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WASHINGTON (CP) – It didn't take very long for Kyle Lowry to show his built-up frustration on Sunday against Washington.

Lowry and his Toronto Raptors were swept from the post-season after a 125-94 loss in Game 4 against the Wizards.

The guard's emotion from throughout the series boiled over in the first quarter.

He protested an early foul on Paul Pierce by firing the basketball to a referee as he walked off the court after a time out. Lowry earned a technical foul and moments later was on the bench with a third personal foul just six minutes 54 seconds into the game.

The meltdown encapsulated the series for Lowry and Toronto, which dropped the first-round matchup 4-0.

"It was very unsatisfactory, to be honest," said Lowry. "At the end of the day, I've got to continue to get better and I will get better."

It was a miserable week for Lowry, who battled back spasms, an illness and a leg injury, but refused to concede he was hurt. His shot was off. Foul trouble was a constant problem. The Raptors' most dynamic player, who started at guard for the Eastern Conference in this year's All-Star game, was a shell of himself in the series.

Lowry scored a team-high 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting on Sunday. But the Raptors' defence was inconsistent, their offence sputtered and they couldn't rebound the shots they did miss.

"I've got no answers. It's a tough end for us," said guard Greivis Vasquez. "But as a team we've got to stay together. We'll see what happens this summer. We all, as individuals, have to get better. That really wasn't us the whole series."

The Wizards led 20-10 just 6:18 into the contest when Lowry was forced to the bench with that third foul. The lead grew to 20 midway through the second quarter and the game was never competitive in the second half as one Washington starter after another was pulled from the game to a standing ovation.

"I was surprised, but I kind of saw it coming," said Toronto coach Dwane Casey. "With how hard we played in the first game and overtime, emotionally I thought we were just drained. Once they hit us with the haymakers, we didn't have enough emotional fortitude to sustain it."

Washington set a franchise post-season record by making 15 of its 3-point shots. It had just five turnovers in the first half. Lowry picked up his fourth foul at 6:16 of the third quarter with the Raptors down 79-61 and later knocked over a chair on the Toronto bench in anger.

"When we play unselfish basketball we're a different team. That's just the facts," said Vasquez. "It's not defence or breakdowns or any (thing) like that. We've just got to play together and when we do that, we win. They did it."

A Raptors team that began the year 24-7 and had reached Game 7 in the first round last season – only to lose to the Brooklyn Nets when Lowry's buzzer-beating jumper was blocked by Pierce – was left wondering what went wrong.

"For us, we did have high expectations. But at the end of the day it was unsuccessful," said Lowry. "The way they came out, their level, they played extremely hard. We've got to learn from it. Regular season is completely different than the playoffs."

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Wizards Come Out Flying, Raptors Sent Packing In Game 4

WASHINGTON (CP) – Kyle Lowry stood with his feet in a tub of ice in the visiting locker room at Verizon Center, the stat sheet floating in the water below.

He stared at the numbers in disbelief and despair. Even 30 minutes after the Raptors' 106-99 loss to the Washington Wizards in Game 3 of an Eastern Conference quarter-final series, Lowry struggled to comprehend what's gone wrong.

Toronto's star guard shot 5-for-22 and finished with just 15 points. He fought through an illness that left his voice hoarse and audibly wheezed during a post-game interview with reporters.

In the end, the effort was better for the Raptors. But the result was the same. And now Toronto is on the brink of elimination from the NBA playoffs, trailing the Wizards 3-0. No NBA team has overcome a 3-0 series deficit. Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is Sunday evening in Washington.

"In this situation, we've never been in it," Lowry said. "It's like a Game 7 for us every single game starting Sunday. We're down 0-3 and everyone knows the history of it."

Another fast start gave the Raptors hope they could creep back into the series, but a 10-point first-half lead vanished even before the two teams headed to their locker rooms at halftime.

Point guard John Wall finished with 19 points and 15 assists to lead Washington and forward Marcin Gortat added 24 points and 12 rebounds.

DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 32 points – including 22 in the first half.

DeRozan carried Toronto in the first quarter with 20 points. But Lowry shot 2-for-9 in the first half and foul trouble continued to hound him. Lowry had six points at halftime and two fouls.

After exiting the ice tub, Lowry spent another five minutes sitting on his locker room stool, head in his hands. He refused to use his illness as an excuse.

"I thought Kyle played his heart out," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "Again, his shot didn't fall. That's basketball. He's our leader and he set the tone for us early. He played like the old Kyle – except his shot."

At one point in the third quarter Lowry had missed eight consecutive shots and DeRozan had missed 10 in a row.

The rest of the Raptors tried to make up the difference. Toronto took an 85-84 lead with 6:01 left in the fourth quarter after a dunk by Amir Johnson, who was one of the Raptors' few bright spots. He made 6-of-7 field goals and had a game-high 12 rebounds with three assists.

Toronto swept the regular-season series from the Wizards. The Raptors won in a blowout at Air Canada Centre on Nov. 7, 103-84, beat Washington in overtime on Jan. 31 at Verizon Center and won again, 95-93, at home on Feb. 11. DeRozan realizes, though, that this is a different time of year.

With Friday's game tied 88-88, Wizards reserve Otto Porter's breakthrough playoffs continued. With 4:20 to play, he sunk an open 3-pointer to put Washington back in front for good. Porter soon hit another.

"(Porter) has been the difference," Toronto reserve guard Greivis Vasquez said. "He is one of those players that is making his name in the playoffs."

Verizon Center finally exploded moments later when Raptors foil Paul Pierce made his own open 3-pointer to put the Wizards eight points clear with 1:58 left and put the game – and likely the series – out of reach.

"It's not over yet," Casey said. "We're on life support, but it's not over yet. There's no give up in this team. We haven't given up all year and we're going to continue to compete until someone tells us we can't compete any more."

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Raptors On The Brink After Falling In Washington

TORONTO (CP) – Another puzzling performance by point guard Kyle Lowry. A second dominant victory by the Washington Wizards.

And by the time the final buzzer sounded on Toronto's 117-106 loss to Washington on Tuesday, the same giddy fans that ushered the team onto the Air Canada Centre court with earsplitting applause were booing the struggling Raptors.

John Wall had 26 points and 17 assists, while Bradley Beal poured in 28 points to send the Wizards home to Washington with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series.

"I know we can do better," said Raptors coach Dwane Casey. "I see us getting knocked down, going to the basket. I don't see their guys hitting the floor. I see them waltz in and waving at us, laughing at us going to the basket."

NBA Sixth Man Lou Williams and DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 20 points apiece, Jonas Valanciunas had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Patrick Patterson finished with 15.

But the Raptors were hamstrung by another horrible night from Lowry, who finished with just six points and four assists, and sat large chunks of the game in foul trouble. In Game 1, he had seven points before fouling out.

"I dunno," Lowry said, when asked where he feels his game is at. "I'm not really getting any clean looks right now, and even missed a couple free throws. But I can't dictate my game with just offence, I can't even stay on the floor, I've got to find a way to stay on the floor right now."

Lowry sustained a left shin contusion at the 5:56 mark of the fourth quarter and did not return to the game. He will be re-evaluated Wednesday.

On the heels of a dreadful shooting performance in a 93-86 Game 1 loss, the Raptors knew Tuesday that they would be better. Problem was, Washington was as well. Much better.

The Raptors raced out to a 10-point lead and looked strong through the first quarter. But the Wizards roared back, and led 97-75 heading into the fourth quarter in front of a disgruntled crowd at the Air Canada Centre that included popular rapper Drake – wearing a leather bomber jacket bearing a huge Raptors logo.

There were thousands more unhappy fans outside, who braved the blustery weather to watch the game on the big screen in Maple Leaf Square.

"I feel for our fans. We have the greatest fans, passionate fans," Casey said. "And, that's where the pride factor has to come in. The guys have to go out and play with pride for the team first and then for our fans."

When the Wizards went up by 23 early in the fourth, dozens of fans headed for the exit. The Raptors would finally rally, cutting the deficit to 10 points on a three-pointer by Vasquez with 3:23 to go.

But that was as close as Toronto would get, and when Marcin Gortat put Washington back up by 13 with three minutes to play, the arena all but emptied.

"You think we're not frustrated?" Williams said of the fans' booing. "I understand they spend their money to come (watch) the game. We come here and prepare and work. Unfortunately it just hasn't gone our way."

"We have to play with passion," added Vasquez. "We have to play like we love the game. We've done it before. It's playoff time. Playoffs mean you have to play with everything you've got. I don't think we did."

The series has had some peripheral drama since before the first ball was thrown up, starting with Paul Pierce's comments about how the Raptors don't have the "it" factor.

Beal waded into the fray Tuesday night in a halftime television interview saying: "They think that we're some punks. They think they can push around. But we're not rolling."

They didn't. And for all the Raptors' talk the past two seasons about playing with a chip on their shoulders, the Wizards' seemed to have a bigger one.

"We have to still play with that chip on our shoulder because they're not going to back down, they're not going to stop coming at us," Beal said. "We have to do our best to protect our home court and close it out one game at a time."

The Raptors raced out to a 10-point lead on a step-back three by Terrence Ross less than four minutes into the game, and went into the second quarter leading 31-26.

Then disaster struck. Lowry had to sit less than three minutes into the second with three fouls, and the Wizards promptly went on a 25-8 run to head into the dressing room at halftime leading 60-49.

The misery continued in the third as the Wizards shot a whopping 77 per cent, ending the frame with five consecutive three-pointers.

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Raptors Dig Themselves 0-2 Hole Against Wizards

TORONTO (CP) – Masai Ujiri cursed him, Toronto Raptors fans jeered him. And Paul Pierce simply soaked it all in and drew strength from it. He loved it.

The Raptors' arch-rival spoiled the party – again – Saturday, scoring 20 points as the Washington Wizards earned an 93-86 overtime win over Toronto in the opener of their first-round playoff series.

"I don't mind playing the role of villain ... everybody's booing you, nobody likes you," Pierce said. "I embrace it. It fuels me truthfully."

Amir Johnson had 18 points to lead the Raptors, who rallied from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit before falling apart in the extra period of a series that had drama long before the opening tipoff.

The drama came courtesy of Pierce. The 17-year NBA veteran blocked Kyle Lowry's final shot – and broke Toronto fans' hearts – in Game 7 last season to clinch the playoff series for Brooklyn. Then this week, he was quoted as saying the Raptors don't have "it."

Minutes before tipoff Saturday, Raptors GM Masai Ujiri, who was fined US$25,000 last year for his famous F-bomb about Brooklyn, addressed the thousands of fans outside in Maple Leaf Square, telling them: "People want me to say something about Paul Pierce, but we don't give a (expletive) about it!"

"Typical Ujiri," Pierce said, laughing. "You heard what he said last year when I was in Brooklyn.

"I couldn't really care less. I think I can play the psychological war a little bit better than him."

NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who was in attendance, wasn't thrilled with Ujiri's comments, telling TSN, "I've known Masai for 20 years, he's a very emotional guy but it's not appropriate in the league."

The peripheral drama wasn't matched on the floor in a sloppy game for both teams.

DeMar DeRozan finished with 15 points on 6-of-20 shooting, but had a team-high 11 rebounds. Patrick Patterson, Lou Williams and Greivis Vasquez had 10 apiece. Kyle Lowry finished with just seven points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 2:36 to play.

"For me personally, it's frustrating," Lowry said. "But our guys and our group, we're still fine. It's only one game."

Bradley Beal added 16 points for Washington.

Pierce, who'd averaged a career-low 11.9 points in the regular-season, shot 7-for-10, including 4-for-7 from three-point range, shrugging off the chorus of "Paul Pierce sucks!" that spontaneously erupted at times during the game.

"I've been in a lot of tough environments, this is right up there at the top," Pierce said. "Even last year when we won the series, I didn't want to come back to Toronto to be in this environment.

"But you've got to love these moments, you've got to love these type of buildings, they're excited about their team, it's one of the best crowds I've ever been a part of on the road, and I think it's something that really drives me."

The Raptors are 0-7 in opening first-round games. Last season, coach Dwane Casey blamed it on nerves with his young squad.

On Saturday, the Raptors – who'd beaten Washington in all three regular-season meetings – looked entirely out of sorts, and trailed by as many as 11 before going into the fourth down 65-56.

"There's still a lot of basketball to be played so it's not over, it's not doom and gloom," Casey said.

The Raptors shot 38 per cent on the afternoon, going just 6-for-29 from three-point range. The Wizards won the battle of the boards 61-48.

Washington would stretch its advantage to 15 points, virtually sucking the enthusiasm out of an Air Canada Centre that was a sea of white T-shirts, and included Kentucky coach John Calipari.

The Raptors abruptly woke up, and a three-pointer by Vasquez with six minutes to play brought Toronto to within six. Consecutive three-point bombs from Williams cut Washington's lead to two points with 2:55 to play.

Then with 26 seconds on the clock, Vasquez drilled a three to tie the game 82-82, shimmying and strutting up the court. His bucket capped a 23-8 run and sent the game into overtime.

The positive vibe was short-lived though, as Toronto went scoreless through four minutes of overtime until a DeRozan dunk with 30 seconds left.

The Raptors led 23-19 after the first but Pierce poured it on with 10 points in the second to give Washington a 46-42 half-time lead.

The Raptors shot a dreadful 28 per cent in a third quarter that saw the Wizards go ahead by 11 on a Wall jumper with 4:40 left in the frame.

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Raptors Drop Game One To Wizards In OT

BOSTON (CP) - The Boston Celtics knew they were in the playoffs. Now they can start thinking about a matchup with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jae Crowder hit an off-balance fall-away shot from deep on the right wing with .8 seconds left, lifting Boston to a 95-93 win over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday that secured the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference for the Celtics.

Evan Turner and Avery Bradley each scored 14 points for Boston, which will face No. 2 seed Cleveland in the playoffs. Brandon Bass added 13 points and nine rebounds.

"Hey, to have a chance to compete against the very best in the league is a great opportunity,'' Boston coach Brad Stevens said. "It's a big mountain, but it is a great opportunity.''

It was the fifth straight win for the Celtics, who clinched a playoff spot on Monday when Brooklyn lost.

"It's exactly what we wanted, no matter who it is whether the Atlanta Hawks or Cleveland,'' Crowder said.

Kyle Lowry had 16 points for the Raptors, who are locked into the fourth seed and will face Washington. Toronto beat the Wizards in all three meetings this season.

"The way we lost tonight, we're disappointed,'' coach Dwane Casey said. "But it doesn't (spoil) the season.''

Boston collected 17 offensive rebounds and owned a 50-43 edge on the glass.

"They were crashing the boards really hard,'' Lowry said.

Lou Williams also had 16 points for Toronto, Terrence Ross scored 12 and Jonas Valanciunas' 11.

After Turner's shot was blocked out of bounds with 2.5 seconds left, Crowder caught the ensuing inbounds pass and nailed the winner.

Lowry's shot at the buzzer was blocked by Turner.

The teams were tied six times in the final quarter before Turner hustled after his own miss and found Tyler Zeller for a one-hander in the lane with 14 seconds left.

Just like a few seconds earlier, Lowry then drove the lane, tying it at 93 with 10.2 seconds to go.

Turner hit a jumper from the right baseline off an inbounds play with 35.2 seconds left to push Boston ahead 91-89, but Lowry scored on a drive down the lane, tying it.

The Raptors had opened an 87-82 lead with 4 1/2 minutes left, but Boston tied it on Marcus Smart's 3 from the right wing.

Trailing by eight early in the second half, the Celtics used a 14-5 run to take a 64-63 lead, their first since the opening quarter. Boston led 73-70 entering the final period.

The Raptors led by seven after one, pushed it to 15 late into the second quarter and held a 53-46 advantage at intermission.

Raptors: G Lowry played his third game after missing seven with back spasms. "I feel a little better,'' he said after the game. "I feel good. My shots just aren't falling.'' F Amir Johnson returned after missing four with an ankle injury. F DeMar DeRozan was given the night off.

Celtics: The team honoured a piece of the club's history: The play when John Havlicek stole the ball to seal the 1965 Eastern Conference final 50 years ago Wednesday. Hall of Famer Havlicek received a standing ovation when he was introduced at centre court after a video of the play was shown on the Jumbotron. Bradley limped to the locker room early in the second half with a left leg injury and didn't return. "Everybody I talked to said he's fine,'' Stevens said. "He will not play tomorrow, though.''

Despite having a playoff spot secured, Boston wanted a good showing in its last home game.

"We sent out a text last night, talked about it this morning,'' Stevens said. "We have an opportunity to compete and when you have an opportunity to compete, you compete as well as you can.''

The Raptors (48-33) have one last shot for a club-record 49th win.

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Raptors Edged By Celtics On The Road

MIAMI (CP) - When the playoffs open next weekend, the Toronto Raptors will be at home.

And, almost certainly, so will the Miami Heat.

Lou Williams scored 29 points, DeMar DeRozan added 24 and the Raptors put the Heat on the brink of playoff elimination with a 107-104 victory Saturday night.

Greivis Vasquez and Kyle Lowry each scored 12 points and Patrick Patterson had 11 for the Raptors. They clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs and dealt an absolutely crippling blow to Miami's post-season hopes.

"For our organization, where we are, the process we're going through, I think it's important,'' Raptors coach Dwane Casey said about wrapping up home-court. "You can't take anything for granted. These guys fought for it, scratched for it. They earned it.''

Dwyane Wade scored 30 points for the Heat, who can only get to 37 wins the number that Brooklyn and Boston are already at, putting them in the No. 7 and No. 8 spots in the Eastern Conference race. Goran Dragic scored 22 points for Miami and Hassan Whiteside finished with 16 points and 18 rebounds.

But Whiteside also missed 12 free throws, going 4 for 16, and as a team the Heat went 24 of 44 from the line.

"Nobody needs to feel sorry for any of us,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "This is what you sign up for in this business. You don't know what's going to happen and this year has had its challenges for all of us. But we've been grinding and fighting.''

The fight might be gone now. A season that started essentially in July when LeBron James left, then saw Josh McRoberts succumb to injury and Chris Bosh to illness, has now all but slipped away.

"We have nothing to be ashamed of,'' Wade said.

Williams hit a 3-pointer with 31.2 seconds left to put the Raptors up by five, and that just about sealed the game and Miami's playoff fate. The Heat must win their last two games, and get a ton of help to reach the post-season for the seventh straight year.

It was Toronto's first road win over the Heat since Nov. 19, 2008, ending a 10-game slide on Miami's home floor. The win was Toronto's 48th of the season and 22nd on the road, both tying franchise records.

"This one especially feels good, clinching home-court,'' said Williams, who had 17 in the second quarter alone.

Wade had 11 in the third, including one stretch where he got a rebound while down on the floor and ended up scoring seconds later, followed by another layup while getting knocked down again.

But in the end, there just wasn't enough.

"Played good enough to win,'' Wade said. "Just didn't.''

Raptors: Williams had never scored 17 in a first, second or third quarter. He'd scored at least that many in a fourth quarter five times. Tyler Hansbrough had his nose bloodied midway through the first quarter, taking an inadvertent hit from Wade on a drive near the basket. He stayed in the game. Before last season, the Raptors had never finished with a winning road record. They've now done it in each of the past two seasons.

Heat: Dragic had 12 points in the first quarter, matching his best opening quarter since coming to the Heat. Whiteside had 12 points and 11 rebounds by halftime, the third time this season he's had a double-double before intermission. With his first assist, the 1,981st of his Heat career, Mario Chalmers broke a tie with LeBron James for third on Miami's list in that department.

The Raptors were without Amir Johnson (sprained right ankle) for a fourth straight game, and coach Dwane Casey said he's hopeful of getting him back for one game before the playoffs start next weekend. Miami had Henry Walker (elbow) available, but he did not play.

Whiteside became the third player this season to miss at least 12 free throws in a game. DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers has done it four times, and Houston's Josh Smith missed 14 in Friday's loss to San Antonio.

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Raptors Extinguish Heat To Match Team Record For Wins

ORLANDO, FLA. (CP) – The Orlando Magic haven't beaten the Toronto Raptors in more than three years. They missed another chance Friday night.

Toronto's Lou Williams drained a 3-pointer from the corner with 9.9 seconds left and the Raptors successfully forced a last-second miss by the Magic, claiming a 101-99 road win. The game featured three lead changes and two ties in the final 50 seconds.

It was Toronto's 11th straight win over Orlando.

Williams scored eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 29 points. Tyler Hansbrough had 16 points and Kyle Lowry finished with 10 points and seven assists.

"The things we wanted to work on, we executed," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. "Our offence down the stretch was fine, but this year, it's defence that is our whole mantra."

Williams hit the winner, but DeRozan served it up, after twice putting the Raptors ahead by himself in the final minute. DeRozan capped a 6-0 run with a jumper from the free throw line to give Toronto a 96-94 lead with 50 seconds to play. His driving, reverse layup pushed the Raptors ahead 98-96 with 18.9 seconds to go.

With Toronto down 99-98, he drove into traffic and threaded a pass between defenders to a wide-open Williams for the winning basket. The Raptors shot 30 3-pointers in the game and hit only nine, but made the one that counted.

"You can't make every shot, but we kept shooting," DeRozan said. "Whenever I draw that much attention, I try to get my teammates going. I saw Lou in the corner and that was the thing to do."

"We shoot shots we're comfortable with," Williams said. "We have always been a high-volume 3-point shooting team and we have confidence in the shots we take."

Orlando was hoping for its first four-game winning streak in more than three years. Oladipo led Orlando with 19 points and Evan Fournier added 18 points. Tobias Harris and Nik Vucevic had 16 apiece, while rookie Aaron Gordon had 13 points and six rebounds.

The Magic led 99-98 after Oladipo hit a 3-pointer from two steps behind the line with 13.8 seconds left in the game. Oladipo could have tied in the final second, but missed a contested jumper from the free throw line.

"This is a fantastic group of players," Magic interim head coach James Borrego said of his team. "The way they're fighting, the way they're competing against three high-calibre teams. We won the boards, we won in the paint, we missed one shot down the stretch and they made one."

The back-and-forth play in the final minutes mirrored much of the game.

Toronto led by as many as 12 in the first half, but the Magic rode Fournier's hot shooting from the perimeter to a 51-49 halftime lead. The second-year shooting guard, who had played only once since missing 17 games with a hip injury, knocked down three straight 3-pointers and two more shots from just inside the line to help the Magic get a brief advantage.

The teams traded baskets throughout the third period that fittingly ended in a 76-76 tie. Toronto did most of its damage from the perimeter, while all of Orlando's offence came inside the lane.

Two dunks by Hansbrough were Toronto's only points inside the paint. Oladipo's 10-foot runner in the lane was the longest shot Orlando made in the quarter.

Raptors: PG Kyle Lowry, who missed the last seven games with back spasms, was in the starting lineup. He scored 10 points and had seven assists in 33 minutes. ... F Amir Johnson missed his third straight game with a sprained ankle. ... C Jonas Valanciunas had 13 rebounds at halftime, six at the offensive end. ... The Raptors are one victory away from tying the franchise-record 48 wins set a year ago.

Magic: The last Orlando win over the Raptors came on March 27, 2012. ... Rookie PG Elfrid Payton is averaging 12.9 points, 9.3 assists and 6.5 rebounds in the seven games since scoring back-to-back triple-doubles. ... PG Luke Ridnour returned to the team after missing three games for the birth of his son, Ryker Ridnour.

Raptors: Plays at Miami on Saturday night.

Magic: Has a rare back-to-back home situation, hosting New York on Saturday night.

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Raptors Pull Out Win Over Magic In Lowry’s Return

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CP) – The Toronto Raptors were determined to beat the Charlotte Hornets for the first time in seven games Wednesday night.

Taking control midway through the second quarter, the Raptors led by as many as 29 points and rolled to a 92-74 victory that likely quashed the Hornets' slim playoff hopes.

"The first quarter wasn't very good," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. "But I thought in the second quarter we set the tone of how we want to play. We started the second quarter and finished the game doing what we wanted to do defensively."

DeMar DeRozan scored 18 points for Toronto, Lou Williams and Greivis Vasquez had 16 points, and Tyler Hansbrough added 12 points and 12 rebounds.

"For some reason, we've always had bad luck against this team, especially playing here (in Charlotte)," DeRozan said. "But it felt good to get a win against this team at a critical time for us."

Kemba Walker had 15 points for Charlotte. The Hornets are 11th in the Eastern Conference, three games out of the eighth and final playoff spot.

Mo Williams added 10 points for Charlotte, playing without three injured starters.

"We just had no juice," Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said. "We're going to have to find a way to be professional. I think our team has stood for effort and purposeful play all year long, and we're going to have to find a way to do that over these last four games."

The Raptors took the lead for good at 15-13 on Hansbrough's two free throws with 4:31 left in the first quarter. Lou Williams made a 3-pointer early in the second quarter to stretch the lead to double digits for the first time, 29-19, and it was 47-31 at the half.

Toronto led by 28 in the third quarter and took a 69-45 advantage into the fourth.

The Hornets made just 17 of 60 field-goal attempts through the first three quarters for 28 per cent, including 3 of 13 from 3-point range. During that span, the Raptors were 24 of 61 from the field and 10 of 23 on 3s, with DeRozan and Lou Williams hitting three each.

"It was an all-around game against a depleted team," Casey said. "It's a good 'W,' but they had a lot of their guys out. We've got to keep that same focus. Consistency is what we've been building for. It's one game, so let's do it again."

Casey singled out the aggressive play around the basket by Hansbrough at both ends of the court as a key to the Toronto victory.

"Tyler, I thought, was the MVP. He gave us all we wanted inside. He gave us toughness and energy and quickness that you need," Casey said. "He had a few opportunities around the basket that he missed, but his energy was infectious. He got in there and made things tough for everybody."

Raptors: Amir Johnson (right ankle sprain) and Kyle Lowry (back spasms) sat out.

Hornets: Lance Stephenson (right toe sprain) was ruled out before the game, joining previously injured teammates Al Jefferson (sore right knee), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (left ankle sprain) and Cody Zeller (sore right shoulder) on the sideline.

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Raptors Break Through In Charlotte, Blow Out Hornets

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