Raptors let another one slip away
Rockets get a lift from Harden with triple-double as Toronto blows another lead
After starting the season 18-0 when leading after three quarters, the Toronto Raptors have hit a bit of a speed wobble.
For the second night in a row, the Raptors watched a lead — this one by four points — disappear in the fourth quarter, this time in a 129-122 loss to the Houston Rockets.
Houston is known for its flashy, splashy offence that leads the NBA in both three-point makes and attempts, but the heavy lifting was done inside in this one, with the Rockets annihilating the Raptors 66-50 in the paint. Houston was actually dreadful from outside in the first half, making just 2-of-17 attempts, before heating up for a while.
The Raptors didn’t take advantage of the surprising shooting struggles of the visitors and led by only two points at the half. Toronto also surrendered buzzer-beaters after both the second and third quarters and then allowed the Rockets to go on a 15-0 run to start the fourth, before at least taking the game down to the wire.
James Harden put up the numbers, a 40-10-11 triple-double, which is to be expected, but the 12-for-12 start from young big man Montrezl Harrell, with all of those buckets coming from inside was the unhappy surprise for the home side. Harrell finished with 28 points, missing only a single field goal attempt.
DeMar DeRozan paced the Raptors with 36 points, while Kyle Lowry was held to a quiet 12.
The positive surprise for the Raptors was the play of DeMarre Carroll, who hit a career-best six three-pointers and scored 26 points, despite playing for the third time in four nights.
Maybe Carroll was sick of all the talk about the new age, three-pointmaking machine. In the end, the surge didn’t matter. When Carroll was rested for a bit, the Rockets took off and never looked back.
This was the quickest turnaround between games this season for the Raptors, with only about 15 hours between arriving back in Toronto early Sunday morning and tipoff.
Regardless, other than some issue holding onto the ball, the Raptors were excellent early, scoring 37 points in the first quarter.
Perhaps fatigue caught up with them later, with the Rockets pounding away inside before the game-turning final quarter surge.
Toronto welcomed back one of its most important players, Patrick Patterson, following a four-game injury absence. Patterson reprised his “Swiss Army Knife” role looking no worse for wear from the knee injury that had kept him out of action for a 2-2 stretch.
Those four games are a small sample size, but it is hard to argue how much Patterson means to this group. The Raptors sank to 13th in offensive efficiency and 25th in defensive efficiency while Patterson was out, compared to first in the NBA in offence and 14th in defence when he has been healthy, going 22-10 in those outings. The latter numbers include an easy win over woeful Brooklyn which Patterson was rested for.
Patterson returned to stretch the floor, hitting a pair of three-pointers in the opening half, though coach Dwane Casey limited his playing time a bit.
While he helped, Patterson’s return couldn’t prevent Houston from avenging a rough loss at home to the Raptors earlier in the season.
The team has now gone 21-3 since that defeat and is chasing the best teams in the West and looking like a tough playoff out.
The Raptors will get some much-needed rest on Monday, before hosting Atlantic Division rival Boston — a team nipping at their heels — on Tuesday.