TORONTO (AP) – After 17 consecutive wins, Houston star James Harden wasn’t going to let one little loss spoil his outlook.
Kyle Lowry scored 30 points, DeMar DeRozan had 23 and the Toronto Raptors beat Houston 108-105 on Friday night, snapping the Rockets’ 17-game winning streak.
Harden scored 40 points but the Rockets lost for the first time since Jan. 27 at New Orleans.
“I don’t even feel like we lost,” Harden said. “Same swagger. Nothing changed. It’s one game.
Jonas Valanciunas had 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Raptors won their seventh straight in a matchup between the respective conference leaders.
“My hat is off to our guys,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “They did everything we asked them to do.”
The Rockets shot 9 for 27 from 3-point range, matching their fewest made 3-pointers of the season.
Houston shot 1 for 9 from 3-point range in the first half.
“Early, we didn’t make our open 3s,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We didn’t have a whole lot of them, but we didn’t make them.
Clint Capela had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets. Chris Paul and Eric Gordon each scored 14 points, and Trevor Ariza had 13 as Houston’s road winning streak ended at 10.
Toronto improved to 28-5 at home, the best record in the NBA.
Houston tied it at 102 on Harden’s 3 with 2:10 remaining, but DeRozan restored Toronto’s lead with a jump shot with 1:49 left.
BLAZERS 125, WARRIORS 108
In Portland, CJ McCollum scored 30 points, Damian Lillard added 28 and the Portland Trail Blazers won their ninth straight game with a 125-108 victory over the short-handed Golden State Warriors on Friday night.
The Warriors had won seven in a row but didn’t have Stephen Curry, Jordan Bell and Andre Iguodala, who were all out with injuries. Kevin Durant led Golden State with 40 points.
Portland has its longest winning streak since also winning nine straight in 2014. The Blazers’ streak started when they beat Golden State 123-117 at the Moda Center on Feb. 14, the last game before the All-Star break.
McCollum hit a 3-pointer to give the Blazers a 101 -93 lead with 7:20 left. McCollum added another 3 before Durant got one. Klay Thompson had a layup but Lillard answered with another 3 to make it 107-98.