Fred VanVleet has 32 as Raptors get 117-111 win over Rockets

HOUSTON (AP)— Fred VanVleet scored 32 points, Gary Trent Jr. added 29 and theToronto Raptors snapped a two-game skid with a 117-111 win over theHouston Rockets on Friday night.

The Raptorstook a commanding lead in the third quarter and were up bydouble-digits for most of the fourth. But five straight free throwsby the Rockets cut the lead to 110-104 with about 30 secondsleft.

PascalSiakam, who had 23 points, made two free throws after that to padthe lead.

Both teamsmade two free throws before Daishen Nix made a basket to sliceHouston’s deficit to six again. VanVleet made one of two freethrows before a 3 by Jabari Smith Jr. made it 115-111 with 1.2seconds to go.

Trent addedtwo free throws to secure the victory.

Nearing theend of a long road trip, Toronto coach Nick Nurse could sense histeam dragging a bit early in this one. But he liked how the Raptorsresponded after a sluggish first quarter.

“There wasn’ta lot of energy in the building or from us at the start,” he said.“But give our guys off the bench some credit to come in and getsome energy going. They kind of righted the ship and got into somegood, nice stretches there of playing at both ends.”

Nurse wasimpressed with the performance of VanVleet, who has been playingwell lately after a slow start to the season.

“He reallylooks good,” Nurse said. “He’s playing hard. He looks fast andathletic. ... He’s shooting the ball with tremendous confidence.He’s been really good on defense, too.”

Houston got aseason-high 28 points from Eric Gordon and Alperen Sengun added 21on night when Jalen Green missed a third straight game with abruised right calf.

A 12-5 run,with five points from Martin, got the Rockets within 98-90 withabout 5½ minutes to play.

Torontoscored five of the next seven points to make it 103-92 a couple ofminutes later.

Toronto had aseven-point lead at halftime and scored the first eight points ofthe third quarter, with 3s from Siakam and VanVleet, to make it63-48.

Silas wasdisappointed with the way his team opened the second half.

“They comeout and score 8 and then they’re up by 15, like right away, andthat’s unacceptable,” he said. “We’ve got to start the secondhalves much better.”

Gordonagreed.

“We have tohave a better sense of urgency and we’ve got to come in with a lotof energy just like the first quarter,” he said. “It’s aboutdictating the game from the start and once we do, it’ll get us in abetter groove.”

Gordon made abasket for Houston after that, but VanVleet made 3-pointers onconsecutive possessions to push the lead to 69-50 with about 9½minutes left in the third.

An 11-3 runby the Rockets later in the third cut the lead to 74-65. But theRaptors used a 9-4 spurt to push their advantage to 83-69 with lessthan three minutes left in the period.

Toronto led85-72 entering the fourth quarter.

TIP-INS

Raptors: OGAnunoby missed his fourth straight game with a sprained left wrist.... Toronto made 15 of 39 3-pointers with 10 coming from Trent andVanVleet. ... Chris Boucher had 11 points and eight rebounds.

Rockets:Silas said Green could return Saturday. ... Kevin Porter Jr. wasout for an 11th consecutive game with a bruised left foot. ...Martin had 20 points. ... Josh Christopher added 15 points off thebench.

UPNEXT

Raptors: Wrapup a season-high seven-game road trip when they visit Memphis onSunday.

Rockets:Visit Oklahoma City on Saturday night.