NBA-Highlights of Monday's National Basketball Association games

Oct 31 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Monday's National Basketball Association games: Raptors 105, Nuggets 102 Guard DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points and the Toronto Raptors beat the Denver Nuggets 105-102 on Monday. Kyle Lowry's layup with 45.3 seconds left put the game out of reach as the Raptors improved to 2-1. Lowry finished with 29 points, seven assists and five steals. Denver (1-2) was led by 16 points, six rebounds and four assists from guard Emmanuel Mudiay. Hawks 106, Kings 95 The Hawks are off to their best start in six seasons and the Sacramento Kings have now gone 10 years without a victory in Atlanta. Atlanta held the Sacramento to 14 points in the fourth quarter and improved to 3-0 with a 106-95 win. Dwight Howard scored 18 points despite going just 8 for 20 from the foul line and pulled down 11 rebounds. Rudy Gay scored 22 points for the Kings (2-2), who pulled within 90-88 in the fourth quarter before the Hawks ran off eight straight points to take control. Bulls 118, Nets 88 Jimmy Butler scored 22 points as Chicago started quickly and remained unbeaten by rolling to a 118-88 road rout of Brooklyn. Dwyane Wade was the only Bulls starter to play in the fourth quarter and contributed 12 points, including his fifth 3-pointer of the season -- two shy of his total from last season. He finished off the blowout with a nifty crossover on Bojan Bogdanovic, resulting in a 3-point play with 9:48 left, giving the Bulls (3-0) a 98-73 lead. By garbage time, the 12-time All-Star was getting loud ovations from the Brooklyn fans. Clippers 116, Suns 98 Chris Paul scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half and Los Angeles routed winless Phoenix at Staples Center. Paul also had eight assists and five rebounds. Blake Griffin added 21 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Clippers. DeAndre Jordan didn't seem to show any ill effects from a sprained right thumb suffered in Sunday's win over the Utah Jazz, finishing with 19 point and 11 boards. Jamal Crawford added 14 points and J.J. Redick scored 13. The Suns were without guard Devin Booker, who sat out with a sore right big toe. Booker apparently aggravated the injury in Sunday's 106-100 loss to Golden State.