DeRozan, Raptors hold off Hornets' comeback to sweep season series

John Arlia

DeRozan, Raptors hold off Hornets' comeback to sweep season series image

DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 19 points as Toronto edged the Charlotte Hornets 103-98 on Monday at Air Canada Centre.

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Toronto led by 13 after three quarters, but had to hold off a spirited fourth-quarter comeback by Charlotte to earn its 45th win of the season.

Kemba Walker led all scorers with 27 points and helped the Hornets get within two of Toronto with less than six minutes remaining. 


The Raptors responded well to the adversity, as DeRozan and Kyle Lowry engineered an 8-1 run to extend the lead to 96-87. Toronto made it too close for comfort with a few missed free throws down the stretch, but never trailed in the second half.

Lowry, who was one of six Raptors in double figures, registered a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Here are three takeaways from the Raptors' win over the Hornets on Friday night:

Bigs back in rhythm

Jonas Valanciunas and Serge Ibaka rebounded with strong games after a couple of disappointing performances. Valanciunas registered a double-double, his first since Feb. 8, scoring 18 points and collecting 13 rebounds. Ibaka, who hadn't reached double figures in the last two contests, went for 17 points and eight rebounds. Toronto's starting frontcourt players finished strong at the rim and combined to sink five 3-pointers on just eight attempts.


 

Block party

Valanciunas and Ibaka were instrumental on the defensive end as well, accounting for five of Toronto's nine blocked shots. Jakob Poeltl added three blocks in 14 minutes off the bench and Pascal Siakam rounded out the defensive effort with a stunning swat on Frank Kaminsky.


 

Overall, the Raptors held the Hornets to 37.6% shooting (just 23.8% from distance) and kept Charlotte eight points below its season average of 106.4 per game.

Season sweep

With the victory Sunday, the Raptors clinched a season sweep of the Hornets, winning all four matchups between the two Eastern Conference foes. This was by far the closest of the four regular season meetings, as Toronto won the first three by double digits and outscored Charlotte by a combined 51 points in that span.


 

John Arlia