Raptors Pick Up Sixth Straight, NBA Scores

By ESPN

DeMar DeRozan started his new work week the way he finished the old one, and the result was a sixth straight victory for the Toronto Raptors.

DeRozan, selected Eastern Conference player of the week earlier in the day, scored 36 points as the Raptors defeated the Orlando Magic 131-112 on Monday night.

"We can't get comfortable just because we won a few games," said DeRozan, who had consecutive 40-point games among his three outings last week. "Even tonight, we could have done a lot better. We gave up too many points.

"We've still got to stay focused on the defensive end and let that win us games and not so much rely on scoring 130 points."

Cory Joseph had his first career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 13 assists for the Raptors (45-29). Jonas Valanciunas added 17 points and nine rebounds.

Elfrid Payton had 22 points and nine assists for Orlando (27-47). Evan Fournier added 20 points, and Nikola Vucevic had 12 points and 15 rebounds.

It was the first game between the teams since the Raptors traded Terrence Ross to the Magic for Serge Ibaka in February. Ross finished with 17 points, while Ibaka had 16 points and seven rebounds.

"It was fun, besides the loss," Ross said of his return to Toronto, which included a video tribute on the scoreboard. "It was good seeing everybody appreciate what I did over the years.

"I didn't think people would respond the way they did ,so it made me feel like I was back at home."

The Raptors took a 99-89 lead into the fourth quarter.

DeRozan's basket gave Toronto a 19-point lead with 8:15 to go in the period but the Magic, winners of seven games this season after falling behind by double digits, fought back.

Bismack Biyombo made a pair of free throws to cut the Toronto lead to five with 12 seconds to go in the quarter.

But after DeRozan hit a jumper, Delon Wright stole the inbounds pass and sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Toronto its double-digit lead back going into the fourth.

"That's a momentum killer," Magic coach Frank Vogel said. "But credit the Raptors, they played a terrific basketball game."

Monday, March 27 Scoreboard

Toronto 131, Orlando 112

New York 109, Detroit 95

San Antonio 103, Cleveland 74

Oklahoma City 92, Dallas 91

Sacramento 91, Memphis 90

Utah 108, New Orleans 100

Tuesday, March 28 Schedule (All Times Central)

Milwaukee at Charlotte, 6 p.m.

Minnesota at Indiana, 6 p.m.

Philadelphia at Brooklyn, 6:30 p.m.

Phoenix at Atlanta, 6:30 p.m.

Miami at Detroit, 6:30 p.m.

Golden State at Houston, 7 p.m.

Denver at Portland, 9 p.m.

Washington at Los Angeles Lakers, 9:30 p.m.