Kyle Lowry scored 21 of his season-high 34 points in the second half to help the Toronto Raptors hold on for a 101-94 victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday night.
The Raptors have won eight of their last nine.
Toronto erased an eight-point halftime deficit and led by as many as 11 in the fourth quarter. The Celtics pulled within four in the final minute, but Al Horford fouled Lowry on a 3-point attempt with 30 seconds to play. Lowry made all three free throws to help close out the victory.
DeMar DeRozan added 24 points, and Norman Powell had 20.
Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas sat out his second straight game with a strained right groin. Marcus Smart started in his place, but struggled to keep up with Lowry down the stretch.
Horford and Avery Bradley each had 19 points to lead Boston.
Boston had nine 3-pointers in the first half and used a 13-0 run in the second quarter to take a 14-point lead. The Raptors crawled out of that hole with 21-3 run in the third. Lowry had 14 points in the quarter.
The Celtics kept firing 3s in the second half, but cooled off and finished 17 for 42 for the game.
Protest denied
Earlier Friday, the NBA denied the Raptors' protest of their 102-99 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 20.
Toronto argued that the game officials incorrectly called for an instant replay review of whether the Raptors' Terrence Ross released a three-point shot prior to the expiration of actual time remaining. The Replay Center official reviewed video of the play using a digital timer and determined the actual time remaining in the game expired before Ross released his shot, and the shot therefore did not count.
The league found that calling for an instant replay review in this case was consistent with the playing rules because there was a clock malfunction.