Raptors 103, Mavericks 99
TORONTO -- Guard DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points and the Toronto Raptors held on to defeat the Dallas Mavericks 103-99 on Tuesday.
Point guard Kyle Lowry added 17 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Raptors (18-12) while center Bismack Biyombo scored nine points and grabbed a career-best 20 rebounds.
The Raptors led all the way in the game, and were up by as many as 18 points in the first quarter.
The Mavericks cut the lead to two points with 11.6 seconds to play in the game when forward Jeremy Evans made a layup and was fouled. But he missed his free throw.
Toronto forward Terrence Ross made two free throws to give him 16 points for the game and it completed the game's scoring.
Forward Luis Scola added 15 points and nine rebounds for Toronto and guard Cory Joseph 12 points.
Forward Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks (15-13) with 20 points and seven rebounds, forward Wesley Matthews added 15 points and forward Charlie Villanueva had nine points.
The Raptors led by as many as 18 points before ending the first quarter with a 32-16 lead led by 10 points from DeRozan. The first quarter provided two season bests for the Raptors -- their largest lead at the end of the first quarter and the fewest points allowed in the opening quarter.
The Mavericks pulled back to within five points early in the second quarter but the Raptors had a 15-point lead with two minutes left in the first half. With DeRozan scoring 14 points and Ross adding 11, the Raptors took a 49-36 lead into the intermission.
Nowitzki hit two 3-pointers midway of the third quarter to cut the Raptors' lead to seven. A jumper by guard Raymond Felton whittled the lead to five points.
Matthews hit a 3-pointer with 1:15 to play in the third quarter to reduce the Raptors' lead to three points. The Raptors led 72-67 after three quarters when Joseph made a driving layup in the final second.
Nowitzki's 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter again cut Toronto's lead to three points.
The Raptors got the lead back to eight on two free throws by Joseph.
Lowry and Joseph hit successive 3s to give Toronto an 86-74 lead with 7:19 to play.
After a Mavericks' miss, Ross came back to make a 3-pointer and Toronto lead by 15 with 6:42 left.
Dallas guard J.J. Barea made a 3-point shot to cut the lead to 11 points with 4:04 to play. A dunk by guard Justin Anderson reduced the lead to nine and a jumper by forward Jeremy Evans had the lead down to seven.
Villanueva made a pair of layups to cut the lead to four points approaching the final minute.
Lowry made one free throw with 45.1 seconds left to put the Raptors up by six. Villanueva hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to three points. After Lowry hit two free throws, Barea hit a 3-pointer to trim them the lead to two. DeRozan's layup put Toronto up by four with 15.5 seconds left.
NOTES: Raptors C Jonas Valanciunas (fractured left hand) received clearance Monday to return to practice with no date set for a return to game competition. He was injured in the second quarter of the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 20. ... Toronto F DeMarre Carroll (right knee contusion) remained out of the lineup but is near a return to practice. ... The Raptors assigned F Bruno Caboclo and G Norman Powell to Raptors 905 of the NBA D-League. ... Mavericks G Devin Harris (right hamstring) made the trip to Toronto but did not play against the Raptors. ... The Raptors defeated the Mavericks 102-91 on Nov. 3 in Dallas in the first meeting between the teams this season. ... The Raptors' next game will be Saturday at Milwaukee. ... The Mavericks will play the Nets on Wednesday in Brooklyn.