Toronto Raptors breeze past Milwaukee Bucks, 107-89, even without DeRozan

Kyle Lowry scored 25 points and the Toronto Raptors, despite resting leading scorer DeMar DeRozan, had no trouble with the Milwaukee Bucks in a 107-89 victory Tuesday night at Milwaukee.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 18 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in 35 minutes for the Bucks, just missing a triple-double.

DeRozan, who averages 23.8 points a game, was in uniform but didn’t play after starting each of the team’s first 65 games and playing 39 minutes in a loss to Chicago on Monday night.

Toronto took control by scoring the first eight points of the second half to open a 62-49 lead. The Raptors then scored seven consecutive points midway through the third quarter to make it 71-55 on Lowry’s three-pointer with 6:07 left. Milwaukee never got within single digits again.

Toronto Coach Dwane Casey said before the game that his team could start resting players in anticipation of the playoffs. Toronto (45-21) is secure in the second spot in the Eastern Conference, and the game against the Bucks was the Raptors’ third in four days.

at Indiana 103, Boston 98: Paul George scored 25 points and the Pacers finished with a strong fourth quarter. Monta Ellis added 16 points with six assists and Jordan Hill scored 15 points for Indiana. Isaiah Thomas had 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Celtics. The score was tied at 77 with about seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before the Pacers put together a 15-4 run that gave them enough breathing room to withstand a late Boston surge.

at Orlando 116, Denver 110: Evan Fournier scored 30 points and Jason Smith had 25 points and 13 rebounds off the bench to bolster the Magic, who led by 18 in the third quarter but had to hold off a rally by the Nuggets. Denver closed the deficit to three points but got no closer.

at Brooklyn 131, Philadelphia 114: Bojan Bogdanovic scored a career-high 44 points and the Nets had a season-high scoring total. Bogdanovic’s output was the most for a Nets player since Deron Williams scored 57 on March 4, 2012. The 76ers (9-58) pulled to within 108-99 with 8:04 remaining, but the Nets scored the next four points and never led by less than 11 the rest of the way.

at San Antonio 108, Clippers 87

Sacramento 106, at Lakers 98