HOUSTON – Reserve guard Chase Budinger scored a season-high 22 points, Kevin Martin added 20 and the Houston Rockets beat the Toronto Raptors 114-105 on Friday night.
Rookie Patrick Patterson set career highs in points (15) and rebounds (10) for the Rockets, who have won eight of their last 10. Houston shook off a poor first quarter to shoot 48 percent (44 of 91) and win for the ninth time in 10 home games.
DeMar DeRozan scored 29 of his career-high 37 points in the second half and Jose Calderon had 11 assists for the Raptors, who've dropped 10 of their last 13 games. Linas Kleiza had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Amir Johnson added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Toronto, which finished wwith a 53-47 rebounding edge.
Houston's Jordan Hill scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds in place of Chuck Hayes, who's out two to four weeks after spraining his ankle in practice on Thursday. Backup center Brad Miller scored 11 points with seven rebounds and six assists.
Budinger hit a jumper from the wing then flipped a pass to Patterson for a layup in the last minute of the third quarter to stretch Houston's lead to 84-75.
DeRozan scored 13 points in the third, but no other Raptors player had more than two.
Johnson converted a three-point play with 10:33 left, but then went out with his fifth foul.
Aaron Brooks and Courtney Lee drove for consecutive layups and Budinger made a 3 from the corner to extend the lead to 97-82. Budinger went 7 for 9 from the field with three 3-pointers.
DeRozan scored 16 points in the fourth quarter, but the Rockets carried their comfortable lead to the end, topping 110 points for the fourth time in their last six home games.
Trailing 34-20 after the first quarter, the Rockets' reserves cut the deficit to one over the first six minutes of the second quarter. Lee sank Houston's first 3, Miller scored inside and Budinger sprinted for a breakaway dunk to finish the 20-7 spurt.
Houston shot 64 percent in the second quarter (18 of 28) and led 62-55 at the break. Martin and Luis Scola scored seven points apiece in the third quarter to keep the Rockets in front.
Julian Wright's dunk punctuated a 12-0 run in the first quarter that gave Toronto a 29-16 lead. Martin scored 11 points during that span, drawing fouls with drives down the lane and going 7 for 8 from the free-throw line.
Kleiza made a deep 3-pointer just before the first-quarter buzzer to put Toronto up 14. The Raptors shot 54 percent (14 of 26) and outrebounded Houston 18-8 in the first.
NOTES: The Rockets went 11-4 in December ... Houston has reached 60 points in a half 15 times this season. ... Martin has scored at least 20 points in eight straight games. ... Calderon hit a 3-pointer with 5:57 left in the first quarter to extend Toronto's streak of games with a 3 to 974. ... Toronto G Jerryd Bayless played eight minutes in the first half, then limped to the locker room and did not return after re-aggravating a left ankle sprain. ... Johnson has five double-doubles this season. ... Raptors C Joey Dorsey, who played for the Rockets from 2008-10, had a career-high three blocks.
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