National Basketball Association

Streaking Wizards beat Raptors in triple overtime

Published Feb. 27, 2014 11:02 p.m. ET

foxsports

TORONTO -- Trevor Ariza put down his plate long enough for a brief postgame interview, but he wasn't about to stop eating.

Ariza scored the go-ahead basket on a fast-break layup with 1:20 left in the third overtime and the Washington Wizards outlasted Toronto 134-129 on Thursday night to win the longest game by time in Raptors franchise history. At 3:32, the game was 10 minutes longer than the previous Toronto record, a 3:22, triple-OT loss to the Nets in England on March 5, 2011.

"I was ready for this one tonight," Ariza said of his meal, practically a midnight snack. "It was the longest game in the world. You give it all, so at the end of the game you're just totally drained."

Would he be having seconds after playing nearly 50 minutes?

"Oh, I'm going get some more," Ariza said. "This is not the end of it."

Even watching this one was draining, whether you were in the stands or on the sidelines.

"My feet and back are hurting and I didn't even play," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said.

Marcin Gortat fouled out with a career-best 31 points and 12 rebounds, John Wall also had 31 points, and Ariza fouled out with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who won their fifth straight, snapped a three-game skid against Toronto and improved to 2-0 since losing Nene to a knee injury.

"The feeling is great," Gortat said. "We won the game, we've proven that we can beat this team. We really build the chemistry, we really build the team spirit with this win."

Chris Singleton had 13 points, and Bradley Beal and Andre Miller each had 11 for Washington. The Wizards are unbeaten since a Feb. 18 home loss to Toronto.

"It's a great win for us," Ariza said. "They took us all the way to the wire."

Nene sprained the MCL in his left knee in Sunday in a win over Cleveland and is expected to miss six weeks.

The Wizards are 60-61 when Nene plays and 10-34 when he doesn't since the oft-injured Brazilian was acquired in a March 2012 trade with Denver. That includes a 3-6 mark in games this season, when Nene also missed time with a sore right Achilles tendon.

"Obviously we're missing Nene," Gortat said. "He was our big spark in the starting lineup, but we've got to play without him for the next few weeks. Each one of us has got to step up."

Tired and sore, Gortat said he didn't plan to step up when the Wizards hold practice on Saturday.

"I'm going to pull my veteran wild card tomorrow, I want a day off," he said. "I just can't go. I played 51 minutes and I'm barely standing right now."

DeMar DeRozan scored 34 points in 58 minutes for Toronto, and Kyle Lowry fouled out with 18 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in 54 minutes as the Raptors lost for only the second time in their past nine home meetings with the Wizards. Toronto suffered its ninth consecutive overtime home defeat.

"We rode (Lowry) and DeMar so hard, but every game is important," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said.

Greivis Vasquez scored a season-high 26 points for Toronto, Amir Johnson fouled out with 16, and Terrence Ross scored 11 points in the first half before leaving with a sprained left ankle.

"Our deck wasn't full, and I thought it hurt us," Casey said.

Lowry fouled out as Gortat converted a three-point play with 1:45 left in the third overtime. Back-to-back turnovers by Vasquez on Toronto's next two possessions led to consecutive steals for Wall and fast-break baskets for Ariza and Webster, putting Washington up 131-127 with a minute remaining.

"We shut off the water," Webster said. "It was a tight game all the way down to the end and we were able to collect a couple of stops and convert on the offensive end."

DeRozan cut it to two with a pair of free throws, but Wall made a layup and Garrett Temple sealed it with a free throw.

Gortat made two free throws to put Washington up 118-116 with 43 seconds left in the second overtime but DeRozan tied it on a layup with 2.3 seconds left. Beal thought he'd won it at the buzzer, but his shot was waved off. Replay review upheld the call, sending it to a third OT.

"Earlier in the season we probably would have dropped our heads when they told us that it didn't count and we have to play again," Ariza said. "Tonight just shows that we're growing and we're getter better."

Lowry, who missed a potential winner at the end of regulation, got the ball again in the final seconds of the first overtime but Webster blocked his driving shot.

Ross rolled his ankle when he stepped on a defender while driving to the basket at 2:15 of the second quarter. He stayed in the game to shoot his free throws, but was replaced just over a minute later and headed to the locker room for treatment. Ross did not return for the second half.

NOTES: The game had 19 ties and 15 lead changes. . . . Al Harrington was called for a flagrant foul on Toronto's Tyler Hansbrough in the second quarter. . . . Lowry picked up a technical foul for arguing in the final minute of the first half.