BLAZERS GET BACK ON TRACK
Anthony hits game-winner against Raptors
TORONTO – Carmelo Anthony made the winning basket with four seconds remaining and the Portland Trail Blazers rallied to beat the Toronto Raptors 101-99 Tuesday night.
Anthony scored 28 points, Damian Lillard had 20 and Hassan Whiteside added 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who snapped a four-game losing streak in Toronto and won for the second time in 10 meetings with the Raptors.
Anfernee Simons scored 12 points and C.J. McCollum had 10 after sitting out Sunday’s loss in Miami because of an upper-respiratory infection. Portland had lost six of seven overall. Kyle Lowry had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Serge Ibaka added 17 points and 11 rebounds as the injury-ravaged Raptors lost for just the second time in 16 games against opponents with losing records. Toronto’s only other loss to a sub-.500 team came against Boston in the second game of the season.
Oshae Brisett scored a career-high 12 points for Toronto. and Chris Boucher also had 12, including 10 straight Raptors points in the fourth.
Raptors guard Fred VanVleet sat out because of a strained right hamstring, joining a group of injured Toronto starters that includes Norman Powell (left shoulder), Marc Gasol (left hamstring) and Pascal Siakam (groin).
In Phoenix, De’Aaron Fox scored 27 points, Nemanja Bjelica added 19 and Sacramento rallied from a 21-point deficit in the third quarter to beat Phoenix.
The Kings – who have won three of their last four – got big contributions from bench players Dewayne Dedmon and Trevor Ariza. Dedmon finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Ariza – who played for Phoenix part of last season – added 15 points.
The Suns were led by Devin Booker, who scored 34 points and had seven assists. It was Booker’s seventh straight game with at least 30 points, which extends his franchise record.