DeMar DeRozan stars as Toronto Raptors edge out Phoenix Suns 101-97: NBA Recap
DeMar DeRozan dropped 23 points to lift Toronto Raptors to a 101-97 win over the Phoenix Suns here at Air Canada Center on Friday night. Amir Johnson scored 16 points and grabbed 6 rebounds while Kyle Lowry finished off with 15
points and 7 rebounds for the Raptors, who snapped a six game losing streak.
The Suns are now 1-3 down in their current road trip with two more games to go. Five Suns made it into the double digit scoring figures. Marcin Gortat led the pack with 14 points and 6 rebounds, Shannon Brown and Jared Dudley also
shared the spoils with 14 points each, while Goran Dragic chipped in with 13 points for the visitors.
Toronto had a sluggish start to the game and were outscored 25-19 in the first period before they found their rhythm and came back to snatch the lead. Raptors have lost quite a number of recent games late in the fourth quarter.
They once again made it hard on themselves in the final period, but survived the late charge by the Suns to emerge victorious.
Dragic drained a three pointer in the early going of the first period to put the Suns up 12-6. DeRozan pulled back three before the Suns went on a quick 7-0 burst capped off by a Dragic layup to push their lead to 19-9. Shannon
Brown made a layup to open up a 10 point lead on 25-15 before the Raptors pulled back four at the close of the period to reduce the deficit.
The Raptors got off to a great start in the second period and two back to back shot from behind the arc tied the score on 29 early in the period. Moments later, Mickael Pietrus sank one from downtown too to make it all square on
36. This trend continued till the end of the period and Kyle Lowry beat the buzzer with a three pointer to make it a one point game on 51-52 for the Raptors.
Linas Kleiza opened up the third period for the Raptors with a three pointer which was countered soon by a Michael Beasley shot from downtown to put the Suns up 57-56. Both teams kept each other in check and did not allow the other
to pile up a large advantage in the period. The Suns were up 76-75 with 57.9 seconds to go in the quarter before the Raps scored the last five points in the period going up 80-76.
Toronto got off to a great start in the final period and raced to 87-78 lead. Suns came back to make it a three point game on 89-92 and slashed the deficit further down to 95-96 with 2:34 minutes left on the clock. They were trailing
97-98 before the Raptors scored the final three points of the game on free throws to edge out Phoenix 101-97.
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