Rockets fizzle as Raptors tighten up defence
Houston turns ball over 28 times; Toronto improves to 2-2 on long road trip
HOUSTON— With no time to practise amid a heavy part of the NBA schedule, the Toronto Raptors have been trying to fix a broken defence with constant film sessions. Seems they were paying attention. Harrassing the Houston Rockets into a turnover-filled performance, and disrupting shooters well enough to force a good three-point shooting team into an atrocious game, the Raptors registered a 115-102 victory here Wednesday night.
It evened Toronto’s record on its five-game road trip at 2-2 with the rubber game Friday in Milwaukee. The victory also ended a two-game Raptors losing streak and put them at 9-6 on the season.
The Rockets committed a shocking 28 turnovers that led directly to 33 Toronto points in a mistake-filled outing from start to finish. Some of the turnovers were simple mistakes — stepping out of bounds, offensive fouls, passes that went awry — but a tight Toronto defence was as responsible as anything else.
Coach Dwane Casey had been demanding better paint protection and he got it; he had been imploring his players to be responsible for one-onone coverage and they delivered. It was a stark turnaround from the way the team had played the last two weeks but it had to be heartwarming for Casey to see.
Not surprisingly, the Raptors were led by DeMar DeRozan, who shook off his worst first half of the season to score 24 points.
DeRozan was held without a basket in 17 first-half minutes but exploded for 21 points in the third quarter alone. He also dished out a seasonhigh eight assists, eclipsing the mark of seven he had set Monday night in his native Los Angeles.
His hometown buddy, James Harden, had 29 points and 15 assists for the Rockets but he also committed a dozen turnovers.
Toronto’s Jonas Valanciunas had 15 points and 16 rebounds in a dominant inside performance.
The Raptors almost saw a 20-point lead disappear as the Rockets staged a furious fourth-quarter rally. Houston got within seven points in the final two minutes but DeMarre Carroll sandwiched two baskets around a three-pointer to stop the run.
The last bucket came off the 12th of Harden’s turnovers, a sloppy pass across the paint that was easily picked off by Patrick Patterson.
Carroll finished with a season-high 20 points.
The Raptors threw a variety of looks at Harden because Casey figured the Rockets all-star, averaging 28.6 points per game going into the contest, would shred any consistent look.
“There’s different things you have to do . . . double-teams, different looks, body styles,” Casey said before the game. “I don’t think you can show him the same thing.
“He’s probably one of the smartest players in the league as far as recognizing things he’s seen before. He’s a different breed.”
Harden and the Rockets struggled for most of the night, shooting a miserable 3-for-20 from three-point range in the first half as Toronto amassed a 54-39 halftime lead.
Harden was just 2-for-5 from the floor and had six turnovers in the opening half as the Raptors threw myriad players at him, including Lowry, Cory Joseph, DeMarre Carroll and DeRozan.