ROCKETS DEFEAT RAPTORS
Rockets snap a six-game skid with win over the Raptors
Feb 9, 2025, 4:37 pm
The Rockets beat the Raptors, 94-87. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.
Dillon Brooks scored 19 points, Jalen Green added 18 and the short-handed Houston Rockets snapped a six-game skid with a 94-87 win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
The Raptors led by four early in the fourth quarter before Houston used a 14-2 run to make it 77-69 with about 7 minutes to go.
Houston was up by four a couple of minutes later when Green made two 3-pointers to power a 9-3 spurt that extended the lead to 86-76.
The Rockets were without Fred VanVleet for a fifth straight game because of an ankle injury and Steven Adams was out because they played Saturday. All-Star Alperen Sengun left in the first quarter with back spasms.
Jeff Green and Jock Landale filled in for Sengun and Green had a season-high 14 points while Landale added 11 with a season-best 10 rebounds.
Immanuel Quickley had 20 points for the Raptors, who lost a fourth straight.
Takeaways
Raptors: Toronto missed Gradey Dick in the second half after he left the game with a neck bruise following a collision with Amen Thompson near the end of the second quarter. Dick, who averages 15.6 points, didn’t score before exiting the game.
Rockets: Although the Rockets escaped this one with a win, they desperately need VanVleet back to steady their offense and get them back on track.
Key moment
The Rockets trailed by four early in the fourth quarter when Jamison Battle was called for a foul on Jeff Green. The play was reviewed and upgraded to a flagrant 1 foul after officials ruled Battle hit Green in the groin area. Green made both free throws to start the big run that gave Houston the lead for good.
Key stat
The Raptors made just 8 of 42 3-pointers.
Up next
The Raptors visit the 76ers on Tuesday night and Houston hosts the Suns on Wednesday.
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.