Dillon Brooks scored a team-high 19 points, Jalen Green added 18 and the short-handed Houston Rockets rode a strong performance from their reserves to a 94-87 victory over the visiting Toronto Raptors on Sunday, snapping a six-game skid.
Green drilled a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and added nine rebounds to help Houston rally from a double-digit deficit. The Rockets posted a 43-31 edge in bench points with reserves Jock Landale (11 points, 10 rebounds), Jeff Green (season-high 14 points) and Cam Whitmore (11 points) all contributing to the cause.
Whitmore also sank two 3s in the fourth as the Rockets finished 7 for 12 from behind the arc in the final frame after entering the fourth 3 for 26 from deep. Jalen Green drilled his 3-pointers a minute apart, the final one coming at the 3:51 mark to give the Rockets an 86-76 lead.
Immanuel Quickley paired a game-high 20 points with eight assists while Scottie Barnes tallied 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Raptors. Rookie Jamal Shead added 14 points off the bench.
Already down four rotation players — Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason and Steven Adams — the Rockets lost All-Star center Alperen Sengun to back spasms at the 8:44 mark of the first quarter. Houston collapsed offensively without Sengun, finishing 4 for 15 in the opening period excluding Brooks’ 3-for-3 start that yielded 10 points in the frame.
Quickley carried the Raptors to a 22-18 lead entering the second with 11 first-quarter points, and hit a 3 to open the second. Shead pushed the lead to double digits with his layup before the shot-clock buzzer but the Rockets responded with a 12-0 rally that featured a Whitmore 3-pointer and a three-point play from Landale. The Rockets’ lead was short-lived.
Quickley struck again with another 3-pointer that helped the Raptors seize a 42-37 halftime lead. The teams combined to shoot 6 for 40 from behind the arc in the first half.
–Field Level Media
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