Calderon leads Toronto against Houston
TORONTO (AP) — Jose Calderon had 18 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds and to lead the short-handed Raptors to a 103-96 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday, giving the Raptors consecutive wins for the first time in eight long months.
Alan Anderson had 24 points, while DeMar DeRozan added 19 points for the Raptors (6-19), who hadn’t won consecutive games since April 13 and 15 of last season.
Ed Davis added 13 points for Toronto.
James Harden scored 28 points for the Rockets (11-12), while Marcus Morris added 19.
The Raptors took a 77-71 lead into the fourth quarter, and stretched their advantage to nine points. But Houston made for some tense moments late in the game, cutting Toronto’s lead to four points with a couple of minutes to go.
Former Raptors sharp-shooter Carlos Delfino drained two baskets in the final 1:04 to pull the Rockets to within two points, but Calderon sunk two free throws to put Toronto back up by four.
The teams traded free throws for most of the final minute. Harden, last season’s Sixth Man award winner for Oklahoma City, drained a pair, Anderson went to the line to sink two, and then Chandler Parsons missed one of two with 13 seconds left.
Anderson scored on a driving reverse layup with 11 seconds to go to seal the victory for Toronto.
The Rockets have now lost seven straight on the road, a stretch that goes back to Nov. 2. It’s their worst road losing streak since they dropped eight straight in 2001.
The Raptors played their third consecutive game without second-and third-leading scorers Andrea Bargnani and Kyle Lowry. Bargnani is out indefinitely with a torn ligament in his right elbow and a strained right wrist, while Lowry has a tear in his right triceps.
Jeremy Lin, who had plenty of fans in the Air Canada Centre crowd cheering him on, was held to just seven points and two assists.
Lin was in the midst of “Linsanity” on a previous trip to Toronto last February, draining a three at the buzzer to lead the New York Knicks to a victory over the Raptors.
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