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NEW YORK -- For the Toronto Raptors, part of this weekend was spent talking about their frustrations with a disappointing stretch. The weekend ended with the Raptors talking about playing better defense and Kyle Lowry getting a triple-double despite feeling "under the weather".
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Lowry recorded his ninth career triple-double and Toronto made enough plays down the stretch for a 103-95 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday afternoon.
The 30-year-old guard had 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists despite shooting just 5 of 13 from the floor.
Lowry recorded his first triple-double since Feb. 22 at Madison Square Garden in a 122-95 rout of the Knicks, doing so after missing 15 of 20 shots in Friday's 102-94 loss at Orlando.
In his last triple-double, Lowry had the comfort of DeMar DeRozan alongside him in the starting backcourt but for the seventh time since Jan. 22, DeRozan sat with a sprained right ankle.
Besides the illness, Lowry also received four stitches on his right forearm after colliding with a camera attached to a stanchion near the basket. The sickness and stitches did little to deter Lowry, who played 40 minutes for the 14th time.
"The rebounds were impressive, the assists were impressive," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said.
Many of Lowry's assists went to Jonas Valanciunas, who led the Raptors with 22 points and played effective defense on Brook Lopez. Valanciunas made 9 of 17 shots, highlighting his fifth game with at least 20 points by getting four dunks.
Still it came down to Lowry making plays down the stretch when the Nets sliced a 16-point to four.
With 4:52 remaining, Lowry grabbed the rebound of a Lopez miss and connected with an open Valanciunas for a dunk and 88-80 lead. A minute later, Norman Powell blocked Sean Kilpatrick at the rim, Lowry grabbed the rebound and found DeMarre Carroll for a cutting layup that pushed the lead to 92-82 and essentially sealed Toronto's third win in 11 games since Jan. 17.
"Tonight I felt like I needed to make a couple of plays," Lowry said.
Lowry became the fifth opposing player to get a triple-double against the Nets.
"He's amazing and that's why he's an All-Star," Toronto rookie guard Fred VanVleet said. "He wasn't feeling very good after the Orlando game, none of us were. He had a little extra sickness to him. We need him at his best to be successful and I think it showed today."
Besides Lowry and Valaciunas, reserve Terrence Ross added 17 and Carroll contributed 15 for the Raptors, who led for the final 28:07 and scored 58 points in the paint and held an opponent under 100 points for the 17th time.
"I thought the difference was that it (defense) lasted longer," Casey said. "That's been our bug-a-boo. We've played good defenses in stretches and we extended it tonight."
Lopez scored 20 points but shot 6 of 17 as Brooklyn dropped its eighth straight game and 12th straight at home. The Nets are two losses away from matching the 2010 franchise record for consecutive home losses.
"We're going to keep hammering executing better on the offensive end, making better decisions, taking better shots," Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. "The shot selection was particularly disappointing. I think we've done a pretty good job of that all year, taking the right type of shots and today, again we got caught in some bad situations, some bad decisions."
Kilpatrick added 18 and Trevor Booker contributed 15 for the Nets, who shot 42 percent and committed 22 turnovers. It was the eighth time this season Brooklyn committed at least 20 turnovers.
"It's just something we have to work on," Nets center Justin Hamilton said. "It's been (our) habit."
Toronto took control of matters with a 17-4 blitz over the final 4:43 remaining for a 55-43 lead at halftime. The spurt was highlighted by four dunks and transition 3-pointers by Ross and Carroll.
The lead grew to 75-63 through three before the Nets got close.
NOTES: Raptors F Patrick Patterson (left knee contusion) did not play and it was 11th game he missed due to various left knee ailments. ... Brooklyn F Quincy Acy did not played after spraining his left ankle with 3:29 remaining in the second quarter. He was injured when he stepped on the right foot of Toronto's Terrence Ross near the 3-point line. ... The Raptors were amused when Amber Iman, a member of the national touring cast of Broadway's Hamilton flubbed a lyric of the Canadian National anthem by substituting "We sing our hearts for thee" instead of "We stand on guard for thee." Said G Kyle Lowry: "That anthem was a lot different than I've heard over the last five years." ... Brooklyn rookie swingman Caris LeVert (right knee soreness) sat out. Coach Kenny Atkinson said it is not serious and the team is being cautious. ... G Cory Joseph received a DNP-CD for the first time since joining the Raptors. He played seven minutes Friday and coach Dwane Casey said Joseph was getting a "mental break."
