Raptors Stop The Streak

The Toronto Raptors host the streaking Houston Rockets who are looking for their 18th game winning streak on Drake Night. The home team is on their own streak of 6 games so both teams are playing at a high level right now. The Houston Rockets if they happened to get by the Raptors would have a good chance of going undefeated for the rest of the season as the schedule becomes a lot easier after tonight. Both coaches were the respective All-Star game coaches and also candidates for coach of the year. Let the battle between the two top seeds in their respective conferences begin.

Raptors against the Rockets in a marque match-up on Drake Night.

The Raptors came out of the gate strong and jumped out to an early lead led by Kyle Lowry. Kyle was on fire in the first and dropped 13 first quarter points. The defense is what led to Toronto jumping out to the early lead. The Rockets shot 29% from the field in the first quarter. Norman Powell started the game and picked up James Harden full-court to tire him out and not let him have anything easy. The best team in the West were known for their three point shooting but were getting harassed and crowded by the Raptors defense and took them out of their offensive groove. The Raptors won the quarter 32-16.

The second quarter started and filling in for Delon Wright was Malcolm Miller. The bench mob kept the ball humming and pushed the pace against the Rockets. Malcolm Miller had his own 7-0 run in the quarter as he sparked the crowd into a frenzy. The Raptors jumped to a 54-35 lead. The game was physical and the ball moment was exquisite. DeMar DeRozan was playmaking for everyone and was scoring whenever he wanted to as both Lowry and DeRozan led the team to a strong first half. The All-Star backcourt combined for 30 points in the first half. The Rockets went 1/9 from the 3-point line in the first half. Halftime score was 54-35.

Drake came out during halftime and stated the streak will stop here which I believe the Rockets overheard. The Houston Rockets came out ignited and focused to start the second half as they started to connect on their threes. Toronto starting to get careless with the basketball and allowed the Rockets to take advantage. The James Harden pick-and-roll with Capela was unstoppable. The Raptors had no idea how to stop it as James Harden scored 3 possessions straight from a simple pick-and-roll. The lead was trimmed to 64-54 and things did not start to look good for Toronto on offense and defense. Lowry took it upon himself to stop the bleeding and pushed the pace after every made basket or defensive stop. Capped by a Lowry three, the lead was pushed to 13 once again. James Harden hits back-to-back threes to counter as the Rockets go on a 13-5 run. Raptors were able to hold off Houston and save an 83-75 lead going into the deciding fourth quarter.

Kyle was moving the ball and finding teammates all game long.

The bench came out strong on the defensive end and turned the Rockets over leading to fast break opportunities for the Raptors. VanVleet was playing tough defense on Chris Paul as he pressured him into a near 8-second violation in the backcourt which ended up turning into a steal and Siakam layup in transition. The Raptors kept the pressure on and VanVleet made baskets near the end of the shot clock to keep the lead hovering around 9 points. Both teams traded baskets and the game became more and more intense as time was ticking down. Lowry hit a big three to give the Raptors a 100-91 lead which seemed enough to close out the game, but with this Rockets team’s 3-point shooting, no lead is safe.

Toronto went up by 6 with 4 minutes to go and were trying to lock down this juggernaut of an offense in the Houston Rockets, but that’s easier said than done. DeRozan with a huge fade-away jump on the baseline, Valanciunas’ block on Capela and Valanciunas’ steal were all clutch plays needed to keep the Rockets at bay. The Raptors were up 4 after a pair of free throws from Lowry and then Eric Gordon drills the deep three to cut the lead to 1. The Rockets fouled JV on the inbounds which they were satisfied with, but they were unaware JV is one of the better free throw shooters on this improved Raptors team. JV calmly sank both free throws and it came down to one last stop. Harden went shot for shot with DeRozan down the stretch. DeMar came up with clutch plays on offense and defense! On the very last play, DeMar managed to stay down on the Harden game-tying shot attempt as it went wide of the basket. Toronto Raptors defend their home court and remain the best team at home this season by pulling out the crazy win and stopping the hottest streak in the NBA at 17 games.

Jonas Valanciunas made impactful plays down the stretch and hit the most important free throws of the game.

Player of the Game

Kyle Lowry

33 minutes, 30 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 0 block, 3 turnovers, 10/14 shooting, 7/9 3PT, 3/4 FT

DeMar DeRozan

37 minutes, 23 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 3 turnovers, 8/19 shooting, 3/7 3PT, 4/6 FT

The team’s best players came to play and were outstanding from beginning to end. Lowry set the tone early and was aggressive looking for his shot. Lowry shot lights out from deep and scored 13 points in the first quarter. DeRozan was clutch and played great defense when it mattered most. The DeRozan jumper on the baseline over Harden and the final stop in the game were two of the biggest plays to win this game. The backcourt combined for 10 threes in the game as every point mattered down the stretch. The stars came out to shine in one of the marquee match-ups of the season.

Things To Take Away From The Game

1. Bench Mob

• Captain of the Bench Mob, Fred VanVleet, was great down the stretch and played clutch defense on Chris Paul. Each member of the Bench Mob were either a positive net rating or zero net rating. They all played selflessly and played off each other. The ball movement was great and they allowed the starters to get back in the game to close It out. Surprise of the day was Malcolm Miller who went on a 7-0 run during the second quarter.

Steady Freddie is going to become a household name after games of this magnitude.

2. The Stars

• The stars shined brightest in what mattered most. Both Lowry and DeRozan proved they can still play at a high level and did not resort to isolation possessions down the stretch. Kyle and DeMar were great to watch in the closing minutes of this playoff type game as they played off each other well. DeMar’s outside shooting has improved this year and Lowry overcame his shooting struggles at the right time.

3. Norman Powell

• Norm was huge in this game especially on the defensive end. He put pressure on James Harden from the beginning of the game and made it tough for him. Of course stopping a player of James Harden’s caliber is not an easy task as he did drop 40 points in the game. Powell played the 3rd most minutes on the team behind the two all-stars as Dwane Casey trusted him to play key moments of this game. Casey and staff have developed and trusted these young guys in high-pressure situations to get them playoff-ready. Overall, a great idea and hopefully the Raptors reap the benefits in April, May, and June.

Pictures courtesy of:

http://www.nba.com/raptors/gallery/rapsrockets-030918