Lowry fires Raptors to big win in Denver
DENVER — Kyle Lowry had 30 points and 11 assists, and the Toronto Raptors ended a decade of frustration in Denver with a 116-102 win over the Nuggets on Sunday night.
Lou Williams had 31 points for the Raptors, who won at Pepsi Center for the first time since the 2003-04 season.
Toronto, the top team in the Eastern Conference, had lost 11 of its last 14 against the Nuggets, but got the season sweep with Sunday’s win.
The Raptors have won seven of eight.
Ty Lawson led Denver with 28 points and Wilson Chandler had 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Kenneth Faried, who had 26 points and a career-best 25 rebounds in Friday’s win over Minnesota, had 17 points and 19 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have lost three of four.
Toronto, coming off a 12-point win over the Clippers in Los Angeles on Saturday, led by one when Williams hit two free throws and a 3-pointer to give the Raptors a 100-94 lead. After Nate Robinson missed a 3-pointer, Lowry sank two foul shots to push the lead to seven.
The lead grew to 109-98 on a three-point play by Lowry with 3:59 left. Denver never got closer than nine the rest of the way.
Faried’s layup midway through the third quarter gave Denver a 76-75 lead. Toronto went back up by four, but a steal and layup and a jumper by Nate Robinson cut the Raptors’ lead to 8887 heading into the fourth.
The Raptors took the lead late in the first quarter and stretched it to 13 with 2:50 remaining in the second quarter. Denver rallied to get to 56-54 on Faried’s putback dunk, but Toronto scored the final four points to take a 6054 lead into intermission.
TIP- INS
Raptors: Guard Landry Fields missed his fourth straight game because of a concussion. Fields has passed two of the three tests to be able to return, coach Dwane Casey said. “That test he takes is no joke. It is very complicated,” Casey said. “My understanding is he passed a couple parts of it. But there is another area that he still has to pass. And he has to do it under stress.” Nuggets: Forward Darrell Arthur played for the first time after sitting three games. He missed the first two because of a strained lower left leg and sat out the third because he hadn’t taken part in a full practice after injury.