(Charlotte) Pascal Siakam had 36 points and Fred VanVleet scored an unprecedented feat for the Raptors on Sunday as Toronto won 128-108 against the Charlotte Hornets.
Celebrating 29 years, Siakam had 22 points in the second half.
VanVleet had 20 points and 20 assists, a first in Raptors history.
Every other Raptors starter has at least 12 points. OG Anunoby scored 23, Jakob Poeltl 16 and Scottie Barnes 12.
Anunoby was exceptional with a five-for-six record for shooting three-pointers.
VanVleet had three of eight steals, while Poeltl frustrated the opposition with five blocks.
Chris Boucher added seven points, including five in the final quarter.
Former Raptor Svi Mykhailiuk provided 26 points for the Hornets side, who were without their top four players. They were without their best scorer Terry Rozier, injured in the right foot.
Also missing were Kelly Oubre (right shoulder), P. J. Washington (right foot) and Gordon Hayward (left thumb).
Either way, the Raptors were consistent, focused and hardworking, snapping a five-game losing streak on the road.
The Torontonians outshot 90-44 for points in the bottle. In the first half, they had a seven-for-13 success rate on three-pointers.
Will Barton was missing for a fourth straight game with a left ankle injury. Gary Trent missed his sixth straight game – his second due to back pain, after missing four games with a stiff right elbow.
Monday is a rest day in the NBA.
The Raptors will play again Tuesday night, once again in Charlotte (7 p.m., TSN 1 and 3).
After Sunday’s game, the Raptors (39-39) had settled into eighth in the East and they confirmed their spot for at least one qualifying game when the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Utah Jazz .
Toronto squad can’t finish lower than 10e eastern level.
Under the new NBA playoff format, the seventh- and eighth-place teams compete to determine which will finish seventh. The ninth- and tenth-place teams compete to determine which will face the loser of the match between seventh and eighth.
Later Sunday night, the Atlanta Hawks (39-39) beat the Dallas Mavericks 132-130 in overtime and edged the Raptors to eighth in the tiebreaker.