All-star guard Kyle Lowry had 21 points to lead the Raptors to a 112-94 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night, for Toronto's eighth win in a row.
DeMar DeRozan, who hopes to join Lowry at the all-star game, scored 18 points as the Raptors (29-15) shook off a slow start in the first quarter. Lowry added six assists, while Jonas Valanciunas had 20 points and eight rebounds despite early foul trouble.
It is Toronto's longest winning streak under head coach Dwane Casey and the franchise's longest run of victories since a nine-game stretch in 2002.
Chris Paul led the Clippers (28-16) with 23 points and 11 assists. J.J. Redick had 17 points, while DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and pulled down 13 rebounds.
Lowry was voted by fans to be one of the Eastern Conference's starters for the All-Star Game on Feb. 14 at Toronto's Air Canada Centre. DeRozan can still be selected as an all-star. The NBA's 30 head coaches will select the reserves for the All-Star Game in a vote that will be revealed on Thursday.
Bismack Biyombo brought the crowd to its feet and tied the game 34-34 with an emphatic put-back dunk. It punctuated a 7-0 Raptors run to open the second quarter.
Patrick Patterson drained a 23-foot three-pointer to cap a 17-1 run by Toronto to start the second quarter and give the Raptors a 44-34 lead. L.A. called a 20-second timeout to regroup after Patterson's field goal.
With 1:02 left in the half, boos rained down when Valanciunas was called for his third personal foul of the night. Replays on the big screen showed that the whistle had come after Clippers forward Luc Mbah A Moute bumped into teammate Jordan. The Raptors led 62-49 after two quarters.
DeRozan closed out the third quarter with a 24-foot three-pointer to give Toronto an 83-71 lead. Clippers forward Wesley Johnson clanked a three-point attempt off the rim and into Biyombo's hands in the dying seconds of the period.
That was as close as Los Angeles would get, with Toronto pouring it on in the fourth quarter. Lowry added another six points in the frame as the Clippers and Raptors both put their reserves out on the floor with Toronto hovering around a 20-point lead.
Biyombo went 1 for 2 at the free throw line with less than a second left in the first quarter to pull Toronto to within seven of the Clippers. Los Angeles rode the exterior shooting of Redick and Paul, coupled with the tough interior presence of Jordan for a 34-27 lead after the first.
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