James Harden leads Rockets with 24 and 10 in scrimmage opener

Harden had 24 points and 10 assists in 25 minutes, but Houston lost control of its scrimmage opener versus Toronto when backups played late.

NBA scoring leader James Harden led the Houston Rockets with 24 points and 10 assists in just 25 minutes during Friday’s scrimmage opener, which leads up to the league’s upcoming restart in Florida.

But with mostly backups playing in the fourth quarter, the Rockets were outscored by 14 in the final period, leading to a 94-83 loss (box score) at the hands of defending NBA champion Toronto. The Rockets led for the majority of the first half, which had a much larger proportion of each team’s usual rotation players on the court.

Harden was the clear standout with 24 points and 10 rebounds in limited action, but Danuel House Jr. also played well in his newfound bench role with 18 points (50% on 3-pointers) and six rebounds in 30 minutes.

New starter Eric Gordon — who replaced House at small forward — scored 11 points, but he shot just 4-of-11 from the field (36.4%).

Russell Westbrook only played 15 minutes in the first half, owing to his late arrival to training camp after his recovery from COVID-19. Even so, he had 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds in that limited time.

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As can be expected, the Rockets (40-24) showed some signs of rust after more than four months without playing basketball and during their first game without fans. Houston shot 29-of-77 from the field (37.7%) overall, and just 14-of-48 on 3-pointers (29.2%).

The Raptors (46-18), who are the No. 2 seed in the East, were led by 18 points from Serge Ibaka and 13 by rising star Pascal Siakam. Though the Rockets were undersized relative to that Toronto frontcourt, they did hold their own in the rebounding battle (43-38, Raptors).

Houston’s second scrimmage takes place on Sunday night versus Memphis, with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Central on NBA TV.

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