Saturday, December 01, 2012
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DeRozan scores 23 as Raptors top Suns to snap skid

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[December 01, 2012]  TORONTO (AP) -- DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points, Amir Johnson added 16, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Phoenix Suns 101-97 to snap a six-game losing streak on Friday night.

Kyle Lowry scored 15 points, and Jose Calderon had 13 points and nine assists for the Raptors, who ended Phoenix's seven-game winning streak in Toronto. The Suns hadn't lost there since Jan. 4, 2004.

Marcin Gortat, Shannon Brown and Jared Dudley all scored 14 points for Phoenix. Goran Dragic had 13, and Michael Beasley chipped in with 12.

It was the second straight loss for the Suns, who were routed 117-77 at Detroit on Wednesday. That marked their third-biggest margin of defeat in franchise history.

Phoenix's Luis Scola scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, but the Raptors answered with a 7-0 run -- including five points from Johnson -- to lead 87-78 with 9:04 left.

A 3 by Calderon made it 92-85 with 6:54 remaining before back-to-back baskets by Scola cut it to 92-89. Mickael Pietrus, in his Raptors debut, made a 3 from the corner before Sebastian Telfair and Jermaine O'Neal answered for the Suns to make it 95-93 with 3:53 to go.

Phoenix trailed 96-95 with just under two minutes left when Dragic committed a turnover. Johnson finished the breakaway with a running dunk, putting the Raptors ahead by three points.

Brown's layup made it 98-97 with 1:07 left, but the Suns couldn't take the lead. Gortat missed a shot, and Scola failed on the next two possessions. Lowry grabbed the rebound on Scola's second miss and was fouled. He made one of two from the line to put Toronto up 99-97 with 14 seconds to play.

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Brown tried to drive for the tying basket but missed a layup. Andrea Bargnani was fouled on the play and sealed the Raptors' win by making two free throws with 3 seconds left.

After trailing by as many as 10 points in the first quarter, Toronto went ahead for the first time on a breakaway dunk by Terrence Ross at 6:42 of the second. Johnson followed with a running dunk, putting the Raptors up 40-36.

Dudley scored 11 points in the second to put the Suns back on top, but Lowry's 3 pointer at the buzzer got the Raptors within 52-51 at halftime.

Beasley scored eight points in the third quarter, but DeRozan rebounded his own blocked shot and made a buzzer-beating jumper. He then converted the free throw to put Toronto up 80-76 heading into the fourth.

After signing with Toronto earlier Friday, Pietrus had six points and two rebounds in 30 minutes.

NOTES: Bargnani returned to Toronto's lineup after sitting out Wednesday's loss at Memphis because of a sore left ankle. ... Toronto waived F Dominic McGuire to make room on the roster for Pietrus. ... Singer Drake watched from a courtside seat. ... Toronto's losing streak was the longest current skid in the NBA.

[Associated Press; The Associated Press]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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