Toronto Raptors Rally From Minus 30 to Defeat the Dallas Mavericks, 110-107

Toronto Raptors made one of the biggest comebacks in one game over the last 20 years to beat Dallas Mavericks 110-107. They would trail 30 points in the late third but manage to turn the tables and stun the audience around the world. In a fantastic finish, they tore apart the Mavs, with Kyle Lowry bashing the guest’s defense over the final 12 minutes. The result in that sequence alone was 47-21 for the Raptors who made their biggest comeback in franchise history.

“Historically I would say we’ve always been a team that fights. We hardly ever mail it in. That’s a good quality to have,” said Nick Nurse following the match.

Lowry would deliver 20 of his 32 points in the fourth, annihilating the rivals, and pouring from all over the court, dropping four 3’s. Also, it would be unfair not to mention Terence Davis, who scored nine points at the start of the same. Chris Boucher and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, a fantastic duo off the bench, brought in the energy that ignited the hosts.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Raptors’ coach stated about his team’s performance at the start of the fourth.

Kyle Lowry (32 PTS, 10 AST & 8 REB) helped the @Raptors get the W in their 30-POINT comeback. 🔥

This was their biggest comeback in franchise history! #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/DVQTRsVaOo

— NBA TV (@NBATV) December 22, 2019

This was the sixth consecutive victory for the champs, who had lost four out of five events before starting this streak. But coming into the last frame, nothing indicated that they might win. In fact, many fans were preparing to leave, due to the catastrophic performance of their favorites.

The Mavs were unstoppable on the floor of Scotiabank Arena, harassing the Raptors in all aspects of the game. Meanwhile, Nick Nurse’s leading players were shooting awful, particularly from behind the three-point line, having four hits in 17 tries at one moment.

In spite of all the problems with injuries, there isn’t a way of justifying hosts’ poor performance in the middle periods. They opened the match solid, but suddenly fell apart in the second, and especially third period. In those two parts of the event, the result was 69-43 for Rick Carlisle’s side.

Up until 7:03 of the second, Toronto had a lead, and at that moment, Tim Hardaway scored to tie the result at 34-all. The result at the break was 48-42 for Dallas, and after that came the hurricane which blew away the champs. A 16-2 burst of the guests knocked out the Raptors, whose biggest deficit in that sequence was 30 buckets, 85-55.

But all that changed.

Toronto would wake up early in the fourth, making a 32-9 rush, which erased the lead of the visitors and tie the contest at 95-all. With 4:09 to go, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson brought back the edge to Toronto’s side. Porzingis brought back the hope for the guys from Texas some 32 seconds before the end, putting them up 107-106. Yet, Boucher delivered four straight points to close this match.

He ended the night with 21 points and 7 boards off the bench. Hollis-Jefferson had 18 and 9 rebounds also off the bench.

Lowry was two boards shy of a triple-double with 32 buckets, 10 dimes besides that.

Jalen Brunson had a team-high for the visitors, 21 points and 9 assists, Porzigis added 19 with 12 boards, Dwight Powell 17, Tim Hardaway Jr. 16.

“We just didn’t react the right way to their pressure to their energy, and that was it,” Porzingis said.

Up next, the Raptors (21-8) have a tough task in Indianapolis against the Pacers on Monday. After that, Nurse and the crew host the Boston Celtics at home on Christmas Day.

As for the Mavericks (19-10), they have a few days to rest before meeting the Spurs at home next Thursday.