Fred VanVleet scored 28 points and the Toronto Raptors beat the New York Knicks 125-116 on Sunday, finally hanging on to a win after building a large early lead.
Gary Trent Jr. matched his season-high with six three-pointers for a 24-point night before fouling out in the dying minutes. Pascal Siakam also finished with 24 points, Scottie Barnes chipped in with 19, Chris Boucher scored 14, and Precious Achiuwa had 12 and 11 rebounds for the Raptors , in only their second victory in six games.
The Raptors had coughed up double-digit leads in their previous two games, losing to Minnesota after leading by 18 and then losing 106-104 to Boston on Saturday after being up 11. But Toronto opened the final period with a 13-3 run, and when Barnes hurled a long pass to Trent for a dunk with 8:50 to play, the basket brought the delighted Scotiabank Arena fans to their feet and put Toronto up by 11. A Trent three-pointer and then rebound and basket from Boucher restored a 16-point lead with 4:45 left, all but extinguishing any Knicks' hopes for a comeback.
Led by Trent's perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range, the Raptors shot 63.6 per cent from behind the arc in the first quarter. VanVleet's pull-up three with 31 seconds left in the quarter saw the Raptors take a 17-point lead. They led 37-22 to start the second.
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