Lowry helps Raptors beat Magic 106-103 in OT in London

The popularity over the next few years sparked the change to make the game between the New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors in 2011 the first proper regular season game.

While they are an extremely young team, the Magic are showing signs of promise and are hopefully only a few pieces away of again becoming a playoff squad like they were before. “We are the only worldwide team in the National Basketball Association and this appeals to us because we feel like we have a huge audience, whether it’s Canadian or global”.

Probable starters:Toronto – Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, James Johnson, Luis Scola, Jonas Valanciunas.

Asked whether he’d suffered from jet-lag and fatigue, Lowry looked at the stat sheet and noted that he and DeRozan had combined to shoot 9 for 39, then crumpled the page and tossed it in a nearby trash can.

“You can have any excuse you want to”, he said.

Joseph had no such issues, connecting on nine of 11 attempts.

Far more reliable were the rather more unheralded duo of Cory Joseph and Bismarck Biyombo, whose production off the bench was crucial for Dwayne Casey. “It felt like a playoff game”. With the Raptors ahead by two, Victor Oladipo drilled a jumper with 32.9 seconds remaining to tie the game and force overtime.

After leading by as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter, the Raptors allowed a push by the Magic to get back into the game. Lowry was in a nice rhythm before the trip and led the way with 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting in a 108-95 win over Philadelphia on Saturday.

Lowry made one of two, making it a three-point game.

“It was surreal. I felt like a little kid meeting Santa Claus when I got the chance to meet them, it was unreal”. “We were 5-0 when we played them and they played extremely hard”.

The Raptors are on a three-game winning streak and boast the second best record in the East. They are doing a great job surviving without DeMarre Carroll, who is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his knee.

But no-one can discuss production by the substitutes without praising the outstanding Jason Smith, who drained seven of his first eight shots on the way to 16 points.

The Magic have three European players: swingman Evan Fournier from France, swingman Mario Hezonja from Croatia and center Nik Vucevic from Montenegro.

Celebrities in the crowd included soccer player Didier Drogba, actor Michael B. Jordan and chef Gordon Ramsey.