Raptors continue road trip with date against Rockets on TSN
Published
The Toronto Raptors' western road trip continues as their next stop takes them to the Lone Star State to take on the Houston Rockets Friday night.
Friday's stop at the Toyota Center is one of two stops left on the Raptors current road trip. Their seven-game hiatus from Scotiabank Arena has yielded mix results, with the team going 2-3 so far.
Toronto is coming off their third loss of the road trip - a narrow, 131-128 loss to the Utah Jazz in a game that saw Fred VanVleet record a triple-double. VanVleet scored 30 points, had 10 assists and 12 rebounds, though the Jazz' Lauri Markkanen had 28 points and 13 rebounds and Mike Conley's three-point play and free throws in the dying minutes of the game clinched the win for the Jazz.
Aside from their play on the floor, much of the talk surrounding the Raptors amid their road trip has been about if the team will deal star forward O.G. Anunoby - who has been sidelined with a sprained wrist - or any other veterans as the trade deadline approaches.
At 23-30 on the season, the Raptors are on the outside looking in of the playoff picture, having dropping six of their last 10 to sit 12th in the Eastern Conference and last in the Atlantic Division.
The Rockets look to collect their third straight win tonight, coming off victories over the Detroit Pistons (117-114) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (112-106).
Sitting last in the Western Conference and the Southwest Division at 13-38, the Rockets are building toward the future, with pieces like the third overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Jabari Smith Jr., leading the way.
Smith is averaging 11.8 points, 1.0 assists and 7.0 rebounds per game this season. His career and season high in points was a 27-point performance against the Kings. The Auburn University product was recently named one of the 11 rookies to the NBA's Rising Stars roster, alongside Canadians Andrew Nembhard and Bennedict Mathurin of the Pacers.
Raptors forward Scottie Barnes was also selected to the Rising Stars Game as a sophomore.
The last time the Raptors and Rockets met was on Nov. 9 at Scotiabank Arena, when VanVleet's 32 points and Anunoby's 27-point, 10-rebound double-double led the Raptors to a 116-109 win.