Depleted Raptors top Rockets
Norman Powell scored 30 points, Kyle Lowry had a tripledouble and the depleted Toronto Raptors beat the Houston Rockets 122-111 on Friday night.
The Raptors were without head coach Nick Norse, five assistant coaches and starting forward Pascal Siakam in accordance with the NBA’s health and safety protocols regarding the coronavirus. Assistant coach Sergio Scariolo directed the team. He had been away from the Raptors while coaching Spain in FIBA’s EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers and just cleared quarantine Friday.
Scariolo has extensive experience as a head coach, winning championships of leagues in Italy, Spain and Russia, plus has been Spain’s national coach — helping that team win medals at the 2012 London Games and 2016 Rio de Janiero Olympics, plus capture the Basketball World Cup title in 2019.
Siakam was listed as out about two hours before the game, indicating that he either has a testing issue or a contact tracing issue. He played Wednesday night in Miami in the Raptors’ loss to the Heat.
Lowry had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to help the Raptors hand the Rockets their 10th straight loss. Fred VanVleet added 25 points, making 5 of 11 3-pointers. Lowry was 4 of 5 from long range, and Powell 4 of 8.
Victor Oladipo led the Rockets with 27 points, and John Wall had 21 points and 12 assists.
SUNS 106, BULLS 97
CHICAGO — Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton each scored 22 points and Phoenix rallied to beat Chicago.
Chris Paul, who’ll join Booker at the All-Star Game, added 14 points, 15 assists and six rebounds to help the Suns win for the 10th time in 12 games.
CELTICS 118, PACERS 112
BOSTON — Kemba Walker made two late free throws and scored a season-high 32 points to help Boston snap a three-game losing streak with a win over Indiana.
Daniel Theis added 17 points and Jaylen Brown finished with 15.
THUNDER 118, HAWKS 109
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points, and Oklahoma City beat Atlanta after changing uniforms at halftime because a mix-up left the teams wearing similar colours at the start.
CLIPPERS 119, GRIZZLIES 99
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kawhi Leonard scored 30 points, Lou Williams added 17 and Los Angeles Clippers Memphis to split a two-game series.
HEAT 124, JAZZ 116
MIAMI — Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat got their most significant win of the season and took down the team with the NBA’s best record in the process.