Kyle Lowry scored 33 points, including a huge basket with four seconds left in overtime, to lift the Toronto Raptors over the New Orleans Pelicans 108-106 on Tuesday.
The victory was just the struggling Raptors' second in eight outings.
Lowry also had 10 assists for a double-double. Jonas Valanciunas added 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors (30-19), who were playing for the fourth time in five games without all-star guard DeMar DeRozan. Norman Powell added 18 points.
Jrue Holiday led New Orleans (19-30) with 30 points.
The Raptors have been mired in their worst slump in a couple of seasons. The culprit, according to coach Dwane Casey: their defence. The coach was livid after Sunday's 114-113 loss to Orlando, calling the team's defensive effort "atrocious."
Their defence was horrible at points again Tuesday as they fell behind by 14 points. But they came out aggressive after halftime and a big third quarter got them back in the game. The Raptors led 77-75 with one quarter to play.
E'Twaun Moore lit it up from three-point range in the fourth. His fourth basket from beyond the arc came after back-to-back threes from Lowry, and gave the Pelicans, who are 11th in the Western Conference, a two-point lead with 3:10 to play, much to the dismay of the capacity crowd of 19,800 angst-ridden Raptors fans.
Patrick Patterson scored on a driving finger roll to tie the game with 2:08 to play, and the game remained tied as the Raptors turned over the ball on back-to-back possessions to give New Orleans the ball with 21 seconds left. Holliday missed on a shot at the buzzer to send the game into five minutes of extra time.
DeRozan shut down
Neither team led by more than two points in overtime before Lowry drilled a three, and pointed a finger skyward in salute, with 1:57 left that put Toronto up by four. Back-to-back buckets by Anthony Davis tied it up with 29 seconds left. Lowry dribbled and watched as the clocked ticked down then got off a long two-point shot at the shot-clock buzzer directly in front of the Pelicans' bench.
DeRozan, meanwhile, was shut down after the team's medical staff noticed swelling after he logged 36 minutes on Sunday night, and decided to sit the three-time all-star for both Tuesday's game and Wednesday's against the Celtics in Boston.
DeRozan, who leads the team offensively with 27.8 points a night, injured the ankle on Jan. 22 versus Phoenix, then missed the next three games.
"Our medical team is going to hold him out," Casey said. "They pulled the plug and told him to take it easy. . . not take it easy but rehab, get it worked on these next couple days."
The Raptors opened with a roller-coaster first quarter that saw them trail by five, then lead by five after a 10-0 run. But New Orleans closed with an 8-0 run of their own and led 25-23 to start the second.
Holiday's three with 4:40 left in the first half capped a 15-2 Pelicans run and gave the visitors a 10-point lead. New Orleans would end the half with a 7-0 to head into the locker-room at halftime up 60-46.
Powell led the way with 12 points as the Raptors roared back in the third quarter, outscoring the Pelicans 31-15 in the frame.
The Raptors are on the road for their next three games. Following Boston, they head to Orlando on Friday then Brooklyn on Sunday before heading home to host the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 6.
Lowry comes up big in Raptors' win over Pelicans
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