[ad_1]
Fred VanVleet #23 of the Toronto Raptors controls the ball against the Houston Rockets during the second half at the Toyota Center on February 03, 2023 in Houston, Texas. Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP
Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. caught in the middle of two periods when the visiting Toronto Raptors rallied from an early double-digit deficit to top the Houston Rockets 117-111 on Saturday.
VanVleet scored 16 of his game-high 32 points in the third quarter after taking cues from Trent, who scored 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the second. Trent finished with 29 points and combined with VanVleet to hit 10 of 20 3-point attempts. Toronto sank 15 of 39 attempts (38.5 percent) from behind the arc.
Pascal Siakam added 23 points and six rebounds for the Raptors, who had dropped six of their previous nine games. Chris Boucher had 11 points, eight boards and three blocks off the bench.
Fred VanVleet on Raptors W:
32 points
5 fiddles
4 help
5 three pic.twitter.com/AYg52GY20k— NBA (@NBA) February 4, 2023
The Rockets, who are again without starting guards Jalen Green (calf) and Kevin Porter Jr. (walk), led by Eric Gordon’s 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Alperen Sengun scored 21 points, Kenyon Martin Jr. had 20 and Josh Christopher added a season-high 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting off the Houston bench.
The Rockets struggled periodically against the Raptors’ length, as Toronto finished with seven blocks.
Toronto improved to 3-3 on the seven-game road trip. Houston has ended a two-game winning streak.
VanVleet scored nine points during a 14-2 run that opened the second half and extended the Raptors’ lead to 69-50. He shot 5 of 8 in the third quarter and made three 3-pointers to help Toronto take control. Siakam, after scoring eight points in the second quarter, added nine in the third quarter.
Toronto was nearly undone by its offensive start. The Raptors missed their first six shots and found themselves in a 19-6 hole when Rockets guard Daishen Nix drilled a 26-footer at the 5:52 mark of the first.
The Raptors shot 7-for-24 (29.2 percent) in the first but trailed by just one after the period. Early in the second, Trent and Siakam scored back-to-back to give Toronto its first lead. Trent followed with a 3-pointer with 4:18 left in the period, pushing the Raptors back to within 42-41, and back-to-back treys in the final 34 seconds helped Toronto secure a 55-48 lead.
The Rockets shot 51.2 percent before the break but couldn’t track VanVleet in the third. And after the Raptors took a double advantage, Houston struggled to hold on.
RELATED STORY
Your subscription cannot be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.
Read Next
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & 70+ other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to news, download from 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
For suggestions, complaints, or questions, please contact us.
[ad_2]
Source link