Durant also had five rebounds and an assist as Houston (2-2) won back-to-back games. Jabari Smith Jr. scored 25 points with five rebounds and five assists.
Alperen Sengun is close to a triple-double with 18 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
Scottie Barnes also scored 31 points as Toronto (1-4) lost its fourth straight game. Barnes added five rebounds and two assists.
Brandon Ingram had 29 points, four assists and two rebounds.
Raptors starting center Jakob Poeltl was ruled out of the game hours before Game 1 with lower back tightness.
Rookie Collin Murray-Boyles made his first NBA start in just the third game of his career. He finished with 13 points and two assists in 25 minutes.
The game's start time was moved up an hour to allow fans to watch the Toronto Blue Jays play the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series. After the final buzzer of the Raptors game, the big baseball game was shown on the screens at Scotiabank Arena.
Rockets: At various points throughout the evening, Houston could have five players taller than six-foot-ten, which is at least an inch taller than the six-foot-nine Sandro Mamukelashwii, Toronto's tallest player. The size advantage of Smith (6-11), Durant (6-10), Sengun (6-11), Steven Adams (6-11) and Clint Capela (6-10) over the entire Raptors lineup allowed them to outshoot the hosts 53-22.
Raptors: Poeltl's absence is a double whammy for Toronto. First, it allowed Senggun and Adams to control the basket freely, and Houston outscored the Raptors 66-36 in the paint. It also hurt Toronto's depth, with the Rockets scoring 37 bench points to the Raptors' 23.
Durant's layup at 4:16 of the third quarter capped a 16-6 Houston lead to open the second half.
Toronto lost despite being more efficient from three-point range: 21 of 40 (52.5 percent) from behind the arc.
Raptors: Travel to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers on Friday.
Rockets: Travel to Boston to take on the Celtics on Saturday.
