DeMar DeRozan matched his career playoffs high with 37 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and 14 rebounds and the Toronto Raptors beat the Washington Wizards, 130-119, on Tuesday night, taking a 2-0 lead in a playoffs series for the first time in franchise history.
Kyle Lowry had 13 points and a career playoffs-high 12 assists as Toronto set team playoff records for points in a quarter, a half, and a game.
CJ Miles scored 18 points, Delon Wright had 11 and Serge Ibaka 10 for the Raptors, who snapped an NBA-worst 10-game losing streak in Game 1s with a 114-106 win on Saturday.
Toronto, who made a team-playoffs record 16 3-pointers Saturday, connected on 12-of-32 from long range in Game 2, making only one in the second half.
John Wall scored 29 points, Mike Scott had 20 and Ty Lawson 14 for the Wizards, who host Game 3 on Friday night.
Wizards guard Bradley Beal missed 8-of-11 shots and finished with nine points. Beal had more fouls in the first half (three) than made baskets (two).
Trailing 100-90 to begin the fourth quarter, the Wizards cut it to 108-103 with 7:52 left on back-to-back 3-pointers by Scott and Lawson, and a pair of free-throws from Wall.
Miles stopped the run with a long three, Toronto’s only one of the second half, and the Raptors put it away with a 17-4 spurt over the next four minutes. The sellout crowd roared when DeRozan forced a turnover and saved the ball from going out of bounds, then passed to Lowry who fed Wright for an alley-oop dunk with 3:38 left, putting Toronto up 125-107.
Raptors guard Fred VanVleet returned after sitting out Game 1 because of a bruised right shoulder, but looked rusty in three minutes of action at the start of the second quarter, airballing a shot and mishandling a pass before being replaced by Lowry. VanVleet did not play in the second half.
Toronto set a team-playoffs record with 44 points in the first quarter, including 13 from DeRozan, and led 44-27 after one. All five starters made at least one 3-pointer as the Raptors shot 7-for-13 from long range. Washington coach Scott Brooks called two timeouts to try and slow Toronto, to little effect, while Wizards guards Wall and Beal each picked up two early fouls, forcing them to the bench.
Miles made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the second and DeRozan added seven as Toronto broke their playoffs record for points in a half by taking a 76-58 lead at halftime.
Wall scored 14 points in the third while Toronto shot 0-for-7 from 3-point range, allowing the Wizards to cut it to 100-90 heading into the fourth.
TIP-INS
Wizards: Wall went 11-for-11 at the free throw line … Ian Mahinmi was called for a flagrant foul on a driving Ibaka in the second … Lawson made his Wizards debut in the first, replacing Wall.
Raptors: DeRozan also had 37 against Cleveland in the second round last year … The Raptors used 13 players … Toronto’s previous high for points in a quarter of a playoffs game was 39, set against Orlando in 2008. Their previous high for points in a half was 63, against Miami in 2016 … The Raptors had 10 assists on 16 made baskets in the first … Valanciunas had eight rebounds in the opening quarter … The Raptors also took a double-digit lead in the first quarter of Game 1 … Coach Dwane Casey celebrated his 61st birthday.
UP NEXT
Game 3 is Friday night in Washington.
Courtesy: NBA.com
