Kyle Lowry relishes any chance to raise his offensive game in the fourth quarter and the Toronto Raptors needed just about every one of his big baskets to hold off the Los Angeles Lakers.
Lowry scored 20 of his season-high 41 points in the fourth as the Raptors stopped a two-game losing streak with a 123-114 victory on Sunday.
He went five from six and hit three of his six three-pointers in the fourth quarter. With one high-difficulty shot after another, the diminutive guard kept the Raptors on top in the face of a persistent Los Angeles Lakers rally.
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA Today
“It was my time to go out there and be more aggressive,” said Lowry, who finished two points shy of his career high. “If it’s taking the extra shot or making more shots, or creating more shots, it’s just a chance to go out there and play basketball. Playing in the fourth quarter is really fun.”
Lowry also had nine rebounds and seven assists, while DeMar DeRozan scored 31 points in another big game in his hometown.
The Atlantic Division-leading Raptors’ two scoring stars got them back in winning form on the fifth stop of their six-game road trip.
“He could have had more,” DeRozan said of Lowry’s fourth-quarter dominance. “The fourth quarter has got to be ours on both ends. We’ve got to put our mark on it.”
Toronto got their fourth straight win over the Lakers, sweeping the season series for the second straight year.
Nick Young hit seven three-pointers and scored 26 points for the Lakers, who emerged from a miserable month with their 15th loss in 17 games, despite a stirring late surge.
“That’s a good team,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said of the Raptors. “They have some All-Star Olympians that really carried the load for them. [Lowry] had it cooking.”
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