With a devastating display of long-range shooting — hardly any of it involving the gifted James Harden — the Rockets handed the Raptors their second straight home defeat, 119-109 at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday night. The Raptors were bound and determined not to let Harden beat them, aggressively double-teaming the NBA’s leading scorer every time he had the ball to set up the Rockets offence. It was a solid strategy — Harden finished with just 23 points and took only 11 shots — but it came with a cost. The scrambling behind the double team left the Rockets with a handful of good looks for three-pointers and they made Toronto pay. The Raptors, meanwhile, had 24 free throw attempts or fewer as a team in 14 of the first 20 games.

Source: thestar December 06, 2019 03:11 UTC