The Toronto Raptors overcame a halftime deficit in a playoff game on the road for the first time in 24 tries, using 24 points from Kyle Lowry and a tremendous effort from their second unit to defeat the host Washington Wizards, 102-92, in Game 6 on Friday night to end their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Toronto trailed by as many as 12 points in the first quarter and was down by 53-50 at the end of the second. The Raptors’ first lead did not come until the third quarter, and they were back down by 5 points entering the final period.

But with Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, who had a personal series-low 16 points, resting to begin the fourth, reserves led by point guard Fred VanVleet turned around the game. Bothered by a bad right shoulder, VanVleet had played a total of three minutes in the series until Friday, but he was just what Toronto needed in this game, contributing 5 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds.

The home team had won each of the first five games, but the Raptors were finally able to break that road hex and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where they will meet LeBron James’s Cleveland Cavaliers or the Indiana Pacers.