Rockets rally from 18 down in the second quarter to beat Raptors
James Harden had 40 points (18 in the fourth quarter) and 14 assists, and the Houston Rockets rallied from 18 points down in the second quarter to beat the Toronto Raptors 113-107.
The Rockets trailed 49-31 with 6:13 left in the second quarter and 61-51 at halftime. They outscored the Raptors 82-58 the rest of the way.
Clint Capela’s alley oop dunk with 19.3 seconds left made it 112-105 and put it away.
During clutch time, the Rockets outscored the Raptors 16-6. Harden (No. 2 in clutch points, 2015-16) scored 6 of the Rockets’ 16 on 1 for 1 shooting and 3 for 3 at the line.
Corey Brewer scored 23 points with 5 3-pointers off the bench, and Dwight Howard added 21 points (18 in the paint) and 11 rebounds on 9 for 12 shooting. Harden scored 18 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter. The Rockets had 3 20-point scorers. Harden assisted on 5 of Brewer’s 9 baskets, 2 of them in the fourth quarter.
For the Raptors, Luis Scola scored 21 points on 9 for 13 shooting. Kyle Lowry had 17 points, 9 assists and 3 steals.
The Raptors committed 16 turnovers to the Rockets’ 11. The Rockets outscored the Raptors 45-33 in 16 minutes with Howard, Ariza, Brewer, Harden and Beverley on the floor together. Howard fouled out.