Most people were watching LeBron James bobble his rematch against the Spurs, but the two team’s sporting the best records in their respective conferences, the Raptors in the East and the Grizzlies in the West, played in Toronto last night at the Air Canada Centre. This summer’s re-signed Raptor, Kyle Lowry, sealed a huge Raptors win with a late fadeaway.
Going into last night’s game, the Grizzlies had the NBA’s best record at 10-1. The Raptors, meanwhile, were No. 1 in the East at 8-2 on the year.
While DeMar DeRozan led the Raps with 21, it was Kyle Lowry who nailed Memphis’ backs to the wall when his fadeaway jumper ripped through the nylon with only eight-seconds remaining to give the Raptors a 96-92 advantage.
The Raptors overcame a strong performance from Memphis’ grit n’ grind frontcourt: Marc Gasol had 22 points (8/16) and 12 rebounds and Zach Randolph had 18 points (7/18) and 18 rebounds. Mike Conley also added 19 points and 10 dimes for the double-double, but the Raps withstood it all.
Lowry finished with 18 (7/16) points and seven assists and Terrence Ross added another 16 for the gigantic early-season home win.
(GIF via reddit; video via NBA Highlights)
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