Kevin Durant scored 12 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter and the visiting Houston Rockets defeated the Toronto Raptors, 139-121, for their second straight win yesterday (Philippine time).
Jabari Smith, Jr. added 25 points for Houston. Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson added 18 points each. Tari Eason scored 14 points, Steven Adams contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds and Josh Okogie scored 10.
Scottie Barnes scored 31 points for the Raptors, who have lost four straight. Brandon Ingram added 29. Immanuel Quickley scored 15 points, Collin Murray-Boyles had 13 points in his first NBA start, RJ Barrett scored 10, as did Sandro Mamukelashvili.
Houston led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter and took a 15-point advantage into the fourth.
Toronto whittled the margin to 10 in the first three minutes of the fourth. Durant’s three-pointer and Smith’s dunk restored the 15-point margin with 7:00 to play. Toronto crept back to within nine with 5:24 remaining before Houston pulled away.
Toronto was without center Jakob Poeltl (back), which further emphasized Houston’s height advantage.
Defense was often an afterthought in the first quarter. Tari Eason ended the quarter with a 47-foot buzzer-beater to give Houston a 39-30 lead.
Barnes connected on two consecutive three-pointers to cut the lead to two with 10:04 left in the second quarter. The Rockets answered with six straight points.
The Raptors’ success from three-point range and Barrett’s shot from beyond the arc tied the game at 50. Consecutive three-pointers from Jamal Shead and Ingram thrust Toronto into a 56-52 lead with 5:10 remaining in the half. The Rockets stepped up their energy level and finished the half on an 11-0 run to lead 70-63.
The Raptors used the three-pointer effectively in the first half, going 12-for-21 (57.1 percent). They needed to because Houston had an 11-0 advantage in offensive rebounds.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Okogie and Smith gave Houston a 17-point lead with 8:12 to play in the third quarter. (Field Level Media / Reuters)