Post Game Report Card: Raps Lose A Heartbreaker In Houston

Where do I start? The Toronto Raptors lost an absolute heartbreaker to the Houston Rockets, falling 110-104 in a double OT thriller. 

First off, check out the shot Rudy Gay hit to send the game to double overtime. Wow.

Aside from that, Gay was pretty bad offensively. He scored 29 points, but took 37 shots and missed many key shots that could have given the Raps the W. In fact, it was the least points ever by someone with that many shot attempts. With that being said, he came up with some big buckets that kept the Raps alive.

There is lot’s to talk about, so let’s get into the report card.

Offense – C- 

Dwane Casey‘s offense was poor once again. Shooting 33% from the field isn’t going to win you a lot of games, and it’s sad how lackluster the O is run considering the offensive talent of the team.

DeMar DeRozan continued to struggle, going 6-25. He did finish with 11 free throw attempts and 22 points. Kyle Lowry hit some massive threes and ended with 16 points, and the bigs had their share. The problem came down to Gay and DeRozan.

10 assists were all the Raps could muster on 114 shots. That is absolutely pathetic.

Defense- A-

The effort was the best I’ve seen this season thus far, but I can’t give anything better than an A- here. The Rockets shot 44% and finished with 110 points with two extra periods in the game. Considering the high caliber Houston offense, the Raptors fared quite well. They needed a strong defensive effort to stay in it, and they did just that.

It would have been nice to see some more zone D when they started to get killed on the inside, but overall it was a strong defensive performance.

James Harden was killer down the stretch as usual, and Jeremy Lin killed them with 31, but it was the D that brought this team back when they trailed by 17.

Rebounding- B+ 

Houston is a tough rebounding team and outrebounded the Raptors 59-51 for the game. Dwight Howard accounted for 24 of those rebounds.

Jonas Valanciunas held his ground against D12, finishing with a double double of 10 points and 13 boards. JV grabbed 7 huge offensive rebounds, and held his own against one of the best big men in the league. Unfortunately, he fouled out after 30 minutes and certainly would have helped in the extra time.

Amir Johnson also finished with a double double of 10-11 and had some timely points. Gay also continued to put in work on the glass, finishing with 10.

Game Ball – Terrence Ross

He didn’t contribute a significant amount in any category, but played solid D, forced some turnovers (the Raps forced Houston to 23 on the night), and picked his spots on offense. He knew his role, and really helped out on both ends before fouling out.

This was a very, very tough loss for a Raptors team that will have to rebound against a strong Memphis Grizzlies squad. There were some silver linings from this one, but a loss is a loss.