LOS ANGELES — The Golden State Warriors made it an even dozen wins to start the NBA season Tuesday, but their 115-110 victory over the Toronto Raptors was no cakewalk.
The reigning NBA champion Warriors looked to be on cruise control when they rolled to an 18-point lead in the first half.
But they had to battle to hang on for the win as the Raptors, led by Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, rallied to take a two-point lead with 5:54 to play on two free throws by Lowry.
The free throws capped a 10-1 scoring run that saw the Raptors erase a seven-point deficit.
However, the Warriors immediately countered with a surge of their own, triggered by an Andrew Bogut dunk on a lob from Draymond Green.
Stephen Curry’s basket with 1:28 to play built the Warriors’ lead back to five points.
But it had dwindled again to one, at 109-108, and the Raptors had the ball with 24.6 seconds remaining.
Lowry committed a foul with a moving screen with 15.4 seconds left to turn the ball over.
Golden State made six free throws in the final 12 seconds to seal the win, Curry making four of them to complete a 37-point, nine-assist game.
“It was actually too close down the stretch, but we got the job done,” said Curry, whose Warriors are closing in on the all-time best season start of 15-0, achieved by Washington in 1948-49 and the Houston Rockets in 1993-94.
Shooting guard Klay Thompson, back from a one-game absence with a sore back, added 19 points for the Warriors and Australia’s Bogut chipped in 13. Golden State’s 53.8 percent shooting helped them overcome a 30-18 deficit at the foul line.
Lowry and DeRozan scored 28 points each for the Raptors, who lost to the Warriors for the 10th straight time.
With the win, the Warriors tied their club record for consecutive regular-season wins with 16 — a streak dating back to last season.
It was their 25th straight regular-season home win.
Nuggets 115, Pelicans 98: Forward Danilo Gallinari scored a season-high 32 points, including 15 in the third quarter, to power the Denver Nuggets to a 115-98 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Gallinari connected on five of eight from behind the three-point arc. He made all six shots he attempted in the third quarter as Denver erased a 53-51 halftime deficit to take an 83-75 advantage into the final quarter.
The Nuggets got 17 points from forward Will Barton and 16 apiece from guards Gary Harris and Jameer Nelson. New Orleans received 24 points from forward Ryan Anderson and 19 from guard Eric Gordon.
Pistons 104, Cavaliers 99: Andre Drummond powered for 25 points and 18 rebounds, and Detroit rallied from a 13-point, second-half deficit to defeat Cleveland.
Drummond scored 10 fourth-quarter points as the Pistons snapped a four-game losing streak.
Reggie Jackson supplied 23 points, including six free throws in the final minute, along with 12 assists. Power forward Ersan Ilyasova added 20 points.
LeBron James scored a game-high 30 points and passed Jerry West for 19th place on the all-time scoring list.
Wizards 115, Bucks 86: John Wall and Otto Porter scored 19 points apiece to lead six Wizards in double figures as Washington ran past Milwaukee.
Reserve Jared Dudley added 13 points, and Marcin Gortat scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Wizards, who were without leading scorer Bradley Beal (sore shoulder) for the third consecutive game.
Forward Khris Middleton led Milwaukee with 14 points but was limited to 28 minutes due to early foul trouble.
Other results: Nets 90, Hawks 88; Knicks 102, Hornets 94; Timberwolves 103, Heat 91. — Agencies
