Rockets past Raptors for 8th straight win

James Harden had 40 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his 10th triple-double of the season, and the Houston Rockets beat the Toronto Raptors 129-122 on Sunday night for their eighth straight victory.

Montrezl Harrell added 28 points on 12-of-13 shooting in 25 minutes, and fellow reserve Eric Gordon had 19 points to help Houston win consecutive road games over the Raptors for the first time.

DeRozan’s run of 12 consecutive points for the Raptors cut into that advantage, but Toronto could get no closer than five points.

The Rockets began to eat into that lead toward the end of the second quarter, closing on a 12-2 run over the last 2:09 that closed the Raptors’ lead to 63-61 at halftime, thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Trevor Ariza.

Despite entering the game with 122 more made 3-pointers than any other NBA team and on a league-record run of 27 games with at least 10 3-pointers made, the Rockets shot only 2 of 17 from beyond the arc in the first half.