Two of the league's premiere scorers went toe-to-toe Monday night, with only one coming away with a win following a career night. DeMar DeRozan scored a career-high 42 points and tied a career high with 11 rebounds to lead the Toronto Raptors past James Harden and the Houston Rockets 99-96.
DeRozan and Harden have been close friends and battling for over a decade, but it was DeRozan who had the upper-hand to lead Toronto to their 8th straight home win over Houston. DeRozan also added the game-winning turnaround shot with 1:27 left in the game, which was good for the 11th lead change of the 4th quarter.
The Raptors' star would seal the game with a jumper over Harden with 18 seconds left, as he finished 14-of-27 from the floor and 12-of-17 from the free throw line. Jonas Valanciunas finished with 15 for Toronto and Lou Williams added 13 of his own.
Harden finished with 31 for the Rockets, who saw their 4-game winning streak come to an end. The Rockets have not won in Toronto since a 114-100 win on March 16th, 2007. Trevor Ariza had 15 points and missed a couple of potential game-tying 3-pointers as time expired. Corey Brewer contributed 13 points for the Rockets in the losing effort.
Dwight Howard did not play for Houston, as he was resting up after recording 11 points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes in Sunday's win over Washington. He has played in 3 games in 5 nights since returning from a right knee injury.
With the win, the Raptors snapped a 10-game losing streak against teams with winning records. Their last win was a 105-80 win over Atlanta on February 20th.
The Raptors improved to 44-30 on the season and will visit the Minnesota Timberwolves tomorrow night. Houston fell to 50-24 and will host the Sacramento Kings tomorrow.
DeRozan and Harden have been close friends and battling for over a decade, but it was DeRozan who had the upper-hand to lead Toronto to their 8th straight home win over Houston. DeRozan also added the game-winning turnaround shot with 1:27 left in the game, which was good for the 11th lead change of the 4th quarter.
The Raptors' star would seal the game with a jumper over Harden with 18 seconds left, as he finished 14-of-27 from the floor and 12-of-17 from the free throw line. Jonas Valanciunas finished with 15 for Toronto and Lou Williams added 13 of his own.
Harden finished with 31 for the Rockets, who saw their 4-game winning streak come to an end. The Rockets have not won in Toronto since a 114-100 win on March 16th, 2007. Trevor Ariza had 15 points and missed a couple of potential game-tying 3-pointers as time expired. Corey Brewer contributed 13 points for the Rockets in the losing effort.
Dwight Howard did not play for Houston, as he was resting up after recording 11 points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes in Sunday's win over Washington. He has played in 3 games in 5 nights since returning from a right knee injury.
With the win, the Raptors snapped a 10-game losing streak against teams with winning records. Their last win was a 105-80 win over Atlanta on February 20th.
The Raptors improved to 44-30 on the season and will visit the Minnesota Timberwolves tomorrow night. Houston fell to 50-24 and will host the Sacramento Kings tomorrow.
