Walter provides bright spot for slumping Raptors

Ja'Kobe Walter didn't hesitate.

TORONTO – Ja’Kobe Walter didn’t hesitate.

After making three early triples to begin Sunday’s game against the Houston Rockets, the Toronto Raptors’ rookie suddenly found big man Alperen Sengun defending him.

Sengun was forced to make a decision: play up against the red-hot shooter and risk a drive with little rim protection, or back off and take his chances with the jump shot.

Sengun chose wrong. Walter drained the deep three-pointer.

“We’ve just been harping on being more aggressive, so that’s the mentality I came here with,” Walter said. “They were sagging off and everybody wants me to shoot the ball, so that’s what I did.”

Walter finished the night with a career-high 27 points, but the Raptors (7-22) fell 114-110 to the Rockets (19-9), their seventh consecutive loss.

However, as the Raptors’ losses pile up, they will likely lean on small victories such as Walter’s career night — which included the 20-year-old scoring the team’s first 14 points.

“I didn’t even realize until I came out,” Walter said. “It was crazy.”