In an exciting NBA regular season game last night, the Raptors took on the Rockets on the road. The two teams have a star-studded starting lineup, with the Raptors led by Quickley, Brown, Trent, Barnes and Poeltl, while the Rockets have VanVleet, Jalen Green, Dillon, Smith and Shin Jing as the backbone.
At the beginning of the first quarter, players on both sides seemed to be still looking for touch, and the shooting percentage was not high. The Rockets took the lead and relied on Shin Kyung's strong performance on the inside to score 4 points in a row. Then, Smith Jr. fired from the outside and hit two three-pointers in a row to give the Rockets a three-point lead. Quickley pulled back a point from the free-throw line for the Raptors, but VanVleet's deft layup and Dillon's quick counterattack put the Raptors on the back burner and even touched the ball out of bounds during a scramble to send the game to its first timeout.
After the timeout, Jalen Green hit a solid shot, and Shin Kyung showed a tough side under the basket, making it 2 to 1, but despite the Raptors' challenge, it couldn't change the result. The Rockets' offense became more fluid, with Shin Kyung's delicate pass assisting Thompson to score a dunk, and Green also scoring back-to-back layups to extend the margin to double digits. At this time, the White Devils of the Raptors stepped up, and he stopped the bleeding for the Raptors with a tough second offensive hit under the basket. However, after the Rockets' old brother-in-law hit both free throws, the difference has come to 15 points. In the final moments of the first quarter, VanVleet hit two three-pointers in a row after returning, one of which was a buzzer-beating shot, saving some face for the Raptors. At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets led by 15 points, 38-23.
Heading into the second quarter, the two sides began to rotate their lineups. The Rockets' rookies Amen and the White Devils played well, and they hit back-to-back highlight-scoring shots to help the Rockets continue to extend their lead. Although the Raptors also made some gains from the outside, they were unable to stop the Rockets' onslaught. The White Devils and old brother-in-law's consistent performances at the free-throw line kept the Rockets in the lead, at one point extending the margin to 18 points. Subsequently, the return of Jalen Green pushed the game to a climax, and his one-dragon breakthrough dunk directly stopped the Raptors. However, the timeout didn't change the situation on the court, as Amen returned to make two more difficult breakaways, and Shin Kyung showed his all-round skills, dribbling and scoring a layup to extend the lead to 22 points and forcing the Raptors to call a halt to the game again.
After this timeout, the Rockets' defense was slack, especially in the rebounding competition, and the Raptors narrowed the gap to 15 points at one point. But Shin stepped up in time, assisting Amen and Smith to make it 2-1 and scoring under the basket himself to help the Rockets re-establish a 22-point lead. Barnes scored five straight points to stop the bleeding from the Raptors, but the Rockets still led by 19 points at halftime, 66-47.
In the second half, the Rockets' offensive firepower was still fierce. VanVleet's three-pointer, Smith's back-to-back rebounds and Jalen Green's 2-0 put the margin to 25 points. However, with a large lead, the Rockets' offensive quality began to decline, and they were beaten by the Raptors for several rounds in a row. Barnes made a layup under the basket to tie the deficit to 19 points, forcing Rockets head coach Udoka to call a timeout. After the timeout, the Raptors' scoring momentum continued unabated, Shen Jing received a technical foul because of his emotional outburst, and Barnes took the opportunity to make a foul and score a free throw. After the White Devils replaced Smith, the Rockets hit back-to-back foul shots, and Jalen Green countered with an assist on Amen's dunk to reextend the lead to 20 points. After Shin Kyung and the White Devils each scored a three-pointer, the difference was stretched to 26 points, and the game was basically out of suspense. Tate made a steal and assisted on Amen's dunk to score another three-pointer to give the Rockets a 30-point lead at 102-72 at the end of the third quarter.
The final quarter of the game was completely reduced to garbage time, and Udoka replaced all the main players and sent a pure bench lineup to respond. But the Raptors still have some of their main players on the court trying to chase points. The two teams played relatively relaxed, and the score alternated between rising, and after the old brother-in-law dunked violently, Quickley hit a three-pointer and went into a timeout. Back in the game, the White Devils hit another three-pointer from the outside, and in the fast break, he passed the old brother-in-law to dunk and score to stop the opponent again. In the end, the Rockets defeated the Raptors 135-106 at home to avoid the embarrassing situation of two consecutive defeats.
A number of Rockets players performed well in this game, including No. 4 pick Amen Thompson, who played the best game of his career. He played 24 minutes off the bench, shooting 9-of-11 from the field and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, and finished with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, with a plus/minus of 27. 19 points is also a career-high Amen, and his performance on the court is eye-catching.
In addition to Amen, another player on the Rockets, the White Devils, also had an explosive performance. He played only 21 minutes, shooting 10-of-17 from the field, 3-of-7 from three-point range, and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line, slashing for 25 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals. The 25 points were also a career-high single-game high, up from 24. His dunks and outside shots on the court have shown his talent and strength.
The Rockets' center Shin Kyung also had an excellent performance. He was bullied by his opponent in the last game, but today he breathed a hard sigh against the Raptors. He played just 29 minutes and shot 10-of-14 from the field, making three-pointers and hitting free throws. Not only did he succeed on the offensive end, but he also showed his versatility and strength on the defensive end. He also had a double-digit plus/minus, making a significant contribution to the Rockets' victory.
Overall, it was a good match, with players from both sides showing their quality and talent. The Rockets beat the Raptors at home to avoid an embarrassing losing streak. Although the Raptors lost the game, their players also showed their fighting spirit and strength. We look forward to both teams continuing to bring us great games and performances in future competitions.
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