Fresh off of earning his first all-star nod, DeMar DeRozan lead all scorers with 19 points as the Toronto Raptors defeated the Denver Nuggets 100-90 on Friday night. This win marked the first time Toronto had won in Denver since 2003 and was the Raptors' 11th win in January, setting a franchise record for wins in the month.
Terrence Ross dropped 18 --including a huge dunk over the Kenneth Faried -- and had three blocks, Kyle Lowry scored 13 points and had six assists while John Salmons pitched in with 11 points and nine assists off of the bench.
The Raptors enjoyed an all-around scoring attack that saw five players score in double figures. Despite being game-time decisions, Patrick Patterson, Amir Johnson and DeRozan all played for Toronto.
For Denver, Evan Fournier had 18 points and J.J Hickson added 18 and 13 rebounds. With Ty Lawson and Nate Robinson sitting this game out, Denver needed some extra help which they got in the form of six different players scoring in double-figures.
This game was tight until the third quarter, when the Raptors took over, going on a 22-8 run and putting the game away for good.
The Nuggets had a chance to get back into the game late in the fourth quarter when the Raptors went on dry spell that lasted almost six minutes, however their defence kept the Nuggets at bay.
The Raptors are in Portland to take on the TrailBlazers Saturday night. Gametime is 10 p.m