TORONTO — The Houston Rockets secured a victory in Toronto for the first time in over five years, defeating the struggling Raptors 114-110 on Sunday night. Dillon Brooks led the charge with 27 points, while Jalen Green contributed 22 points to the team’s success. Alperen Sengun also made a significant impact with 17 points and 10 rebounds, helping the Rockets snap a lengthy road losing streak against the Raptors that dated back to December 5, 2019.
In that previous encounter, current Rockets guard Fred VanVleet had scored 20 points for the then-reigning NBA champions, the Raptors. On the home side, Ja’Kobe Walter had a breakout performance, scoring a career-high 27 points, before eventually fouling out. Chris Boucher and Ochai Agbaji both chipped in with 15 points apiece, but the Raptors’ misfortunes continued as they fell to their seventh consecutive defeat, marking their sixth straight loss on home court.
Walter started strong for Toronto, netting the first 14 points of the game until Gradey Dick finally broke the drought with a free throw at 7:06 left in the first quarter. Jamal Shead added 11 points and set a personal best with 10 assists for the Raptors. Toronto was without RJ Barrett, who was sidelined for a second straight game due to an illness.
As for the Rockets, VanVleet had a challenging experience during their previous visit to Toronto, when he was injured. In his return as a visitor, he had eight rebounds and five assists but struggled offensively, failing to score until the game’s final minute. He shot just 1 for 10 from the field, missing all five of his three-point attempts.
On the other hand, Scottie Barnes managed to gather 10 rebounds but had a tough outing scoring, finishing with only six points after shooting 2 for 15 and missing all eight of his attempts from beyond the arc. Barnes fell short in his efforts, missing the first eight shots he took.
A pivotal moment in the game occurred when Sengun assisted Cam Whitmore on a skilled one-handed alley-oop dunk, pushing Houston’s lead to 99-91 with 6:58 remaining in the fourth quarter, marking their largest lead of the contest at that moment.
One area of concern for the Rockets was their handling of the ball. They allowed 23 points off 14 turnovers in the first half. Although they tightened their game after halftime, the total of 21 turnovers recorded was a season-high.
Looking ahead, both the Rockets and the Raptors will take to the road again for their next games on Monday, with Houston set to face Charlotte and Toronto heading to New York.