National Basketball Association

Lowry helps Raptors beat Nuggets 112-107 in OT

Published Dec. 8, 2014 10:31 p.m. ET

foxsports

TORONTO (AP) Patrick Patterson was standing at the 3-point line, waiting for a pass he wasn't sure would come.

When the ball arrived, he knocked down the biggest shot of the game.

Kyle Lowry had 13 points and 13 assists, Jonas Valanciunas added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors rallied to beat the Denver Nuggets 112-107 in overtime Monday night.

Lou Williams scored 26 and Amir Johnson had 18 for the Raptors, who trailed by five with less than three minutes to play but got a tying 3-pointer from Patterson with 28 seconds left.

Patterson thought Lowry was going to shoot when the Toronto point guard drove toward the basket with the defense converging on him. Instead, Lowry fed Patterson for the pivotal basket.

''I didn't think Kyle saw me,'' Patterson said. ''He got trapped along the baseline. I'm thankful that he did see me and made a pass and it went in.''

Lowry's 13 assists matched a season best, the third time he's reached the mark.

''For me, it was just getting guys involved and drawing attention to me, and making plays for everyone else,'' Lowry said.

Patterson finished 5 for 7 from 3-point range, while his teammates were a combined 4 for 26. Patterson said he relishes the opportunity to take big shots when it matters most.

''It's a huge responsibility that I want to have, whether it's hitting crunch-time situation shots like that or hitting game-changing shots,'' he said. ''That's what I want to do, that's what I want to be known for, my energy and my 3-point shooting.''

Patterson scored 19 points and Terrence Ross had 16 for Toronto, which leads the Eastern Conference with a 16-5 record.

The late rally helped Toronto extend its streak of wins when taking a lead into the fourth quarter. The Raptors, who led 82-81 through three, have won 39 consecutive games in such circumstances, dating to last season - including 28 straight at home.

Toronto's last loss when leading after three was April 1, 2013, against Detroit.

Ty Lawson had 22 points and 12 assists, and Timofey Mozgov had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Denver, which made just two of 10 field goal attempts in overtime and lost its fourth straight.

''We had it in our hands and just let it go,'' Lawson said.

Arron Afflalo scored 25 and Wilson Chandler added 18 for the Nuggets, who had won seven of their previous 10 visits to Toronto.

A tip-in by Darrell Arthur on Chandler's missed jumper at 10:15 of the fourth gave Denver an 86-84 lead, its first since the opening quarter.

Ross banked in a jump shot at 5:19, bringing the Raptors to 92-91, but he missed two 3-pointers and Lowry missed a third while Lawson made back-to-back layups, putting Denver up 96-91 at 3:11.

Johnson had a chance to tie the game at the free throw line with 1:24 remaining but missed his second shot, leaving Toronto trailing 100-99.

Afflalo put Denver up three with a jump shot, but Patterson answered with his big 3, knotting it at 102.

After a timeout, the Nuggets turned the ball over on a shot clock violation, giving possession to the Raptors with 4 seconds remaining. Lowry took the final shot, but missed a 3 at the buzzer.

Chandler opened the scoring in overtime with a 3, but Toronto replied with 10 straight points to win for the third time in four games.

---

TOO TIRED, TOO THIN

Denver's Kenneth Faried (back), JaVale McGee (left leg) and Nate Robinson (back) were unavailable for the second straight game. With Randy Foye (right leg) and Jusuf Nurkic (personal) also unavailable, the Nuggets had just 10 players. The short bench proved troublesome for Denver, which lost at Atlanta on Sunday. Lawson and Mozgov each played more than 49 minutes, Chandler played almost 47 and Afflalo almost 44. ''In the fourth quarter, we just had no legs,'' Lawson said.

SEARCHING FOR STOPS

Denver became the eighth straight opponent to score 100 points or more against Toronto, extending the longest such streak since Dwane Casey took over as coach in 2011. Casey had tried to halt the run by focusing exclusively on defense at Sunday's practice. ''Yesterday was all about defense. We didn't even work on offense,'' Lowry said before the game.

TIP-INS

Nuggets: Denver has split its series with Toronto in each of the past three seasons. ... All five Nuggets starters scored in double figures.

Raptors: Lowry became the second Toronto player in the past three weeks to be selected Eastern Conference player of the week. Lowry came in averaging 28.4 points in his previous five games, the highest average in the NBA. Williams won the award two weeks ago. ... Patterson started the second half in place of Johnson, who was having his ankle re-taped. Johnson returned midway through the third. ... Former Raptors star Charles Oakley attended the game.

UP NEXT

Nuggets: Host Heat on Wednesday.

Raptors: At Cavaliers on Tuesday.