DeRozan nets 42 as Raptors bring down Rockets 99-96

Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan drives past Houston Rockets guard James Harden at the Air Canada Centre on Monday. Toronto defeated Houston 99-96.

Agencies/New York

DeMar DeRozan scored a career-high 42 points and matched a career best with 11 rebounds as Toronto beat Houston 99-96 Monday in a battle of NBA division leaders.“It’s definitely cool because we’ve been playing against each other since we were kids,’’ DeRozan said of Harden, who also grew up in the Los Angeles area. “That’s one of my close friends in the league to this day.“I’m close to his family, he’s close to my family, so it’s always cool,’’ DeRozan added. ‘’Now we can cherish this 20 years from now, 30 years from now, just joking, you know, have fun together.’’DeRozan made a go-ahead turnaround bank shot with 1:27 left, the 11th lead change of the final quarter, then sealed it with a jumper over Harden with 18 seconds to go. He made 14 of 27 attempts from the floor and hit 12 of 17 at the free throw line.“The most important thing, not only the points, was his defense,’’ Raptors coach Dwane Casey said of DeRozan, who guarded Harden down the stretch. “I thought his defense and rebounding was as solid as anything else, which made it an all-around excellent game for him.’’Jonas Valanciunas scored 15 for Toronto, while Lou Williams had 13.Harden scored 31 for the Rockets, whose four-game winning streak was snapped. Houston has not won north of the border since a 114-100 victory on March 16, 2007.“We had our opportunities, we just didn’t get the job done,’’ Rockets coach Kevin McHale said.Trevor Ariza had 15 and Corey Brewer scored 13 for the Rockets.DeRozan and Harden, teammates on the USA squad that won gold at last summer’s World Cup, first squared off when they were around 12 years old, DeRozan said.“He didn’t have no beard back then,’’ DeRozan joked.Houston’s Dwight Howard was rested after finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes of Sunday’s 99-91 win at Washington, his third game in five nights since returning from a right knee injury.“Dwight is going to have limited minutes for a while,’’ McHale said before the game.The Raptors snapped a streak of 10 straight losses against opponents with winning records. They hadn’t beaten a team above .500 since a 105-80 victory at Atlanta on Feb. 20.Ariza’s 3-pointer gave Houston a 96-95 lead with 1:44 remaining before DeRozan answered with his basket.With a chance to put Toronto up three, DeRozan missed a pair of free throws with 45 seconds left. A tie up on the second miss led to a jump ball, which Terrence Ross won for the Raptors. Meanwhile, DeMarre Carroll scored a game-high 23 points and the Atlanta Hawks, already assured of the best record in the NBA Eastern Conference, ripped the Milwaukee Bucks 101-88. Al Horford scored 18 points while Paul Millsap contributed 15 points and nine rebounds and Carroll added eight rebounds as the Hawks improved to 56-18, 4 ½ games behind Golden State for the top record in the league. Atlanta’s Kyle Korver scored all 11 of his points in a 65-second span of the third quarter, boosting the Hawks’ lead from five points to 16 on the way to their third victory in four games. The Bucks dropped their 11th consecutive road game despite Zaza Pachulia’s 17 points and game-high 13 rebounds against his former club. Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 18 points, but the Bucks still lost for the eighth time in their past 10 starts overall. The Hawks own a homecourt edge throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs and are the only club that could deny the overall playoff home court edge from going to Golden State (60-13). At 36-38, the Bucks remained sixth in the Eastern Conference, three games ahead of Boston in the eighth and final East playoff position. After a pair of Toronto timeouts, DeRozan pulled up for his jumper over Harden, making it 99-96 with 18 seconds remaining.‘’He had it going,’’ Harden said. ‘’When you have it going like that, shots are going to fall.’’Ariza got two chances to shoot for the tying basket in the final seconds, but missed both attempts.“They made plays to win and we didn’t,’’ Ariza said.Houston led 52-48 at halftime. DeRozan scored 13 in the third but Harden had 15, including the final five, as the Rockets took a 76-74 lead into the fourth.