Kyle Lowry scores 27 points to lift Toronto Raptors over Cavaliers

TORONTO – Kyle Lowry poured in 27 points to lift the Toronto Raptors 103-99 over the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.

DeMar DeRozan added 20 points, while Luis Scola had 15 points and seven rebounds.

DeMarre Carroll, tasked with the tough job of guarding LeBron James for most of the night added 12 points, while Bismack Biyombo added 11 points and 12 rebounds for a Raptors (10-6) team missing starting centre Jonas Valanciunas (broken hand).

LeBron James led the Cavaliers (11-4) with 24 points, while Kevin Love added 21, and Mo Williams and J.R Smith chipped in with 15 apiece. Brampton, Ont., native Tristan Thompson had eight points to go with 11 rebounds.

The Raptors were finally back home after a western road swing that saw them go 2-3 and lose Valanciunas for approximately six weeks. They were also playing just their fifth home game of the season second lowest in the league and were hoping the good vibes of home court would lift them past James and his Cavs.

The Raptors took an 82-80 lead into the fourth quarter of the see-saw affair, in front of capacity crowd of 19,800 that turned out for the third annual Drake Night. The Toronto rapper and Raptors’ global ambassador sat courtside with his mom, and the Raptors wore their alternate black and gold Drake jerseys.

Toronto dominated down the stretch, and when Lowry scored on a fastbreak layup and drew a foul from Thompson, the three-point play gave the Raptors a 94-85 lead with 3:38 to play.

Patrick Patterson drained a three, then Biyombo brought the crowd to its feet with a thunderous dunk that make it a 10-point Raptors advantage with 1:22 to play.

Smith drained back-to-back threes but the game was already out of reach.

The Raptors shot 51 per cent on the night to the Cavs’ 44, and outscored their visitors 52-28 in the paint.

Cleveland shot 52 per cent in the opening quarter, and a Thompson dunk put the visitors up by seven points. But the Raptors roared back with a 19-2 run that stretched into the second quarter. They ended the first tied 25-25, and when Terrence Ross drilled a three with 8:24 to go in the second, it put Toronto up 35-25.

The Cavs responded with a 19-2 run of their own a three from Love gave them a 44-37 lead. The two teams went into halftime tied 49-49.

Lowry had 14 points in a third quarter that saw neither team lead by more than five points. Williams drilled a 46-foot bomb at the buzzer to cut the Raptors’ lead to 82-80 with one quarter left to play.

The Raptors are in Washington on Saturday then return home to host the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.