Los Angeles: Kyle Lowry scored 24 points and DeMar DeRozan had 21 as the Toronto Raptors beat the San Antonio Spurs for the first time in over two years with a 86-83 victory on Friday. DeRozan also added six assists and seven rebounds for the Raptors who improved to 31-13 on the NBA season and 17-3 at the Air Canada Centre arena. The Spurs, who own the best home record in the league at 19-2, had won four straight against the Raptors. The last time Toronto beat San Antonio was 97-94 on December 2015.
Centre Jonas Valanciunas had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds in front of a sold out crowd of 19,800.
LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Spurs who were missing several key players with injuries, including Manu Ginobili (right thigh contusion) and Kawhi Leonard (quadriceps).
Fred VanVleet, who bruised his knee in Monday’s 117-111 loss in Philadelphia, did not play for the second game in a row for Toronto.
DeRozan said San Antonio is a tough team even without their stars.
“They’re just a product of the San Antonio Spurs,” said DeRozan. “What they’re capable of every single night, with their starters or without their starters, they’re a well-rounded group. Everybody understands their roles and they play extremely hard.”
Elsewhere, Dillon Brooks scored a career-best 22 points, Ben McLemore had a season-high 21 and the Memphis Grizzlies won their third straight with a 106-88 win over the Sacramento Kings.
The game marked Zach Randolph’s first game in Memphis since spending eight years as a key player in the franchise.
Randolph was greeted with a standing ovation when he was introduced with the starting lineups and the management showed a tribute video between the first and second quarters.
Randolph finished with four points and six rebounds for the Kings, who have lost seven straight.
De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 16 points and six assists. Tyreke Evans added 14 points for Memphis.
In Detroit, Bradley Beal and Kelly Oubre had 26 points apiece, and the Washington Wizards scored 45 in the third quarter before holding off the Detroit Pistons 122-112. — AFP
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