Toronto, ON – Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Nick Young scored 15 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter to help the Los Angeles Lakers escape Air Canada Centre with a 112-106 comeback victory over the Toronto Raptors.
Toronto was poised to sweep the two-game season series for the first time in franchise history, as they led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter and held a 17-point cushion in the third.
Young and a balanced Lakers attack, however, rallied to post back-to-back wins for the first time since mid-December.
Pau Gasol finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, Ryan Kelly added 17 points and Kendall Marshall netted 10 with 11 assists for the victors.
DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry scored 23 and 21 points, respectively, for the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors, who had won four of five coming in and were riding a six-game home winning streak.
"We didn't play our defensive game. We played their game," Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said. "We didn't get our defense to focus the whole game."
The Lakers outscored the Raptors at the free throw line, 26-9.
Three of those free throws came after Amir Johnson fouled Kelly on the perimeter with 1:58 remaining. Kelly's freebies put the Lakers in front, 105-101, and after Lowry drove in for a layup, Young sank a contested 3- pointer from the top of the key to give the Lakers a five-point cushion.
After DeRozan missed the first of two free throws, the Raptors forced a turnover with just under a minute left and put the ball in the hands of DeRozen, who was hounded by Young along the right wing.
DeRozen settled for a tough 18-footer that drew all iron, then fouled Young on a turnaround at the other end. The ensuing free throws gave LA a 110-104 lead with 20.5 seconds to go, and the Lakers held on from there.
Toronto jumped ahead with a 24-5 run spanning the first and second frames.
The last of three consecutive DeRozan buckets yielded a 50-31 Raptors lead with 7:34 remaining in the half, but the Lakers countered with a 9-0 run of their own and cut the deficit to 58-54 heading to the break.
Los Angeles again rallied from a double-digit deficit in the third. Toronto scored the quarter's first 12 points, but a late 12-2 run by the Lakers sent them into the final stanza with an 82-81 advantage.
"We didn't give up," Gasol said. "We started playing aggressive."
Game Notes
Young made five of the Lakers' 12 3-pointers ... The Raptors shot 9-of-30 from 3-point range ... Patrick Patterson scored 17 points off Toronto's bench ... Raptors guard John Salmons was inactive due to back spasms.
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