Minneapolis, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points and Kyle Lowry had a triple double, leading the Toronto Raptors to a 111-104 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
Lowry collected 20 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists as the Raptors beat the Timberwolves for the 18th time in their last 19 meetings. They have won six in a row in the series.
The Raptors have won nine of their last 11 games overall to move nine games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2006-07 season. The Atlantic Division leaders made 14-of-24 3-pointers in the victory, with Steve Novak hitting five of his six tries off the bench on the way to 15 points.
"They shot the heck out of it from 3," said Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman. "It's a game we just didn't do enough to win."
Terrence Ross and Amir Johnson also scored 15 for Toronto, which played the game without forward Patrick Patterson, who will miss at least seven days with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
Kevin Love had 26 points and 11 rebounds to lead Minnesota and Kevin Martin scored 20. The Timberwolves lost for the third time in 10 games. Nikola Pekovic and Corey Brewer added 17 points apiece and Pekovic had 11 rebounds.
Toronto had a 53-52 lead at halftime and Ross scored the last five points of a 7-0 burst to open the third quarter, giving the Raptors an eight-point edge.
Later, Love knocked down a 3-pointer to spark an 8-0 run for the Timberwolves that tied the score, but they couldn't pull ahead.
The Raptors built a nine-point lead before the end of the third quarter and took an 83-76 advantage into the fourth.
Chase Budinger sparked an 11-3 Minnesota run with a 3-pointer 3 1/3 minutes into the fourth, but again the Timberwolves failed to pull ahead. Lowry stopped the surge this time with a 3 and Toronto pushed its lead back to 10.
"Kyle and DeMar down the stretch really turned it on," said Raptors coach Dwane Casey. "Kyle's triple-double was huge for us. We needed all of his assists, all of his buckets and all of his rebounds."
Brewer cut the Minnesota lead from 10 points to six in a matter of seconds after he missed the second of two free throw attempts on purpose, got the rebound and a layup and was fouled, making the and-one foul shot.
But there was only 20.7 seconds left and DeRozan made a pair of free throws at the other end to push the Toronto lead to eight.
"It's a good team we played," said Adelman. "They're playing very well and they have a lot of veteran players. We got beat. We can't hang our heads."
Earlier, there were seven ties and five lead changes in the first quarter. The score was tied 33-33 going into the second despite the Raptors out-shooting the Timberwolves 68.4 percent to 46.7 percent.
Game Notes
The Timberwolves are 1-2 on a four-game homestand that ends Tuesday against Milwaukee ... The Raptors remain on the road to play Brooklyn on Monday ... Minnesota's last win in the series came Jan. 29, 2011, at home ... Patterson aggravated the injury in Friday's win over Sacramento and will be re-evaluated in seven to 10 days. He has averaged 9.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in 39 games for the Raptors since they acquired him from the Kings on Dec. 9 in the Rudy Gay deal.
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