Raptors win 2nd OT game in as many nights

The Toronto Raptors must be exhausted.

Playing in their fourth city in five nights, the Raptors played a carbon-copy of their Friday game against the Brooklyn Nets, coughing up a big lead to the Washington Wizards before scrambling to seal a victory in overtime.

Leading by as many as 21, a tired-looking Toronto squad saw the Wizards storm back in the fourth quarter to force an extra frame. Playing through a sore Achilles, John Wall scored 28 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished 12 assists, while Bradley Beal dropped 26 and the team limited the Raptors to just 15 fourth-quarter points with a strong defensive effort.

The Wizards ran out of gas in overtime, with Toronto able to pull back ahead and close out the 120-116 final.

A night ago, the Raptors had tasked both DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry with playing 40-plus minutes and both were up to repeating those workloads Saturday. Lowry finished with 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting, with seven of those coming in overtime, while DeRozan added 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven dimes, piling up the assists for a second consecutive night.

Despite never looking all that impressive, the Raptors have suddenly won six in a row to improve to 33-15, with Saturday's win putting them two games ahead of Washington for second in the Eastern Conference. Toronto's upcoming schedule turns hellacious as of Friday, so it's a major positive that they were able to secure these near-losses as wins.

But first, perhaps, a rest.