Fred VanVleet hits two 3s in OT, Raptors beat Wizards 116-109

WASHINGTON(AP) — Fred VanVleet made two 3-pointers in overtime and scored 25points, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Washington Wizards 116-109on Saturday to split their two-game series.

Gary TrentJr. scored 26 points to lead the Raptors, who bounced back fromtheir 119-108 loss Thursday night to move back ahead of the Wizardsinto ninth place in the Eastern Conference.

“I thought weshot better,” VanVleet said. “Created the same amount of goodlooks, but shot a little bit better and we just guarded a littlebit tougher down the stretch finishing out the game, closing outthe game.”

VanVleetadded 10 assists and Pascal Siakam had 15 points and seven assistsfor Toronto.

KristapsPorzingis had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Wizards. BradleyBeal added 21 points and 10 assists, but shot just 7 for 22 andmissed a jumper that could have won it in regulation.

“We knew thatwe wanted to make it 2-0, but we fell a little bit short,”Porzingis said. “We made a comeback, had opportunities, fell short.That’s how it goes in this game.”

VanVleetsnapped a 107-all tie with a 3-pointer with 1:47 remaining in OT.After Kyle Kuzma made a pair of free throws to cut it to one,VanVleet knocked down another 3 that made it 113-109, and Siakam’sthree-point play with 15 seconds to go put it away.

Neither teamhad a double-digit lead through three quarters, but Torontoappeared to be taking control when it opened a 97-84 advantage with9:24 to play.

The Wizardscharged back behind Porzingis, who had three baskets in a littlemore than two minutes to cut it to 105-102 with 2:21 remaining.Trent and VanVleet missed 3-pointers before Delon Wright tied itwith his 3 with 30 seconds left.

VanVleetmissed another 3 and Beal missed a jumper to force the extraperiod.

“I think thebig thing is during the break between the end of the game and theOT, the assistant coaches, the message was: `We are generatingawesome shots. We’re going to make them in the overtime,’” Raptorscoach Nick Nurse said. “Like, just keep doing what we’redoing.”

Wright had aseason-high 18 points, tied a career high with six steals and addedseven assists and six rebounds.

TIP-INS

Raptors: O.G.Anunoby missed all six 3-pointers and finished 2 for 11 for sixpoints. ... Toronto has won 14 of its last 16 in Washington.

Wizards:Kuzma scored 16 points. ... Corey Kispert was 4 for 4 behind thearc and scored 12 points.

UPNEXT

Raptors: AtDenver on Monday night.

Wizards: HostMilwaukee on Sunday night.