The Rockets held on for a win up North.
The Houston Rockets just broke another streak. After finally beating the Golden State Warriors in 19 tries, they now just won for the first time in Toronto in five years, downing the Raptors 114-110 behind Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green.
Brooks made us look good, as he scored 27 points on the day Holly’s Dillon the Hero article went live. He was 6-for-12 from the floor and 13-for-14 from the the free throw line while also adding 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. Green had 22 and 7 boards on 9-for-20 shooting.
Alperen Sengun added a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double to go along with 5 assists, while Jabari Smith Jr, also had 15 points and 9 boards. Amen Thompson had 10 points off the bench, while Cam Whitmore scored 11 in just 14 minutes.
The Rockets were sloppy offensively, giving up 21 turnovers, but they also forced 21 as the defense stepped up and they won the the points off of turnovers battle 31-21 and also continued to get the ball inside, putting up 61 points in the paint.
Fred VanVleet had an awful game in his return to his former city, putting up just 2 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists on 1-for-10 shooting.
As for the Raptors, they were led by Ja’Kobe Walker, who put up 27 points, Ochai Agbaji and Chris Boucher, who both had 15, and Gradey Dick with 14.
The Rockets now move to 19-9 on the year and just a half game back of the Memphis Grizzlies, and they’ll be back in action tonight in another winnable game against the Charlotte Hornets, who currently sit at 7-21, though the back-to-back and the long flight could make this one tougher than anticipated.