Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 22 points and Brandon Ingram added 20 as the Toronto Raptors held off the Portland Trail Blazers 110-98 on Friday night. Toronto led by as many as 13 and controlled most of the game despite being outscored from beyond the arc (39-27) and committing more turnovers (16-13).
Portland, missing star forward Deni Avdija due to a lower back strain, saw Jrue Holiday and Shaedon Sharpe each score 21 points, but the effort wasn’t enough to snap the Blazers’ four-game winning streak. The Raptors, winners of three straight, held a 76-74 edge heading into the fourth quarter.
Holiday tied the game at 76 on Portland’s first possession of the fourth, and Donovan Clingan briefly gave the Blazers a 78-76 lead. Toronto responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to go up 82-78, and a dunk by Scottie Barnes extended the advantage to 84-78 with 9:58 remaining. Holiday scored nine of Portland’s first 11 points in the quarter, but Toronto’s balanced attack kept the Blazers at bay.
Mamukelashvili was fouled on a layup that put the Raptors up 95-87. After missing the free throw, Toronto scored off the rebound on a basket by Ingram to push the lead to 10. Caleb Love’s 3-pointer made it 98-94, but that was as close as Portland would get.
Portland briefly led 73-72 late in the third quarter after Love’s layup, but Ochai Agbaji’s tip-in restored Toronto’s lead at 74-73. The Raptors had built a 50-43 halftime cushion, overcoming Portland’s 4-of-26 shooting (15.4%) in the first quarter, including 1-of-11 from three. Toronto’s mid-second-quarter 12-2 run pushed the lead back to 44-32 and set the tone for the rest of the game.
Up next:
Raptors visit the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. The Trail Blazers travel to Boston on Monday.
