Lowry triple-double helps Raps beat Lakers
LOS ANGELES — DeMar DeRozan scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half and the Toronto Raptors rallied late for the first victory on their six-game trip, 101-92 over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
Kyle Lowry added 11 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in his eighth triple-double for the Raptors, who beat the Lakers for the fifth straight time. Serge Ibaka had 18 points and eight rebounds, and Pascal Siakam added 18 points for Toronto.
The lead changed hands 15 times in the second half before Toronto took charge midway through the fourth quarter on a six-point flurry by DeRozan, the Compton native playing in his 600th game for the Raptors.
Lonzo Ball had five points, six assists and seven rebounds on his 20th birthday for the Lakers, who haven’t beaten Toronto since 2014.
• Timberwolves 119, Thunder 116 — At Minneapolis: Karl-Anthony Towns had 33 points and 19 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves held off the Oklahoma City Thunder 119-116 on Friday night.
Timberwolves guard Jimmy Butler, back after missing two games with an upper respiratory infection, came up big down the stretch. He scored nine points in the final 4:09 to help the Wolves close it out. Butler finished with 25 points and was 11 of 13 at the free throw line.
Russell Westbrook led the way for Oklahoma City with 27 points. He had nine assists and eight rebounds, falling just shy of a triple-double. Carmelo Anthony added 23 points for the Thunder.
It was the second time in a week the Timberwolves edged the Thunder in a close game. Minnesota won Sunday in Oklahoma City on a buzzer-beater by Andrew Wiggins.
• Knicks 107, Nets 86 — At New York: Kristaps Porzingis had 30 points and nine rebounds, and the New York Knicks beat the Brooklyn Nets 107-86 on Friday night for their first victory of the season.
Rookie guard Frank Ntilikina also broke the ice with his first NBA points and finished with nine as the Knicks became the last team in the league to get a win this season.
They did it with a surprisingly strong defensive effort that shut down the NBA’s highest-scoring team, holding the Nets about 35 points below their average.
New York blew it open with a 25-6 run in the third quarter that turned a threepoint lead into a 72-50 cushion and coasted from there.
• Nuggets 105, Hawks 100 — At Atlanta: Nikola Jokic recorded a doubledouble with 18 points and 15 rebounds, Will Barton and Gary Harris each scored 18 points and the Denver Nuggets beat Atlanta 105-100 on Friday night in the Hawks’ home opener.
Emmanuel Mudiay had 16 points for Denver (2-3). It was the Nuggets’ first win in Atlanta in six years.
Jokic, the third-year center from Serbia, helped Denver overcome Atlanta’s 14 3-pointers.
Paul Millsap, the former four-time AllStar for the Hawks, had 16 points and six rebounds for Denver in his return to Atlanta.
Dennis Schroder, back in the lineup after missing two games with a sprained left ankle, led Atlanta with 20 points. Schroder’s steal and layup cut Denver’s lead to 101-98 with 1:22 remaining. Jokic answered with a jumper.
• Magic 114, Spurs 87 — At Orlando, Fla.: Evan Fournier scored an efficient 25 points and the Orlando Magic handed the San Antonio Spurs their first loss, 114-87 on Friday night.
Fournier made 10 of 12 shots, including all four of his 3-point tries.
It was the third straight win for the Magic, who got 17 points from Jonathon Simmons, 16 from Aaron Gordon and 15 from Nikolai Vucevic. Orlando shot 57.1 percent while limiting the Spurs to 33.7 percent.
San Antonio lost for the first time in five games, and it wasn’t close. Orlando led by 14 after the first quarter, 27 points at halftime and by 36 points during the second half.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 11 rebounds for San Antonio. Patty Mills added 12 points, and Pau Gasol scored 12 points with 11 rebounds.
• Rockets 109, Hornets 93 — At Charlotte, N.C.: James Harden had 27 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets made 22 of 57 3point attempts in a 109-93 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night.
The Rockets nearly broke their own NBA regular season records of 24 3pointers made and 61 3-pointers attempted set last December.
Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson led the 3-point barrage. Gordon was 6 of 16 from beyond the arc and had 26 points, while Anderson was 6 of 15 and finished with 21 points.
The Rockets took advantage of the Hornets’ cold shooting in the first half and took a 10-point lead at halftime. The Hornets started the second half on an 80 run but could never get the lead and the Rockets pulled away in the fourth quarter.