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TORONTO — Desperate for a victory, Kyle Lowry strapped his Raptors teammates to his back and carried the team to a massive 108-106 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night at the Air Canada Centre.

Lowry scored 33 points — none bigger than an absurd long two-pointer with Solomon Hill draped all over him — that gave the Raptors that final edge with just 4.3 seconds remaining and the much-maligned defence came through in the second half.

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With losses in six of seven games coming in, no DeMar DeRozan and a date at now division-leading Boston less than 24 hours away at tipoff time, the Raptors dug deep to overcome another dreadful defensive start.

“We really need it, it wasn’t beautiful, it wasn’t pretty but I thought the second half we took the challenge,” Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said afterward.

“I thought all of our guys took the challenge.”

Struggling through the worst defensive stretch of the season, the Raptors would eventually pile up a number of strong late defensive stands against the Pelicans.