VanVleet drops season-high 33 as red-hot Raptors top Wizards for 5th consecutive win
Toronto avenges 15-point loss to Washington on opening night
Fred VanVleet scored a season-high 33 points, OG Anunoby added 21 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Washington Wizards 109-100 on Wednesday night for their fifth consecutive victory.
VanVleet hit 13 of 22 shots for the Raptors, who avenged a 15-point opening night loss at home to the Wizards two weeks ago while running their win streak longer than any last season.
"I'm not taking it for granted," VanVleet said of this team's start after a 12th-place Eastern Conference finish in 2020-21. "Did you watch us last year? Yeah, I'm not taking none of this for granted. And that's the beauty of having a young team. You can enjoy these wins and enjoy the growth."
Svi Mykhailiuk and Gary Trent Jr. each added 15 points for Toronto, which spent the final 34 minutes with a lead that reached 16 in the third quarter.
WATCH | Raptors avenge opening night loss to Wizards:
Bradley Beal scored 25 points to lead Washington, which suffered consecutive losses for the first time this season while shooting 8 of 32 (25 per cent) from 3-point range.
Montrezl Harrell added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who lost despite leading 23-6 in second-chance points and 40-34 in points in the paint.
VanVleet gave Toronto its largest lead when he poured in seven consecutive points on a 3, a driving layup and two free throws to stretch it to 66-50.
With Toronto still up 10 in the fourth, Beal hit a pull-up and Harrell sank a leaner to cut it to 103-97 with 3:53 left. VanVleet answered with a running layup, and the Wizards made only one of their last six shots.
"It always helps when you've got a guy like Fred who can control the tempo," Toronto coach Nick Nurse said of VanVleet, who also had six assists. "He's making some good play calls. He's obviously scoring, but he's also finding some people, too."
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