Lowry shakes off back troubles in one of the best road wins
Nick Nurse gambled and won, and so did the Toronto Raptors.
Nurse got away with using a lineup of five backups in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, though they gave up a 19-8 run that almost squandered a double-digit lead, and the Raptors survived to post an impressive 119-107 road victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.
With Serge Ibaka on the bench with five fouls and Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard getting their usual rest, Nurse rode a backup group of Delon Wright, Fred VanVleet, Norm Powell, OG Anunoby and Greg Monroe for just enough time.
And when a 21-point lead had been cut to nine, Leonard, Lowry, Ibaka and Pascal Siakam came back to sew up one of the team’s best road wins of the season.
Leonard finished with 24 points, including 16 made free throws, and Ibaka had 20 despite the foul trouble and having to battle Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid. Embiid finished with 37 points to lead the Sixers.
Lowry, who was listed as “doubtful” for the game a day earlier with a sore back, shook off any doubt with a solid night, equalling his season-high with five three-pointers as part of a 20-point night.
“I don’t know who listed me as doubtful,” the Philadelphia native told reporters Tuesday morning. “I didn’t list myself as doubtful. I never wasn’t planning on playing.”
Foul plagued: Ibaka was having an excellent night until he picked up his fourth and fifth personal fouls within seconds of each other about two minutes into the third quarter.
Ibaka had been more than holding his own against Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid but had to sit for an extended period of the second half.
He finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, extending his career-best streak of doubledoubles to seven.
Wright stuff: Delon Wright had one of his best games of the season Sunday against the Clippers on Sunday, with 14 points in an aggressive performance. He only went 1-for-7 from the field Tuesday but continued to play aggressively, adding six points from the freethrow line.
Blistering start: The Raptors scored 72 points and led by 17 at halftime. It was their highest scoring first half of the season and tied the highest scoring half in any game, 72 in Portland.
Shooting them up: Toronto will have a fourth participant in the NBA’s all-star weekend festivities Feb. 15-17 in Charlotte. Danny Green was named Tuesday night as a participant in the three-point shooting contest, joining all-stars Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry and OG Anunoby, who will play in the Rising Stars game on the Friday night.
Green will be up against Phoenix’s Devin Booker, Stephen Curry of Golden State, his brother Seth of Portland, Charlotte’s Kemba Walker, Joe Harris of the Brooklyn Nets, Buddy Hield of Sacramento, Portland’s Damian Lillard, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton and Dallas’s Dirk Nowitzki in the competition.
Up next: A busy couple of days. Practice in Philadelphia on Wednesday, trade deadline Thursday at 3 p.m., Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry find out which all-star teams they’re on that evening, and then a game against the Hawks in Atlanta on Thursday night.