" A rookie tossed the great Tim Duncan to the ground late in the fourth quarter Sunday. Then Jonas Valanciunas beat the rest of the Spurs to the other end for a pair of game-tying free throws.

That was the first sign the Toronto Raptors were not going to let the Spurs get away to Washington without a fight.

By the end of the first overtime, when DeMar DeRozan bird-dogged his own miss to force more free basketball, the Spurs knew what they were in for.

The Spurs ultimately survived their latest trip to the Air Canada Centre with a Duncan-and-Tony-Parker engineered 111-106 victory. It took two overtimes to complete against a Raptors team that has been more luckless than hapless this season.

"We had to work hard for this one," said Parker, who finished with 32 points, narrowly missing a new season scoring high for the third game in a row.

If winless Washington records its first victory of the season tonight against the Spurs, the Wizards should send a thank-you card to Toronto.

The Spurs had to break a sweat, and lean on Parker for 46 minutes and Duncan for 41, to escape Canada with a win.