HOUSTON - Kyle Lowry scored 26 points, Luis Scola had 15 points and 10 rebounds and the Houston Rockets beat the Toronto Raptors 88-85 on Tuesday night.
Kevin Martin scored 14 points, though he missed a key free throw with 11.7 seconds left that gave the Raptors a chance to tie it. But Linas Kleiza missed a long 3-point try, Martin corralled the rebound and the Rockets won for the 18th time in the last 25 games.
DeMar DeRozan scored 17 points, James Johnson had 16 and Ed Davis tied a career-high with 15 rebounds for the Raptors. Toronto outrebounded Houston 47-37, but went 2 for 17 from 3-point range and committed 17 turnovers.
The Rockets have won 25 consecutive games when holding their opponent below 90 points.
Scola scored eight points in the first seven minutes, and Houston took advantage of Toronto's poor shooting to build an early lead. The Raptors started 2 for 11.
The Rockets, meanwhile, played efficiently at the start, opening 10 for 21 from the field to lead 27-15.
Toronto cut into the lead with mostly reserves on the floor early in the second quarter, grabbing most of the rebounds and defending the Rockets better. Courtney Lee got Houston back on track with a 3-pointer from the corner, and the Rockets led by 10 when coach Kevin McHale began putting his starters back in midway through the quarter.
Houston led 45-36 at the break, despite getting out rebounded 27-19. The Raptors hurt themselves will 11 first-half turnovers.
The Raptors continued to control the boards in the third quarter, and trimmed the deficit to three on DeRozan's dunk with 1:53 left. Goran Dragic beat the clock with a driving one-hander to put the Rockets up 69-64 heading to the fourth.
Lowry swished a 3 with just under five minutes left for an 81-73 Houston lead. The Raptors answered with a quick 6-0 run, capped by Amir Johnson's layup.
Scola lost the ball and Kleiza finished a fast break with a layup in the final minute to pull the Raptors within two, at 85-83.
Parsons grabbed a key offensive rebound off a Martin miss. Martin got Anthony Carter in the air on a head fake and drew the shooting foul with 11.7 seconds left.
Martin, an 88.6 per cent free-throw shooter, made the first try, but missed the second, and Houston led only 86-83. The Rockets guarded Toronto's inbound play well, Kleiza was forced to take a 30-foot 3-pointer from a bad angle, and Martin rebounded.
Notes: The Rockets have been outrebounded in seven consecutive games. ... Houston is 8-2 against the Eastern Conference this season. ... The home team has won the last nine meetings. ... The Rockets honoured members from their teams of the 1980s in a pre-game ceremony, including John Lucas, Robert Reid, Rodney McCray and Ralph Sampson, the first overall pick in the 1983 draft. The 7-foot-4 Sampson was one of 12 finalists for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. "It's only an accolade that my teammates and this organization can appreciate as well," Sampson said, "that they have somebody who loved the game, loved the city, loved the fans. And if that happens, we'll all go in together, so it works out."
