Leonard hits winner, Raptors beat Trail Blazers 119-117

TORONTO (AP) – Kawhi Leonard scored the go-ahead basket with three seconds remaining and the Toronto Raptors held on to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 119-117 on Friday night.

Leonard scored 38 points and Kyle Lowry had 19 points and 10 assists as the Raptors won for the ninth time in 10 games.

Marc Gasol scored 19 points and Pascal Siakam had 16 for Toronto, which has won four straight home meetings with Portland and seven of the past eight overall.

C.J. McCollum scored 35 points and matched a career best by making seven 3-pointers, but it wasn’t enough to extend Portland’s five-game winning streak.

Damian Lillard scored 24 points and Jake Layman had 13 as the Trail Blazers suffered their first lost after winning four straight to begin a seven-game trip.

Ahead 93-84 to begin the fourth, the Raptors missed nine consecutive field goal attempts, allowing Portland to close to within one, 95-94, on a 3-pointer by Lillard at 6:47.

Leonard ended Toronto’s drought with a layup, but the Raptors couldn’t hold the lead, and Lillard tied it 103-all with another 3 at 3:27.

Lillard made another tying 3 with 13 seconds left, but Leonard won it with a baseline jumper.

The Raptors connected on 11 of 17 shots in the first quarter and led 31-24 after one.

Leonard scored 10 points in the second and Toronto led 61-54 at halftime.

McCollum scored 14 points in the third but the Raptors responded with five 3-pointers, taking a 93-84 lead into the fourth.

Portland center Enes Kanter did not travel to Toronto with the team. An outspoken critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kanter’s Turkish passport was revoked in 2017, and Turkish prosecutors have accused Kanter of membership in a terror organization.

While playing for the Knicks earlier this season, Kanter did not accompany the team for a game in London because he feared he could be killed over his opposition to Erdogan.

TIP-INS

Trail Blazers: Slowed by foul trouble, C Jusuf Nurkic did not attempt a shot in five first-half minutes. … Portland is 18-5 against Eastern Conference opponents.

Raptors: Toronto had nine assists on 11 made baskets in the first.

UP NEXT

Trail Blazers: Visit Charlotte on Sunday.

Raptors: Visit Detroit on Sunday.

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