NBA: Raptors beat Knicks for 10th straight victory
Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry (7) drives past New York Knicks’ Langston Galloway (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, in Toronto. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Kyle Lowry scored 26 points and added 10 assists as the Toronto Raptors stretched their winning streak to a franchise-record 10 games Friday with a 103-93 win over the New York Knicks.
The Raptors previous best winning streak was nine games in 2002.
The Raptors led by 10 points entering the fourth quarter and by as many as 14 points in the second. The Knicks rallied to within seven points in the fourth before the Raptors stretched the lead to 11 points on a three-pointer by Lowry with 1:45 remaining.
Lowry scored 10 points in the fourth quarter in front of a crowd of 19,800 at the Air Canada Center.
Guard DeMar DeRozan, who was named to the East all-star team earlier Thursday, had 26 points for the Raptors. Center Jonas Valanciunas added 11 points and had a season-best 18 rebounds, and forward Patrick Patterson added 10 points. Reserve guard Cory Joseph chipped in 11 points.
Asked if this was the best Raptor team DeRozan’s been a part of he said, “Yeah. By far, by far and we’ve still got a long way to go.”
Guard Arron Afflalo scored 20 points and for the Knicks, who have lost four straight.
Sasha Vujacic and Jerian Grant added 13 points each for New York and guard Langston Galloway had 12.
Pelicans sink Kings
Jrue Holiday came off the bench to score 25 points and Ryan Anderson tallied 30 points in the first half en route to 36 to power the New Orleans Pelicans past the Sacramento Kings 114-105 at Smoothie King Center.
Anderson’s 30 first-half points were the most scored by any NBA player this season in the first half, and also set a Pelicans franchise record for first-half scoring.
DeMarcus Cousins finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Ben McLemore matched him with 26 points for the Kings.
Turner shines in 1st start
In Indianapolis, Monta Ellis scored 25 points and rookie Myles Turner added 20 in his first career start to lead the Indiana Pacers over Atlanta 111-92 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
George Hill added 18 and Paul George had 11 for the Pacers despite making only two-of-11 field goal attempts.
Jeff Teague had 20 for the Hawks and Al Horford added 14.
“That probably was the most nervous I have been all season,” Turner said of his first start. “My role is to bring energy, and that is what I did tonight. We were tired of losing. We needed a win tonight.”
Grizzlies breeze past Bucks
The Memphis Grizzlies cruised to a 103-83 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks behind a team-high 21-point performance by reserve forward Jeff Green.
Memphis has won eight of its last 10 games and is seven games above .500 for the first time this season. The Grizzlies won their fifth straight at home and are 18-7 at home for the season.
Backup point guard Mario Chalmers had a team-high 10 assists to go with seven points. Point guard Mike Conley dished out nine assists with five points.
