Lowry drives Raps’ comeback over Boston
TORONTO — Kyle Lowry scored 10 of 19 points in the fourth quarter to lead Toronto to a 109-96 victory over the Boston Celtics on Saturday, lifting the Raptors out of their four-game funk.
Lou Williams added 19 points, while James Johnson, Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas finished with 15 apiece for Toronto (25-11). Patrick Patterson finished with 10 points.
Kelly Olynyk of Kamloops had 23 points to top the Celtics (12-23), while Avery Bradley added 17.
The Raptors had been mired in their worst slump in more than a year, losers of four straight and five of their previous seven games before Saturday. Prior to this cold spell, they hadn’t lost more than two in a row this season.
Coach Dwane Casey, perhaps sensing an end to their funk, told reporters before tipoff that everyone would know when his team had its edge back.
“You’ll see it. Everybody will see it. It’s that obvious,” Casey said.
That moment seemingly came in the third quarter of a game that saw the Raptors get off to another sluggish start, but pick it up through the second and third quarters.
A step-back jumper from Lowry capped a 23-6 Raptors run that put Toronto up by 15 points and brought the capacity crowd of 19,800 at the Air Canada Centre out of its seats.
It was a strong performance in what was a homecoming of sorts for Olynyk. He was born in Toronto, where his mom Arlene was a scorekeeper for the Raptors and his dad Ken was the head basketball coach at the University of Toronto. The family moved to Kamloops when he was 12.