NBA: Raptors finish Rockets’ winning streak – Lowry with triple fireworks display

The NBA’s top game delivered what it promised. The Toronto Raptors (48-17) fought an exciting duel with the Houston Rockets (51-14) in an absolute playoff atmosphere at the Air Canada Centre. Thanks to an outstanding Kyle Lowry, the Raptors won 108:105 (BOXSCORE) in the end – a strong performance by James Harden was not enough for Houston to continue the winning streak.

One thing was certain from the outset: A winning streak came to an end that evening. The only question was whether the rockets will end after 17 successes in a row or whether the Texas guests will be able to finish the high-flying Raptors (six victories in a row). But after just a few minutes it was clear that this would be an enormously difficult task for Houston.

Toronto got off to a highly motivated start and, above all, was extremely hot. Kyle Lowry in particular was in a great rhythm from the very first second and beat three threesomes and 13 points around the guests’ ears in the first quarter alone. Almost every attempt by his colleagues fell apart, the up-tempo opener posed enormous problems for the rockets.

The hosts had a 32:16 lead after the first 12 minutes as well as the frenetic fans at the Air Canada Centre. Although Houston found the game a little better, they found no real answer in defensiveness, so that the Raptors went into the half-time break with a 58:43 lead.

However, this is far from being an early decision. Toronto was not able to pass his fast transition game in the third round – also due to the improved rockets defense – as consistently as James Harden was hot on the other side. With a threesome, The Beard finally crowned a 12:2 run – the Rockets were only 5 points behind.

The final phase was even tighter. With an extremely difficult threesome, Harden equalized 102:102 about two minutes before the end. In Crunchtime, the one-on-one specialists took over on both sides – with the better end for the Raptors. After Chris Paul just put a three-way from the corner to the ring, Toronto raised to 106:102 ten seconds from the end.

Eric Gordon shortened again with a fast threesome, but the Raptors didn’t give themselves any nakedness from the free-throw line. Harden’s last attempt at the logo was not successful. The MVP candidate of the Rockets was with 40 points (15/22 FG) and 4 assists nevertheless by far the best man of his team. CP3 (14 points, 3 assists, 5/13 FG) and Gordon (14 points, 5/14 FG) contributed a double-digit score, but both had problems with their throws.

On the Raptors side, Kyle Lowry was the star performer over much of the match. The 31-year-old scored 30 points, distributed 6 assists and pocketed 10 of his 14 field throw attempts (7/9 threesomes). In the final minutes DeMar DeRozan showed a strong performance (23 points, 7 rebounds). Jonas Valanciunas (14 and 10) or Fred VanVleet (11 and 5 Assists) were also convincing. Last but not least, Jakob Pöltl also performed well with 2 points, 4 rebounds, 2 templates and 2 steals.

The Raptors thus put an end to the Rockets’ winning streak, while the Canadians themselves celebrated their seventh victory in series.

Toronto Raptors (48-17) vs. Houston Rockets (51-14)108:105 (BOXSCORE)

Kyle Lowry. The Raptors’ Point Guard dominated the first half. Lowry knew how to keep the tempo down and was always dangerous during the transition. With his extremely dangerous distance throw, he often found a suitable answer to the runs of the rockets.

Chris Paul. All in all there was not enough to see from CP3, the point guard never really made it into the game. Just with his throw Paul had the complete game over problems, for example with open middistance throws or from the three-line (0/3 threesome). That’s how his deciding miscarriage from downtown seemed to be a little forced shortly before the end.

Raptors coach Dwane Casey’s game plan was initially clearly designed for a fast switching game. Toronto played aggressive defenses, forcing one or two of their opponents to lose the ball. Then Lowry, DeRozan or VanVleet put pressure on the transition. Especially in the first half, this was an effective remedy against the rockets, which were able to cope better defensively only after the change of sides and thus make the game more exciting again.