Lowry thanks fans for all-star voting surge

Guard DeMar DeRozan scored 34 points, and the Toronto Raptors defeated the Boston Celtics 115-109 Wednesday to extend their winning streak to a season-best six games.

The 10-year veteran is averaging career-highs in points (20.9 per game), rebounds (5.0 per game), threes (2.7), and 3PT% (38.3) and has started all 42 games this season for the Raptors, who now sit second in the East.

Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry paid tribute to the fans Friday for a late voting surge that earned him a second straight start in the National Basketball Association all-star game.

Dallas trailed by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter, but whittled it all the way down to 107-106 after third-string center Salah Mejri stuffed Thunder forward Kevin Durant at the rim and Mavs guard Deron Williams followed with a 3-pointer that sent the sellout crowd into a tizzy.

With the Celtics trailing Toronto by 11 points early in the second quarter, Stevens opted for some global small ball, pairing Swedish swingman Jonas Jerebko with Canadian big man Kelly Olynyk in the frontcourt.

The score and Toronto’s 55.4 percent shooting performance aside, the Celts had their moments defensively, just not enough. DeRozan scored 18 in the quarter to send the Raptors into the final 12 minutes with a 96-90 lead.

The Celtics outscored Toronto 35-21 in the second quarter and took a 62-56 lead into halftime.

Chris Bosh led the Heat with 26 points and Wade added 22 but Miami simply didn’t have the manpower to stay with Toronto all night.

At tipoff, they had 10 dressed. DeRozan leads the league in drives per game with nearly 12 and shoots a fantastic 52 percent when he puts the ball in the floor and gets to the rim, per* a href=”http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/player/drives/?sort=DRIVE_FG_PCT&dir=1&CF=DRIVES*GE*5″ * SportVU data.

The Raptors scoring parade was once again led by DeMar DeRozan, who’s been a force of nature lately.

ORLANDO – Kemba Walker had 40 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to lead Charlotte to an overtime victory over stunned Orlando. After a Raptors miss, Bradley tied the game at 105 on a 19-foot pullup jumper with 3:20 to play.

He hadn’t developed a three-point shot, which severely limited his efficiency and his ceiling as an offensive player. But Lowry and Ross hit threes on consecutive possessions moments later to restore Toronto’s lead. “No matter what happens in the game, we’re just trying to keep it smooth and not get too up or down”. “We’ve got to be a hungry team each night and not believe the hype because we’ve seen that story before”, he said.

Johnson returned to Toronto for the first time after spending his previous six seasons with the Raptors and received a nice ovation and video tribute from Air Canada Centre.

“We’re just out there playing with confidence”, Lowry said. They also did not have Hassan Whiteside for the night; most likely due to a non-contact back injury he sustained during the Heats last game versus the Washington Wizards.

Going into the game, the Heat (23-20) had lost three straight and six of their last seven.

HOUSTON James Harden scored 30 points and the Houston Rockets snapped a two-game skid with a win over the Milwaukee Bucks. They have gone from being one of the cities where the road to the Eastern Conference title passes through to being a team you wouldn’t want to meet in the first round.