Rockets' sloppy ball handling dooms loss to Raptors

Posted: November 23, 2016 -- 11:42 pm CDT.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Rockets dug too large a hole in the first half and lost 115-102 to the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night in front of an announced crowd of 18,055 fans. The Rockets turned over the ball a season-high 28 times which the Raptors converted into 33 points. James Harden led the Rockets with 29 points and 15 assists; however, Harden also led the Rockets with 12 turnovers.

"Just careless, I take this one on the chin; just careless with the basketball; just silly turnovers and just not being aggressive," James Harden lamented after the game.

The Rockets shot poorly in the first half: 17 for 43 field goals with 13 turnovers. The poor 24 minutes led to a 54-39 halftime deficit.

“We weren’t moving the ball, we weren’t driving and kicking," said head coach Mike D'Antoni after the game. "We weren’t doing things that normally with energy that you have to do; and then you know a lot of guys got too much one on one, too much driving, too much this and that, and that’s why we got out of whack. I think towards the end, we got rhythm back a little bit."

"We came out flat, I think we tried to get it going and we tried to get aggressive," Patrick Beverley said. "You have to give them (Toronto) a lot of credit. They got their hands on a couple of basketballs which led to early transition for them. I think if we would have come out with more energy and focus from the beginning of the game, then I don’t think that happens."

The Raptors 15 point lead at halftime occurred with All-Star DeMar DeRozan's scoring only 3 points.

DeRozan woke up in the third quarter in a huge way. DeRozan scored 21 points and dished 4 assists in the third period to help the Raptors outscore the Rockets 36-35 in the quarter.

The Rockets (9-6) rallied in the fourth quarter and inched within seven points with 2:18 left in the ball game; but, seven straight points from Toronto's DeMarre Carroll put the game away.

"They did a really good job, a really good job of packing the paint, getting to our shooters and just playing really good defense," Harden said. "On the other hand they made shots; they made three pointers. So tough game; they played really well and we didn’t play well at all."

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