San Antonio Spurs edge out Toronto Raptors 111-106 in a double overtime thriller: NBA Recap
Tony Parker dropped 32 points and Tim Duncan added 26 as the San Antonio Spurs escaped with a 111-106 double O.T. win over the Toronto Raptors here at Air Canada Center on Sunday night. In the early goings of this season San Antonio
Spurs are the NBA’s best road team with a 7-1 away from home record after this win.
DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors once again with 29 points and 7 rebounds, Jonas Valanciunas had 22 points and 7 rebounds while Kyle Lowry collected 20 points and 8 boards for the home side. Ed Davis came off the bench to add a double-double
with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
It was close throughout the game and the score was tied a total of 16 times. Both teams kept each other in check and never really allowed the other to pile a big lead.
DeRozan made a jump shot to put the Raptors up 8-4 early in the first period. A Tony Parker layup for the Spurs tied the score on 12 before Raptors scored four straight points going up 16-12. Spurs replied with two back to back
three pointers to put them up 18-16, and the trading of leads continued till the end of the period.
The same trend continued in the second period and the lead kept changing hands frequently. A Valanciunas jumper tied the score at 43 and Davis made a layup, moments later to tie the score on 45. Both teams headed into second half
with the score level on 49.
The Raptors started the third period sharply; a 7-0 burst had them up 56-49 in no time and two DeRozan free throws pushed their advantage to 60-51. The Spurs started slashing the deficit slowly and a Ginobili jumper reduced the
Raptors’ advantage to 60-64. San Antonio kept chasing and were trailing by just 69-70 at the end of the third period.
Raptors were up 74-69 early in the fourth period after a Jose Calderon jumper before the Spurs made a push. Daniel Green nailed a three pointer for the Spurs to put them within 75-76 of the Raptors. The period was pretty cold as
a total of 37 points were scored in it. Spurs tried to pull away down the stretch and Duncan hook shot had them up at 88-86, with 1:28 on the regulation. A Ginobili foul gave away two free throws which from Valanciunas took full advantage to tie the score
and take the game to overtime.
In the bonus time, the Spurs were up 94-90 with less than 25 seconds to go. Lowry knocked down a three pointer at that point and after conceding a deuce, a DeRozan dunk had the Raps trailing with 95-96 with about 13 seconds to
go. The Spurs were up 97-95 after a Neal free throw but DeRozan made a buzzer beating layup to tie the score and extend the game to another overtime period.
The Spurs meant business in the second overtime; a Parker pull up jumper had them up 106-102 early. They were up 110-104 with 22.9 seconds to go and went on to win 111-106 eventually.
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