NBA: Raptors take down Rockets for 8th straight win
Gary Trent Jr. #33 high fives Dalano Banton #45 of the Toronto Raptors during the second half against the Houston Rocketsat Toyota Center on February 10, 2022 in Houston, Texas. Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP
Gary Trent Jr. and Pascal Siakam combined for 72 points and the Toronto Raptors extended their winning streak to eight consecutive games with a 139-120 road victory over the Houston Rockets Thursday.
Trent scored a season-high 42 points while Siakam added 30 before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Trent finished 6-for-13 on 3-pointers and had four assists, as did Siakam. Trent also recorded five steals.
It wasn’t until the final minute of the third quarter that one of their teammates joined them in double figures in scoring, with Chris Boucher doing so with a pair of free throws at the 1:08 mark. Boucher finished with 16 points while OG Anunoby added 13 and Dalano Banton 10.
Kevin Porter Jr. paced six Rockets in double figures with 30 points and added eight assists. Garrison Mathews scored 19 while Christian Wood posted his 26th double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Jalen Green scored 18 points and drilled 3 of 6 from deep.
Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr. become the third pair of teammates since 1997-98 to each record 25+ points in the first half of a game.
The other two pairs of teammates to accomplish this are Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, as well as James Harden & Chandler Parsons. https://t.co/sgb7Q53enx
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) February 11, 2022
Houston seized its biggest lead at 22-12 on a Green dunk at the 6:01 mark of the first quarter. That’s when Trent went to work, scoring 14 points during the Raptors’ 20-8 run to the lead.
Toronto slapped a full-court press on Houston that left the Rockets flummoxed, and when Scottie Barnes followed a Trent backcourt steal and layup with one of his own seconds later, the Raptors claimed their first lead at 32-30. Trent scored 17 first-quarter points on 6-of-8 shooting with a trio of 3-pointers before handing the baton to Siakam, who exploded for 21 in the second.
Siakam logged all 12 minutes in the second quarter for good reason: he made 9 of 10 shots as the Raptors surged to a 12-point lead. Houston shot a robust 76.2 percent overall and 6 of 9 from behind the arc in the first quarter but could not maintain that torrid pace in the second. The Rockets trailed 50-49 when Siakam got going with a driving bank shot with 6:29 left in the half.
He added a 3-pointer, a driving layup and a turnaround fadeaway that pushed the lead to 63-53. Trent followed with a 3-pointer that extended the margin to a dozen points and Siakam later delivered a fadeaway that completed the first-half scoring for the Raptors.
Siakam, who scored 26 points prior to the break, and Trent, who added 25, became the third pair of teammates since 1997-98 to each record 25-plus points prior to the intermission. The duo shot a combined 19 for 27 while Trent added three steals and a pair of assists.
