Houston Rockets 108 Toronto Raptors 98
Toronto Raptors 108 Houston Rockets 98
The Raps complete a strange and eventful road trip as their trip to California continues
The Toronto Raptors enter this season’s start in a feisty form. Four straight wins out of the blocks, but the visitors from Canada look tired from their international and north-west United States tour.
The Raptors can feel aggrieved that they have not won more than a single game out of their trip to California this week. A late display to beat the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, after establishing a 13-point lead early on, was pretty good, but the Raptors lost to the LA Clippers the following night.
Davidson’s CJ Miles in stitches playing the chicken game with Ed Davis
CJ Miles was one of those who had cause to smile when the Raptors extended their winning streak, by holding off the Warriors only to let the Clippers come back. He contributed 13 points.
The Rockets kept things interesting, however, taking a surprisingly comfortable three-point lead with four minutes to go. DeMar DeRozan scored a couple of easy baskets, but Lowry misfired when they were wide open, leading to the eventual Rockets winning margin.
E’Twaun Moore put in a few key free throws in the final stretch to keep the Raptors at bay. The defending champion Warriors are just beginning to find their groove, with Klay Thompson finishing with 21 points.
It was a thriller for the second night in a row. Last night was more of the same as both teams played the final quarter without their star players. Neither team was quite able to get over the line, however, and this game was a grind.
This would be a thrilling second-place in the NBA west division, but the Rockets are not yet ready for that challenge. With a pretty confident looking offence capable of getting 15 points a quarter from Kevin Durant, the defending champions will feel less challenged heading into the second half of the season.
This was a good, if light-hearted win for the Raptors. The home crowd had a few good laughs with DJ Dobbi and fellow DJ Ed Davis, who plays chicken with Miles, Josh Henson and Jonas Valanciunas.