During the Friday night NBA slate, the Toronto Raptors defeated the Houston Rockets 117-111 to snap a two-game skid. Fred VanVleet scored 32 points, and Gary Trent Jr. added 29 to lead the Raptors. In spite of a slow start to the season, Nurse is impressed with VanVleet’s performance.
“He really looks good,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “He’s playing hard. He looks fast and athletic. … He’s shooting the ball with tremendous confidence. He’s been really good on defense, too.”
As Toronto neared the end of a long road trip, Nurse could sense his team sluggishly beginning the game. Despite a sluggish first quarter that ended with his team trailing 21-20, he liked their response — scoring a game-high 35 points in the second quarter to take a 55-48 lead at the break.
“There wasn’t a lot of energy in the building or from us at the start,” Nurse said. “But give our guys off the bench some credit to come in and get some energy going. They kind of righted the ship and got into some good, nice stretches there of playing at both ends.”
By the third quarter, the Raptors held a healthy lead and went on to dominate the fourth quarter by double digits. With about 30 seconds left, the Rockets cut the lead to 110-104 by making five straight free throws. The lead was padded after two free throws by Pascal Siakam, who had 23 points.
NBA SCORES & NEWS: Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr, Toronto Raptors & Houston Rockets Updates
VanVleet made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions with about nine minutes left in the third quarter to extend the lead to 69-50. Gordon made a basket for Houston after that. Later in the third, the Rockets went on an 11-3 run to cut the lead to 74-65. In the final three minutes, the Raptors used a 9-4 spurt to extend their lead to 83-69. At the start of the fourth quarter, Toronto was ahead 85-72.
“We have to have a better sense of urgency and we’ve got to come in with a lot of energy just like the first quarter,” Gordon said. “It’s about dictating the game from the start and once we do, it’ll get us in a better groove.”
When Jalen Green missed his third straight game with a bruised right calf, Houston got 28 points from Eric Gordon and 21 from Alperen Sengun. The Rockets got within 98-90 with about 512 minutes to play after a 12-5 run with five points from Martin. Adding five more points after a couple of minutes, Toronto increased its lead to 103-92.
NBA SCORES & NEWS: Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr, Toronto Raptors & Houston Rockets Updates
Houston’s deficit was sliced to six again after both teams made free throws. Jabari Smith Jr.’s 3 with 1.2 seconds left made it 115-111 after VanVleet made his first of two free throws. The victory was sealed by Trent’s two free throws.
