Rockets-Raptors Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Mar 07 2012 2:15AM

The Houston Rockets haven't struggled this much since the very beginning of 2012, but another date with the Toronto Raptors may be just what they need to get back on track.

Houston seeks to avoid a season-high fifth straight defeat Wednesday night when it visits sputtering Toronto.

The Rockets (21-18) are coming off consecutive overtime losses, falling 105-103 to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday and 97-92 at Boston on Tuesday.

Those defeats are part of a four-game skid that matches their worst this season. They also dropped four straight Jan. 3-7.

Tuesday's loss was also Houston's fourth straight on the road, and it came despite having six players score in double figures, led by 18 points each from Luis Scola and Kyle Lowry.

"We started doing the worst thing you can do on the road: Just start playing the score as opposed to playing the game," coach Kevin McHale said. "We lost our rhythm a little bit and then we just got too conservative trying to run the clock, trying to play perfect basketball."

Goran Dragic hit a jumper in the final seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime, but Scola said it just delayed the inevitable.

"The fact that we played the overtime was a bonus, was a present. We lost the game before that," Scola said.

Now the Rockets hope to end their skid against the last team they beat.

Houston shot only 38.7 percent but came away with an 88-85 win over Toronto on Feb. 28, as Lowry scored a game-high 26 points.

That contest marked the first of three times in the last five games the Raptors (12-26) have scored fewer than 90 points, and they're averaging 89.3 for the season after falling 92-88 to Orlando on Monday.

DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points for Toronto, which has lost 10 of 14. Each of those defeats has come by seven points or fewer.

"It's definitely frustrating, especially knowing how many games we had like that this season that we definitely could've won," DeRozan said. "We just got to close out teams."

Coach Dwane Casey lauded his team for another good performance despite falling short.

"I feel for our guys because they are putting themselves in a position to win," Casey said.

The major reason for that is how well Toronto has played defensively of late. Beginning with the matchup against Houston, the Raptors have held their last five opponents to 88.2 points per game on 40.8 percent shooting.

DeRozan has done his part offensively as Andrea Bargnani remains sidelined with a strained calf, averaging 20.8 points and shooting 49.2 percent over his last eight games.

He had a career-high 37 points at Houston on Dec. 31, 2010, but the Rockets won 114-105 and will now seek to win three in a row in the series for the first time since March 5, 2002-March 5, 2003.

They'll hope for another solid performance from Lowry, who is averaging 19.6 points over his last eight games. However, prior to last month's meeting with Toronto, Lowry had shot 36.2 percent and averaged 9.7 points in seven games versus the Raptors.

DeRozan scores 23 to lead Raptors over Rockets

Posted Mar 08 2012 1:10AM

TORONTO (AP) Dwane Casey spent the early portion of the fourth quarter shouting at his players while they squandered a 17-point lead against the weary Houston Rockets.

Whatever the message was for his Toronto Raptors was received just in time.

DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points as the Raptors used sizzling first-half shooting and a pivotal fourth-quarter surge to upend the struggling Rockets 116-98.

Toronto set season highs in points and shooting percentage (59.2), but needed more than 3 1/2 quarters to put away a Rockets team that looked worn down following an overtime loss in Boston a night earlier.

The victory came with plenty of blemishes, but what mattered most to Casey was that his players were able to fend off surging Houston and take control of a game that appeared to be slipping away.

"I thought they had us where they wanted us," Casey said. "A team like that, a veteran team, you never relax in those situations ... but I was happy the way our guys bounced back, made a run, got back into it defensively and got out in the open floor, ran and made good decisions."

Casey was apoplectic at times on the sidelines, screaming and throwing up his hands as he watched Houston whittle a 71-54 deficit down to four points with just over seven minutes remaining.

Toronto responded with a 15-2 run capped by a Leandro Barbosa three-point play after he finished off a 3-on-1 break with a strong drive to the hoop. Toronto cruised from there to finish 2-2 on its four-game homestand while sending Houston to its fifth straight loss.

Casey said he was concerned with how the Raptors were moving the ball down the stretch.

"I got up on our guys a little bit at the end because we kind of threw it around when we should have been playing smart, milking it, executing more," he said. "Win, lose or draw, we have to learn each and every time we walk on the floor, and that's what I was imploring our guys to do."

Saddled with one of the youngest rosters in the NBA, the Raptors have seen their share of fourth-quarter leads evaporate. Jose Calderon, who had 17 points and 12 assists in the win, said he and his teammates approached crunch time with a different attitude against the Rockets.

"We kept our composure, and relaxed and (were) confident," he said. "We've made mistakes with those leads, so today we were a little bit more calm ... we executed a little bit better."

One area of concern for Casey was the Rockets' parade to the foul line. Houston went 37 for 44 on free throws, and six players had five or more attempts.

"We put them on the free-throw line too many times," Casey said. "We were playing more with our hands instead of our feet."

That was about the only thing that went right for the Rockets, who allowed the Raptors to set season highs in first-half points (58) and field-goal percentage (64.9) and couldn't recover despite their best efforts.

Rockets coach Kevin McHale refused to use the schedule as an excuse.

"We're playing basketball. We're not doing an eight-hour shift or 12-hour shift in the mine," McHale said. "We just looked a half step slow. There were loose balls, we didn't get any of them. That just caught up with us."

Notes: Raptors F-C Andrea Bargnani (calf) missed his 20th straight game Wednesday, but will likely be back this weekend. Casey said Bargnani will need to get in at least two practices, but expects the 7-footer to be back in the lineup Sunday against visiting Milwaukee. ... Houston came in with the second-worst road record among NBA teams presently above .500. Only the L.A. Lakers (6-13) entered Wednesday with a worse mark away from home. ... Rockets C Samuel Dalembert, a Montreal resident and a fixture of the men's national team, had 14 points and six rebounds in 34 minutes.

Notebook: Raptors 116, Rockets 98

Posted Wednesday March 7, 2012 10:57PM

By Duane Watson, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: DeMar DeRozan scored a game-high 23 points as the Toronto Raptors beat the Houston Rockets116-98 at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday night. The Raptors took advantage of Houston playing the second of back-to-back games, after their 98-95 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night. Shots were falling for the Raptors as they shot as season high .592 per cent from the field and .500 from the 3-point line. The Raptors took a 12 point lead into halftime, but the Rockets made a run in the third, lead by Chandler Parsons, who scored 10 points in the quarter, to close it out at 82-76. The Raptors responded with a season-high 34-point fourth quarter, closing the door early and outperforming the Rockets in almost every statistical category.

The Rockets have now lost five in a row, with their last win coming against the Raptors 88-85 on February 28th. The Raptors split their four-game home stand and improve to 7-13 at home. For the Raptors, Linas Kleiza came off the bench to pour in 19 and Jose Calderon had 17 points and 12 assists. Parsons scored 19 points for the Rockets while Kyle Lowry added 16.

QUOTABLE: "We owed this team, we were so close there Houston so we really wanted to get a win tonight and everybody played great. It was a good game for us."
-- Raptors guard Calderon

THE STAT: The Raptors ability to get out and finish on the break was a key to defeating the Rockets. The Raptors outscored the Rockets in fast break points 20-8 tonight. "It's always fun to get out on the break," DeRozan said. "Coach is definitely emphasizing that more, letting us get out, just having fun and when you get baskets like that you see us just out there having fun."

TURNING POINT: While the Raptors enjoyed a lead as big as 17 points in the game, the Rockets rallied back to make it close. However, Kleiza's put back dunk with 6:18 left in the fourth quarter put the Raptors ahead 95-87 and sustained their momentum closing out the game on a 21-11 run.

QUOTABLE II: "Always feels good to get a win, especially how we've been losing these close games lately that we definitely should be pulling out, but we needed this one tonight. Especially with Drea (Bargnani) coming back and try to get things rolling."
-- Raptors guard DeRozan

HOT: The Raptors started the game shooting .684 from the floor in the first quarter. They only cooled slightly with their team, shooting for the half, going .632 (24 for 38) from the field, .800 (8 for 10) from the free throw line and .400 from the 3-point line going 2 for 5.

NOT: Kevin Martin was off tonight for the Rockets, only making one of seven from the field for seven points and three assists. He only managed 11 points and three assists the night before in the overtime loss to the Celtics.

BAD MOVE: The Rockets made a 20-8 run in the third quarter. Parsons went for 10 points in the quarter against many of the Raptors reserves. Raptors head coach Dwane Casey didn't make a move to insert defensive stopper James Johnson to coral Parsons, but did nothing as the Rockets run continued.

NOTABLE: Toronto finished the game with a season-high 116 points. ... The Raptors 34 points in the fourth quarter were the most scored in a quarter by the Raptors in a season. ... Toronto shot a season-best .592 (45 for 76) from the field. ... Calderon collected his team-high eight double-double with 17 points and 12 assist. ... Six different countries were represented on the court at one point in the second quarter -- Brazil, Canada, Haiti, Slovenia, Spain and the United States.

UP NEXT: Toronto plays Saturday @Detroit, on Sunday vs. Milwaukee and on Tuesday @ Cleveland. For Houston they are @ New Jersey on Saturday, @ Cleveland on Sunday and @ Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

• Rockets: Hill, Smith
• Raptors: Bargnani, Carter

• Rockets: Lowry
• Raptors: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
• Officials: #33 Zach Zarba, #45 Brian Forte, #52 Scott Twardoski
• Attendance: 14597
• Duration: 2:16