead three-point play with 26.1 seconds left in overtime, and the Toronto Raptors shook off a late injury to Kyle Lowry to beat the Brooklyn Nets, 114-113, in National Basketball Association action Monday night.
The Raptors lost a 10-point lead in the final 4½ minutes of regulation and then lost Lowry after a hard fall in OT, but at least won the game, just as they always do against the Nets. Toronto beat Brooklyn for the 10th straight time and won its fifth in a row overall.
Jonas Valanciunas had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors. Lowry finished with 18 points and 11 assists, but had to be carried off the court after landing on his lower back while going for a rebound.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored a career-high 31 points for the Nets, but his wild shot on a last drive went over the backboard.
Lowry had a run of seven straight Toronto points to keep a comfortable lead for the Raptors most of the fourth quarter. But suddenly the Nets got hot from three-point range, and eventually tied it at 107 on Allen Crabbe’s drive to the basket with 9.7 seconds remaining. He was hurt on the play and had to be helped off the floor.
Lowry was then hurt while going for an offensive rebound when he flipped backward over Nets’ Quincy Acy.
He got up and went back down with pain in both his back and legs, so much so that teammates trying to carry him off the court had to stop because it appeared Lowry was hurting too much.
TIP-INS Raptors: Serge Ibaka finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds . ... The Raptors play Cleveland and Golden State in a three-night span later this week. Nets: DeMarre Carroll was held out after injuring his right knee on the final possession of Brooklyn’s loss to Boston on Saturday, but coach Kenny Atkinson said the Nets were fortunate the injury wasn’t worse. The starting forward is day to day.
DEMAR-VELOUS
DeRozan won the NBA’s Eastern Conference player of the week honours for the third time this season after averaging a league-high 35.7 points in three games last week, highlighted by a franchise-record 52 points in a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 1.
DeRozan won the award for the weeks of Nov. 13-18 and Dec. 18-24, as well.
UP NEXT
Raptors: Host Miami on Tuesday. Nets: Host Detroit on Wednesday.