RJ Barrett, Raptors hold Hornets at bay...

RJ Barrett scored 23 points and the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Charlotte Hornets 111-106 on Sunday night. Immanuel Quickley added 22 points and 11 assists for the Raptors, who had lost their two previous games. Ochai Agbaji had 13 points and career-best nine rebounds to go along with two blocked shots. Gary Trent Jr. contributed 17 points. Jordan Nwora and Gradey Dick each scored 11. Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl (dislocated finger) left the game in the first half and did not return. He had eight points, two rebounds, three assists and one blocked shot. Brandon Miller scored 26 points for the Hornets, who have lost four in a row. Miles Bridges scored 20 points. Grant Williams added 18 points and 13 rebounds. Davis Bertans scored 14 points and Vasilije Micic added 12. The Raptors took a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter. Nwora scored the first five points of the fourth, and Barrett’s 3-pointer gave Toronto a 14-point lead with 9:09 remaining. Two Williams free throws trimmed the margin to eight with 4:00 left, and Charlotte took the lead at 103-102 on a 3-pointer by Bertans with 1:06 left. Quickley hit two free throws to give Toronto a one-point lead, and he made two more foul shots to increase the lead to three with 24.6 seconds remaining. After Bertans missed a 3-point attempt, Quickley connected on two more free throws with 19.8 seconds left. A Williams free throw followed by Miller’s layup cut the margin to two with 18.1 seconds left. Trent scored the final three points of the game on a free throw and a steal that led to a breakaway layup. Charlotte led 29-27 after the first quarter. The Hornets then used a 7-0 run to take a 41-33 lead with 7:14 remaining in the second quarter. Toronto scored the next nine points to take a one-point lead with 5:18 remaining in the first half. Quickley’s layup completed the scoring in the first half and gave Toronto a 52-48 lead. Bridges made a layup to tie the game at 60 with 6:37 to play in the third quarter. Trent and Barrett answered with consecutive 3-pointers. The Raptors led 82-75 after the third quarter. Toronto was without Scottie Barnes (broken hand). Seth Curry (ankle) and Cody Martin (ankle) were among the missing for Charlotte.

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