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Nebula1 wrote:I don't see this as a must win since the Rockets have already won 4 straight, including 3 road games. This would be a nice win, obviously, but Toronto is pretty good and the Rockets have no big men remaining.

Still, I like the Rockets' chances as a scoring powerhouse.

Nebula1 wrote:Well, the team is loaded with injuries and playing on a b2b road game following a road game. Don't be surprised if they can't pull it off.

That said, I think they can win this game and maybe Prigs hits a few 3s.

JetLife wrote:

Nebula1 wrote:Well, the team is loaded with injuries and playing on a b2b road game following a road game. Don't be surprised if they can't pull it off.

That said, I think they can win this game and maybe Prigs hits a few 3s.

need one of those games we are 24-41 from behind the arc


Sent from the Villain

It's unlikely that Kyle Lowry will play Monday night for the Toronto Raptors, who may be better off without him since he has never defeated the Houston Rockets since leaving that club.

The Raptors will at least catch a break since they won't have to face Dwight Howard.

The Rockets have dropped their last seven visits to Toronto and plan to rest Howard in this one as they seek a fifth straight win.

Lowry, second on the team with 17.9 points per game, has missed four of the last five contests with back spasms. Coach Dwane Casey had no update on his status at Sunday's practice.

The point guard played for Houston from 2009-12 before being traded to Toronto, which is 0-3 against the Rockets when Lowry faces them and 2-0 since he joined the team when he does not.

The two wins are part of this seven-game home win streak in the series dating to a 114-100 loss March 16, 2007.

Howard had 11 points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes in his third game back from a right knee injury in Sunday's 99-91 win at Washington. Coach Kevin McHale said before it that Howard would either play Sunday or Monday, but not both days of the back-to-back set.

"It's nice to win the games, but it would be really nice to get healthy" McHale said. "That's our biggest thing."

Houston is also without Terrence Jones, out with a partially collapsed lung, and announced Monday that Patrick Beverley will miss the remainder of the season following left wrist surgery.

Howard's absence means Toronto (43-30) will focus its defensive effort on James Harden, who leads the NBA with 727 free-throw attempts. Harden is averaging 31.5 points in this win streak with 24 on Sunday.

Casey said James Johnson did a good job in helping limit Harden to 20 points in Toronto's 98-76 loss at Houston on Feb. 21. The coach said Johnson is one of several defenders who will take on the challenge this time.

"If you make a mental mistake, he'll make you pay," said Casey about Harden. "Once he sees it go through the hole, it just becomes easier and easier and easier for him so we gotta give him different looks, different matchups, put him in different situations because that's the only way you can stop him."

Toronto clinched the Atlantic Division with Friday's 94-83 home victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Jonas Valanciunas scored 19 points and Lou Williams added 18.

"It's a lot more that we need to do," forward DeMar DeRozan said. "Get in the playoffs, win games in the playoffs, look forward, keep moving forward and not just think one game or one round."

The Rockets (50-23) reached the 50-win plateau for the second straight season Sunday by enjoying a 53-43 rebounding edge and limiting the Wizards to 38.7 percent shooting. They improved to 22-6 against East foes for the NBA's second-best record.

Houston is in a tight race with Memphis in the Southwest Division. Sunday's win helped Toronto move 2 1/2 games ahead of Washington in the race for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.