TORONTO -- Patrick Patterson had his biggest night of his career with Toronto to lead the Raptors to victory on Monday.
The back-up forward, obtained from Sacramento on Dec. 9 in a trade that saw Rudy Gay shipped West, had 22 points as the Raptors defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 108-101 at Air Canada Centre.
Patterson, who got the start due to Amir Johnson's ankle injury, made the most of it, topping his season-high of 21 points with the Kings back on Nov. 23 against the Los Angeles Clippers.
DeMar DeRozan added 22 points and Kyle Lowry had another complete performance, scoring 19 points, while doling out 12 assists and grabbing seven rebounds before a crowd of 17,596.
The Raptors, returning home from a five-game road trip out West, widened their lead over the Brooklyn Nets atop the NBA's Atlantic Division to three games.
New Orleans (22-29), trailed by as many as 18 points late in the third quarter, but refused to go away. The Pelicans went on a 16-5 run over the opening 5:10 of the fourth quarter to cut the Toronto lead to 87-86.
But the Raptors went on an 11-3 run over the next 2:30 to pull away and snap a two-game losing streak.
Toronto (27-24), 8-2 at home since Jan. 1, plays seven of its next nine at Air Canada Centre.
The Raptors broke open the game in the third quarter, turning a halftime tie into a 12-point lead.
Patterson led the way in the third with 10 points while DeRozan added nine.
The Raptors had stretched their lead to 82-64 with 2:44 to go in the third but New Orleans scored the final six points of the quarter to make sure the game was in doubt heading to the final frame.
The teams went into the halftime break tied at 49 after New Orleans erased a Toronto lead which got as high as 15 points early in the second quarter.
The Pelicans closed out the second quarter on an 18-7 run over the final 7:39 and actually led by four points before the Raptors battled back to tie it on a Patterson jumper two before the break.
Anthony Davis led the Pelicans surge with eight of his team-high 11 first-half points in the second.
Toronto meanwhile, hit just five of 15 shots from the field in the second quarter.
Patterson led the Raptors in the opening half with 10 points while Lowry had seven points, six assists and four rebounds at the break.
The Raptors, facing a New Orleans team playing its second game of a back-to-back after losing in Brooklyn on Sunday, took charge of the game from the outset with some solid shooting.
Toronto shot 63.2 per cent from the field in the opening quarter, including four of six from three-point range, to build a 31-20 lead after 12 minutes. New Orleans shot just 40 per cent in the first.
Lowry, DeRozan and Patterson paced the Raptors with seven points apiece in the first quarter.
The Raptors host the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.
