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Drake was in Trevor Ariza's ear on final play of Toronto Raptors win over Houston Rockets

dj dunson

Prior to tip-off of the Toronto Raptors home contest against the Houston Rockets, Drake stepped to halfcourt to address the crowd for the beginning of “Drake Night.” After announcing that he was working on a new album, he quickly transitioned to the game and proclaimed that the Rockets’ 17-game win streak was about to be over.

The Raptors leapt out to an 18-point lead in the first half, but Houston chiseled away at it on the back of James Harden’s 40 points, until they pulled to within three points in the final 5.3 ticks remaining in regulation.

With 5.4 seconds remaining in regulation, Drake’s decree was in peril. However, following a full Rockets timeout, Drake stood up from his seat, positioned himself directly behind a stoic, who was preparing to inbound and smacktalked him uninterrupted him like his name was Meek Mill for a solid 15 second stretch in real time.

It was reminiscent of a 2016 regular season game game between the Bulls and Raptors, in which Drake appeared to get into Justin Holiday’s head as he inbounded the ball in the final seconds of a close game. That play resulted in a five-second violation.

It’s impossible to determine whether or not Drake actually got into Ariza’s head, but the Rockets forward narrowly avoided his own humiliating five-second violation. Being the veteran that he is, Ariza dumped the pass to Joe Johnson, who surrendered it back up to Ariza. The Raptors forced Ariza to pickup his dribble at the top of the key, but was bailed out by James Harden sprinting out to the Raptors half-court logo to receive a shovel pass and air-ball a desperation 3.

The Raptors escaped with a 108-105 win and the Rockets streak is ovo..er, thanks in part to Drake’s Friday night clinic on active fandom.

Pre-game Drake predicted the Raptors would win, then made an intangible contribution to Toronto’s final defensive stand.
Pre-game Drake predicted the Raptors would win, then made an intangible contribution to Toronto’s final defensive stand.

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DJ Dunson is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at dunsnchecksin@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or Facebook.