The rockets, who have lost five consecutive games before, are visiting Toronto today to challenge the Raptors, and the team's leader Jaylen Green surpassed Jordan's record in the last game, and whether this game can score again for thirty to equal Iverson has become tied for the first place in history, becoming the most anticipated thing in the hearts of Rockets fans.
At the beginning of the game, the Rockets were not afraid of the stage at all, facing the Raptors' tall forward players, Porter Jr. played very well, continuing the fiery feel of the previous games, he scored 15 points in a single quarter, helping the Rockets play a wave of 16-2 offensive climax, helping the Rockets to take a 16-point lead in the first quarter.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the Rockets felt very rocket, and the outside line hit the basket many times, and the point difference widened to 24 points. Such a large point difference has caused many teams to give up, but the Raptors have not. Led by Siakam, the Raptors launched a counterattack, he used his physical advantage, many times to attack the inside line, Siakam shot down 14 points in a single quarter, leading the Raptors to chase the point difference to only single digits.
After halftime, the Raptors continued the heroic performance of the second quarter in the third quarter, continuously using the Rockets' mistakes to chase points, playing a wave of 13-2 attacks, and at one point narrowing the point difference to only 2 points. However, the Rockets, led by Christopher and Shin Kyung, played a wave of offensive climax, re-widening the point difference to double digits.
In the final quarter, Barnes, who had previously performed mediocrely, began his own performance, shooting multiple three-pointers in a row to help the Raptors catch up with the score. In the most crucial fourth quarter, Barnes scored 12 points and was a key figure in the Raptors' ability to reverse. In the final moments of the game, Green made two free throws and made consecutive mistakes, leaving the Rockets without a chance to win. In the end, the Rockets lost 115-117 to the Raptors on the road, suffering six consecutive losses!
Green's performance was very sluggish, and after scoring more than thirty in six consecutive games, there was no further breakthrough. Facing the Raptors' forward group with height and arm span advantage, Green struggled very hard. He hit just three of his 10 shots, had eight points, six rebounds, three assists, and delivered a maximum of five turnovers. In the final moments of the game, Green's mistakes and defensive leaks directly buried the Rockets' hopes of victory.
Porter Jr. played very steadily after the Wood truce and played a beautiful game today. He hit 12 of 23 shots in the game, 4-of-9 from three-point range, a game-high 35 points, and 10 rebounds. In the last two games, Porter Jr. has been the Rockets' best performer, scoring a total of 71 points. However, as an organizational defender, he still has a lot to learn, because he only delivered 4 assists in the whole game, and he still needs to do better on the tandem team.
The Rockets' other three rookies performed remarkably. Shin Kyung scored 17 points, and the score was not bad. However, some effort is still needed to be made in the protection of rebounds. As a center, he only got 2 rebounds in the whole game, and was repeatedly grabbed by the Raptors forward group to rebound in the frontcourt, which is what he needs to focus on training this summer.
Christopher scored 20 points, and in the third quarter he scored again in single-quarter doubles to help the Rockets bite the score. Garruba only played 15 minutes, but the Rockets' interior defense was very good when he was on the court. The Rockets can try it out, using a combination of Shin Kyung and Garupa, and maybe it will have a miraculous effect.
After losing to the Raptors, the Rockets have only one game this season, and I believe that after summer training, the team will change a lot next year.