By Tennie Sumague
EBC New York Bureau
BROOKLYN (Eagle News) — The NBA’s most underrated team, the Toronto Raptors, were on the verge of losing a close-knit game but DeMar DeRozan’s three-point play with 26 seconds left helped his team sneak past the Brooklyn Nets 114-113 in overtime for their fifth-straight victory.
It was a hard-fought battle between the Atlantic Division rivals. Toronto had the game under control and were up by 10 with 4:30 remaining in the fourth until the Nets surged back with four three-pointers to get within a bucket.
Nets guard Allen Crabbe tied the game at 107 with 9.3 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
The Nets opened the overtime period with four straight points but failed to score on five possessions. Spencer Dinwiddie’s layup gave the Nets a 113-111 lead, but Brooklyn could not hold off DeRozan, who was fouled on a floater that went in and converted on the winning foul shot.
“We had too many defensive breakdowns,” said DeRozan on his team’s play down the stretch. “They took advantage of it. We can’t have lapses like that, and they were right back in the game and we made it tough on ourselves. We win in overtime. We had to fight being down, but we figured it out.”
DeRozan finished the night with 35 points for the Raptors. Jonas Valanciunas added 21 points and Kyle Lowry, who left the game in overtime with an injury, had 18 points and 11 assists.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 31 points for the Nets, who lost three of their last five games by a close margin.
The Raptors will come home to face the Miami Heat and the Nets will host the Detroit Pistons.
(Eagle News Service)
