Scottie Barnes #4 of the Toronto Raptors celebrates after a play against the Washington Wizards during the second half at Capital One Arena on January 21, 2022 in Washington.Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
Rookie Scottie Barnes scored a career-best 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the visiting Toronto Raptors defeated the Washington Wizards 109-105 Friday night.
Fred VanVleet hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 59.5 seconds to play in the fourth quarter and finished with 21 points and 12 assists for Toronto.
Pascal Siakam contributed 21 points for the Raptors, who won the season series with the Wizards 3-1 and completed a five-game road trip with a 2-3 record.
Toronto’s Gary Trent Jr. returned from an ankle injury to score 13 points. OG Anunoby had 12 points and Chris Boucher added 10.
Bradley Beal compiled 25 points and eight assists while committing nine turnovers for the Wizards. Spencer Dinwiddie added 17 points, Rui Hachimura scored 11 and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell each had 10.
The Raptors used a 36-23 third quarter to take a 14-point lead. Toronto scored the first four points of the fourth quarter before Beal answered with seven straight points, cutting the deficit to 11 with 9:09 to play.
Deni Avdija’s layup trimmed the advantage to six with 5:47 left, and the lead shrunk to four on Beal’s two free throws just over a minute later. Harrell’s three-point play reduced the margin to two with 1:39 left, and then he tied it on a dunk with 1:10 left.
VanVleet’s 3-pointer put Toronto ahead, and an Anunoby layup increased the lead to five with 20.4 seconds to play.
Washington led 30-20 after one quarter.
After Davis Bertans made a layup to bump the lead to 13 with 8:20 remaining in the second quarter, but Toronto soon responded with a 9-0 run. Siakam’s 3-pointer tied the game with 3:31 left in the first half. The Raptors took their first lead on Barnes’s dunk with 1:17 remaining, and Toronto led 55-54 at halftime.
Dinwiddie’s 3-pointer gave Washington a three-point lead with 7:04 left in the third quarter. Toronto used an 11-0 run to lead 80-71 with 3:58 to play in the third. Boucher hit consecutive 3-pointers to increase Toronto’s lead to 15 with 1:02 left, and the Raptors were on top 91-77 after three quarters.
Washington was without Kyle Kuzma (neck spasms).