Raptors 101, Rockets 88

Sometimes it doesn’t matter how hard you fight for three quarters of the game, but if you come out as slow as the Rockets did on Sunday afternoon, you aren’t going to win.

In Toronto, the Raptors outscored the Rockets 32-17 in the first period to snap a two-game losing streak. Chris Bosh scored 27 points with 6 rebounds to power the Raptors. Hedo Turkoglu added 23. The Rockets were led by Carl Landry’s 25, Luis Scola’s 21, and Aaron Brooks’ 20 points.

However, in my opinion, Aaron Brooks had a TRBL game. Despite his 20 points, he shot 6-20 from the field, including 3-12 from 3-point range. At what point would he consider not shooting? Apparently at no point, or rather not until the final buzzer sounds. In addition, the Rockets as a team shot 3-24 from long distance. So to sum it up, Brooks was 3-12 and the rest of his team shot 0-12. No matter they lost.

One thing to note from this game was Trevor Ariza’s poor judgment in the 3^rd quarter. The Rockets’ leading scorer was ejected for swinging his arm at DeMar DeRozan following a steal by the sideline. It wasn’t clear if Ariza was swinging his arm at DeRozan specifically or rather just in frustration, but it’s obvious that Ariza was frustrated by his poor play (0-9 shooting, 1 point). Ariza could be fined and suspended as a result.

Shooter of the Game: Jarrett Jack. It seems like every time I see his stat line, it looks a lot like this: 6-10 from the floor, 2-3 from three, for 17 points. He also added 8 assists and 8 rebounds. This is the kind of consistency team’s crave from their point guard, but the Raptors are just missing too many pieces to really compete.

Hawks 130, Nets 107

FREEZE. If you haven’t looked at the score of this game yet, don’t. It’s a game against the Hawks and the Nets in 2009. Ok, now guess what the final was…

Nope, you’re wrong. The Nets actually lost 130-107, not 246-72, silly.

The Hawks (17-6) trailed (yes, they actually did at one point) to the Nets (2-22) by one-point with 5:34 left in the 2^nd quarter, and that was the end of the Nets lead. The Hawks went on a 19-7 run from that point and that game was out of reach.

Joe Johnson scored 21 points and dished out 10 assists for the Hawks in the win. Josh Smith and Al Horford each scored 16 points, while Jamal Crawford (13 pts) and Jeff Teague (12 pts) provided off the bench.

If you’re a Nets fan, be happy that they scored 107 points, because it won’t happen too often. Also, you can be happy that Brook Lopez continues to battle game-in and game-out. He totaled 19 points and 12 rebounds for NJ, giving him yet another double-double.

Each team at least 50% from the field and from three-point range. The Nets shot 51% overall, with 50% (5-10) from three. Although, the Hawks shot 53% overall, with 64% from three – which was 11-17 from beyond the arc. Hence, they scored 130 points on the evening. Also, the Hawks outrebounded the Nets 51-32 – yikes.

Shooter of the Game: Maurice Evans. Filling in for the injured Marvin Williams, this guy had the gme of his life. He shot 8-13 from the floor, including a perfect 4-4 from three! He even added 9 rebounds to boot.

-Shooter