RJ Barrett, Raptors cruise past skidding Mavericks

RJ Barrett scored a season-best 31 points Sunday night and the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Dallas Mavericks 122-92.

Scottie Barnes added 17 points for the Raptors, who had lost their two previous games and four or five. Jakob Poeltl had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Brandon Ingram and Ja'Kobe Walter contributed 11 points each while Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 13 points. Immanuel Quickley had 10 points and a game-high eight assists and Gradey Dick scored 10 points.

Daniel Gafford had a season-best 21 points on 10-for-10 shooting and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for the Mavericks, who have lost seven in a row. Rookie Cooper Flagg added 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and three blocks. Brandon Williams chipped in with 16 points.

Dallas has lost 17 of 19.

The Raptors, helped by strong defense, entered the fourth quarter with their biggest lead at the time of 22 points. Toronto did not let up and Barrett's 3-pointer increased the lead to 26 points with 9:31 to play in the fourth quarter. Poeltl's dunk with 6:00 to play maintained the 26-point advantage.

Toronto led 36-29 after the first quarter that ended with Quickley's 28-foot 3-pointer.

The Raptors led by 16 with 5:54 to play in the second quarter after Barrett scored four straight points to cap a 14-2 burst. Toronto held Dallas to 15 points in a pedestrian second quarter to take a 57-44 halftime lead.

Toronto shot 48% from the field (24-for-50) in the first half while holding Dallas to 40.5% (17-for-42). Turnovers were key in helping Toronto build the lead. The Mavericks committed 11 turnovers in the first half, leading to 13 points while the Raptors had four turnovers leading to four points.

Dallas started the third quarter with more energy and Gafford's tip-in pared the margin to 11, 65-54, with 8:57 left. Toronto responded with a 10-0 run capped by Ingram's short-range jumper to bump the lead to 21 with 6:28 remaining in the third quarter.

The Mavericks whittled the margin to 16 before Ingram reeled off the next four points to stretch the lead to 20. Toronto led 88-66 after a disjointed third quarter.