Trail Blazers defeat Raptors 113-97 at ACC

TORONTO – LaMarcus Aldridge poured in 24 points and Damian Lillard added 23 as the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Toronto Raptors 113-97 at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday night.

The Trail Blazers (44-20) took advantage of a porous Toronto defence, shooting better than 60 per cent from the field in the first half and finishing the night 13-for-29 from three-point range.

DeMar DeRozan had 22 points to lead the Raptors (39-27), who lost for the tenth time in 12 starts.

Toronto’s Greivis Vasquez hit a 13-foot jumper with 8:38 to go in the fourth capping a 6-0 run that cut the Portland lead to eight points and briefly energized the sellout crowd of 20,053.

But the Trail Blazers responded with a 16-8 run of their own over the next five minutes to end any possibility of drama and send many of the fans to the exits.

Toronto was trying to win back-to-back games for the first time since winning their fourth straight against the Hawks in Atlanta.

The Raptors had lost nine of 10 games before a 10-point win at home over Miami Friday night.

Portland led 91-79 after three quarters. The visitors widened the advantage to as many as 16 points in the quarter and although the Raptors cut it to as few as nine, Toronto couldn’t sustain the momentum.

After Terrence Ross hit a three-pointer for his first field goal of the night to tie it at 47-47 with 4:37 to go in the first half, the Trail Blazers took control. The visitors went on a 17-6 run to close out the second quarter to take a 64-53 into the break. It matched Portland’s biggest lead of the half.

Defence was at a premium in the first half, especially by the Raptors. Portland shot 61 per cent from the field, including 7-for-14 from three-point range. Toronto shot 54 per cent, including 5-for-8 on threes.

The Raptors ended the first quarter on a 9-2 run over the final 1:19 to cut the Portland lead to 33-31.

Notes- Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry needs two more steals to reach 100 for the second straight season, which would make him the first Raptor to record consecutive 100-plus steal seasons since Alvin Williams did it three straight years, from 2000-2003.