No matter what, it seemed that Toronto Raptors were hell-bent on double-teaming the James Harden of Houston Rockets.
But the rest of the team made sure that the strategy of Rotators won’t help them at all.
Russell Westbrook scored 19 points along with 11 assists and 13 rebounds while harden also shook off the slow start to score 23 points as the Houston Rockets defeated Raptors by 119-109 to end their three-game losing skid on road.
The top scorer from the Houston Rockets’ side was Ben McLemore with his season-high of 28 points along with PJ Tucker adding in his 18 points with 11 rebounds and Daneul House JR. helping with his 16 points as the Houston Rockets handed Raptors their 2nd loss in a row after being on the 9-game winning streak.
With Harden being pursued by a defender each time he touched the ball, his skills of applying the game wee more important once in this season rather than shooting for points.
Mike D’Antoni said, “James, to his credit, did not force anything. He said, OK, double me and my teammates will be scoring tonight. And that they sure did.,”
Harden said, “We have seen so many different types of defense this year. Tonight was the first time we were seeing their defense. Our guys did something really unbelievable of moving the bodies and then being ready for shooting the hoops.”
McLemore not only was the top scorer form Houston Rockets’ side but also had his career-high of 8 3-pointers from his 17 attempts. Tucker also performed well to match with his season-high of 5 3-pointers.
On the other hand, Raptors were led by Pascal Siakam with his 24 points while VanVleet added in his 20 points and Kyle Lowry helping with 19 points. This was the 2nd back to back loss for the Raptors at the home games since March 22nd and the March 24th.
Next for Raptors is the game against the 76ers on Saturday night whereas Houston Rockets will take on Phoenix Suns this Saturday night as well.
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