Kyle Lowry tallied 24 points as the NBA-leading Toronto Raptors continued their dominance by storming back from a 17-point deficit to beat the resurgent Memphis Grizzlies 122-114 on Tuesday.
Four-time all-star Lowry, who also had six assists, has now scored in double figures in 16 consecutive games against the Grizzlies.
“It was a good win. We put ourselves in a hole and we had to dig ourselves out, but we did what had to do to win the game,” said Lowry.
Fred VanVleet also scored 18 points for the Raptors who have won nine of the last 11 contests against the Grizzlies including three of the last four in Memphis.
Toronto used a three point shooting barrage halfway through the fourth quarter to wipe out a Grizzlies’ lead and seize command in front of a crowd of 14,100 at the FedEx Forum. The Raptors outscored the Southwest Division leading Memphis 17-2 during that stretch and would never trail again.
VanVleet drained three shots from beyond the arc in the fourth and Lowry finished with five of eight attempted threes. VanVleet made all six shots he took in the game.
Kawhi Leonard delivered 17 points and 10 rebounds and Serge Ibaka added 16 for the Raptors who have compiled a sizeable winning streak since suffering a three-game losing skid.
They will face their biggest test on Thursday when they square off against the two-time defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors who could have Stephen Curry back.
Marc Gasol shot 10-of-14 from the field to finish with 27 points and Mike Conley had 20 points and six assists for the Grizzlies, who snapped a modest two game losing skid.
Coming into the contest, Conley had been held to just 21 points in his last two games against the Raptors. He has scored 12 or fewer in five of his last 10 contests against Toronto.
Elsewhere, Paul Millsap, Jamal Murray and Malik Beasley scored 20 points apiece, and the Denver Nuggets clobbered Los Angeles 117-85 to record their biggest victory ever over the Lakers.
Nikola Jokic added 14 points and Juancho Hernangomez had 12 for the Nuggets, whose 32-point win surpassed a 29-point victory in 1993. The Nuggets have also won four in a row.
LeBron James had a season-low 14 points for the Lakers, who suffered their worst loss of the season after shooting an embarrassing 14.3% from three-point range.
James also finished with a season-low two assists and went zero-of-four from beyond the arc. The Lakers made just five threes in the game.
Kyle Kuzma scored 21 points and Brandon Ingram added 14. The Lakers, who handed the Nuggets their first loss of the season in late October in Los Angeles, struggled to find their shooting against Denver’s rock solid defence.
Overall the Lakers were outshot 48.5% to 39.5%.
