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Donatas Motiejunas is a fan of Kit Kat bars.
He's also a fan of longtime friend and fellow Lithuanian Jonas Valanciunas. And the two went against each other tonight as the Rockets outlasted the Raptors 98-76.
Promise is a promise hook up Bill and @bull50 with kit kat ! Going back home with this W! pic.twitter.com/GnmixovVaY
— Donatas Motiejunas (@DonatasMot) November 30, 2014
Per usual, the energy guys were Corey Brewer, Terrence Jones, and to a lesser extent, Josh Smith. Brewer scored 12 points in his first 12 minutes, and Jones tallied three blocks before halftime. The bench led the first half for the Rockets as Brewer and Smith connected on nine of their first 13 shots.
Brewer scored 10 points in the second quarter.
The Rockets played aggressive defense in the first half, but Toronto was able to keep up because Houston, just like last game against the Dallas Mavericks, was not knocking down shots.
Harden started the game zero-for-six from the field with four points but wasn't worried about making shots and instead kept the ball moving. The Raptors played a swarming defense on him that collapsed every time he got into the paint, allowing Harden to dish it out to his teammates.
Patrick Beverley began the game shooting zero-for-seven while Pablo Prigioni sat on the bench in his warmups. Where has Beverley been the past few weeks?
Houston shot 36 percent in the first half, and their defense was what was keeping them alive through two quarters. The Rockets only led by four points going into halftime.
"We've got a deep team, we got to keep finding a way to use [the bench], but they gave us a great boost right there," said Rockets assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
James Johnson played like a guard tonight and handled Harden well defensively when switched onto him; He scored a career-high 27 points and was getting to the free-throw line at will. He went off in the first half, but the Rockets were able to contain his scoring output when they were making their run in the third.
The Rockets shot 2-for-17 from deep in the first half.
They started the second half three-of-four.
James Harden reacts after making a basket in the 3rd quarter tonight vs the Raptors. #Rockets pic.twitter.com/RbNqHv3SiS
— Daniel Gotera (@DTGoteraKHOU) February 22, 2015
Sweet...!!! @reddawg77089: Josh smith no look pass to Brewer pic.twitter.com/gQC86SIU3y"
— Allen (@HouTxns2002) February 22, 2015
Hey! It's Josh "In Between Jacking 3-Pointers I'll Sometimes Make A Really Dope Block" Smith! https://t.co/W8uHBk1qEI
— Complex Sports (@Complex_Sports) February 22, 2015
Harden resting the whole 4th in a 20-point W over a good team is an encouraging sign. Bench (Brewer) and defense closing it out for #Rockets
— Dimitri Skoumpourdis (@The_GoldenGreek) February 22, 2015
"We had a bad game last night. ... Tonight we had to come out, we had to play with more energy, we had to be aggressive, and it worked out," said Brewer after the game. "It's a perfect way to start [this stretch of home games]. ... We have to come out like this every night. We have to play hard. And we have to play Rocket ball."