Defeated Raptors left in foul mood in Houston
Lowry’s birthday doesn’t go quite as planned as both he and DeRozan are ejected
HOUSTON— On the occasion of his 30th birthday, Kyle Lowry sat along the baseline of the Toyota Center here Friday morning, his “sensitive” right elbow swathed in ice, lamenting this time of year in the NBA.
“Everybody has something,” the Toronto Raptors point guard said, making reference to the cumulative wear and tear a player’s body goes through.
He’d first banged up the elbow in London, England, in mid-January, played through the discomfort to solidify the Raptors near the top of the Eastern Conference before ceding to common wisdom and taking a game off.
And even though he was back Friday — playing 41 minutes before being ejected with less than a minute to go as Toronto dropped a112-109 decision to the Houston Rockets — Lowry knows that 100 per cent health is a fantasy. The reality is that care of the body needs to take precedence in the final three weeks of the regular season for, everyone.
“JV (Jonas Valanciunas) sat out four games and I’m sure he could have played but he was a professional; Pat could have played in Boston but it’s being professional; I could have played but it was being professional, getting your body recovered, getting a little bit of extra time that you can take advantage of,” Lowry said, citing nagging physical issues that have bothered Valanciunas, Patrick Patterson and himself over the last 10 days.
With the playoffs assured and no reason to drive themselves into the ground on the off-chance they could catch first-place Cleveland, the Raptors are working towards as close to full health as possible over the season’s final 11 games.
Getting Patterson and Lowry back gave Toronto almost a full roster, but in a game that saw Toronto take 31 three-pointers, it might have been nice to have Terrence Ross available but he was out with a bruised thumb.
It would have helped, too, if an obviously frustrated DeMar DeRozan hadn’t been ejected with two quick technical fouls and Toronto down seven with 2:55 left. DeRozan — along with players from both teams — was openly upset with the officiat- ing crew of Ed Malloy, Kane Fitzgerald and Tyler Ford, and DeRozan’s anger boiled over after a noncall. DeRozan finished with 18 points and six free throw attempts.
The anger got worse and more blatant with 26 seconds left when Lowry was tossed for his second technical. Lowry, who had been hit with a first-quarter technical, was incensed with Ford after being a called for a foul.
The game got away from the Raptors in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, when Houston went on a 13-2 run to build a 12-point lead.
A series of increasingly ugly turnovers and stalled offensive possessions robbed Toronto of any mo- mentum it had from building a fivepoint lead late in the third quarter.
The Raptors made a bit of a run but never seriously threatened. James Harden — who had 40 points and 14 assists in a Houston win over the Raptors earlier this month — was a dual threat again.
Coach Dwane Casey warned all day Toronto couldn’t afford to let Harden be both a scorer and facilitator, but the Raptors let him do that and more, finishing with 32 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season.
Michael Beasley added 21 off the bench for the Rockets, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
All five Toronto starters were in double figures and Luis Scola had a career single-game high of four three-pointers as part of a 16-point evening.