Raptors Beat Trail Blazers, 112-106

The host Toronto Raptors edged out the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday,
112-106. Toronto (35-24) has now won three straight after a complete collapse
during the month of January. The Raps are tied with Washington for third in the
East and trail Boston by three games for the second seed. Despite missing star
point guard Kyle Lowry, Toronto was able to hold on for the win on Sunday. This
was largely due to the play of All-Star DeMar DeRozan, who led the team with 33
points on 9-of-16 shooting and a stellar 15-of-16 from the free-throw line. The
Raptors offense as a whole functioned at a very high level throughout the game.
The team shot almost 54 percent from the field and saw an additional 18 points
come from newly-added big man Serge Ibaka. Ibaka also had 10 rebounds, two
steals, and two blocks. Portland (24-34) is quickly losing ground in the tight
Western Conference playoff race. Sunday did the team no favors, as they were
defeated quite narrowly by the Lowry-less Raptors. Damian Lillard led the team
with 28 points and shot an efficient 10-of-20. He added eight assists. The team
was relatively quiet on the inside, due in part to center Jusuf Nurkic being
limited to just 21 minutes of play. Nurkic, a relatively new Trail Blazer who
was acquired in a trade with deadline, had two teeth knocked out during a
collision in the game. It did not keep him out of commission for too long,
however, as the young big man simply handed the teeth to a trainer and readied
himself to play again. The Blazers will visit Detroit on Tuesday while Toronto
will see New York.