Raptors fall short against Rockets in afternoon slugfest

Once again this season Toronto was missing key rotation players in a game, and despite that they gave the Houston Rockets a run for their money yesterday. This game was by no means a brilliant display of NBA offense. Both teams shot below 37 percent from the field, and below 27 percent from three. This was a hard-nosed muddy game, but ultimately the Rockets were able to outlast Toronto.

In the opening minutes of the game, first-time All-Star center Alperen Sengun left the game due to a lumbar injury he suffered, which in turn made Houston’s offense a great deal worse. Initially it was Dillon Brooks who carried the offense, scoring 10 of the teams first 12 points. Immanuel Quickley opened up the game aggressively, scoring 11 points in the opening period, and he was getting into the lane consistently, and beating guys in open space, something that Raptors fans have been clamoring for since he arrived here. 

This game was very low-scoring, the score at halftime was 42-37, a true sign of abysmal offensive performances from both sides. Due to injury, some of the lineups that Darko had to roll with were very offensively challenged but to their credit, the reserve lineups held their own for the most part. Jamal Shead contributed 14 points off the bench and he hit timely shot after timely shot to hold off the Rockets. Shead has had multiple games where the team needs someone to step up and there he is hitting threes, and attacking the rim with vigor.

Scottie Barnes struggled immensely on offense yesterday, posting 15 points while shooting 6/19 from the floor and 0/8 from three. Barnes took many ill-advised shots yesterday, and even with reserve big Jock Landale forced to play extended minutes, he did not make it his mission to attack the paint and reap the benefits of that. This jumpshot focused style that Barnes moved forward with yesterday undoubtedly hurt the Raptors offense overall, considering they were without RJ Barrett and Jakob Poeltl. 

This game was closely contested all the way until the fourth quarter, when after some crucial scoring from Jalen Green, the Rockets finally took the lead and they never looked back. Green hit a very deep contested three over two Raptors defenders that just snatched all the momentum away from Toronto. Shockingly, Jeff Green gave Houston major contributions in the fourth quarter, where he scored 8 points on multiple drives that led to free throws. The veteran was constantly finding his way to the rim and showing that he still had some juice left in his legs. Houston outscored Toronto 36-24 in the fourth quarter and this was essentially the game. Toronto was shorthanded against one of the better teams in the western conference who were facing injury issues of their own. This game being as tightly contested as it was for the majority of its duration was ultimately due to just awful shooting from both teams, as well as some moments of defensive brilliance from both teams.

Toronto is heading to Philadelphia on Tuesday to face off against the 76ers, hopefully some starters return to the lineup.

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