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DeRozan leads Raptors over Cavs

Feb 26, 2014 - 6:54 AM Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - DeMar DeRozan poured in 33 points with six assists, guiding the Toronto Raptors to a 99-93 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.

Terrence Ross netted 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point territory and Kyle Lowry added 13 points with nine assists despite shooting 3-for-15, including 0-for-9 from beyond the arc in the win.

"It was a tough night for Kyle and myself, missing a lot of easy shots," said DeRozan. "You got to buckle down. You can't let the last shot dictate the next shot."

Toronto has won three straight and is seven games over .500 for the first time since being 32-25 on Feb. 29, 2008.

Kyrie Irving paced Cleveland with 25 points to go along with nine assists and Spencer Hawes, who made his first start for the Cavs since being acquired at the trade deadline from Philadelphia, finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Tristan Thompson had 13 points and nine rebounds, while Jarrett Jack chipped in 12 points in Cleveland's third straight loss following a season-high six- game winning streak.

Cleveland was once against without the services of Anderson Varejao (back), Dion Waiters (hyperextended knee) and C.J. Miles (sprained ankle).

The fourth quarter saw seven lead changes and five ties with Toronto making a late charge late to seal it.

Trailing 89-87, Ross nailed a 3-pointer and DeRozan followed with a reverse slam.

Tyler Zeller made a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to one, but DeRozan responded with two from the line to make it a three-point advantage with 1:23 remaining.

After an empty possession from each team, Hawes tried forcing it in to a cutting Zeller, but DeRozan made a nice defensive play, beating Zeller to the spot and taking the ball away with 31.9 seconds left.

DeRozan raced down court before being fouled and made both free throws to push the lead to 96-91 with under 30 seconds to go and seal it for the visitors.

Irving made a jumper with 3:42 in the first quarter to give the Cavs a 17-14 lead. Cleveland, however, would go cold and not convert a basket for the remainder of the frame.

Meanwhile, Toronto bridged the first and second quarters with a 15-0 run, as Cleveland's scoreless drought continued. The Cavs missed 14 consecutive shots before Matthew Dellavedova followed a successful technical free throw from Irving with a jumper 3:20 into the second.

Toronto pushed the lead to a game-high 14 soon after, but Cleveland scored the final seven points of the second and trailed 47-41 at the break.

"It was a tough ball game," said Cavs coach Mike Brown. "I thought our guys did a nice job of coming out in the second half, fighting to get back in the ball game and taking the lead."

Game Notes

Toronto shot 35-for-79 (44.3 percent) from the field ... Cleveland owned a 43-39 advantage on the glass ... There were 15 lead changes and 12 ties throughout the contest ... Greivis Vasquez had 15 points off the bench in the win.