Awful Second Half Dooms Rockets
The Houston Rockets are struggling. That statement isn't news to anyone who's followed the Rockets this season; but, Saturday night, the Rockets completely collapsed in the second half -- on offense and defense -- and lost to the Dallas Mavericks 96 to 83.
The Rockets (12 - 12) led the Mavs (16 - 9) 41 to 38 at halftime only to allow the Mavericks to score 30 points in the third quarter.
After scoring zero points in the first half, Dallas guard Devin Harris lit up the Rockets for 12 points in the third quarter.
The Rockets committed nine turnovers in the period and only scored 20 points. The only Rockets starter who did not turn the ball over in the third quarter was Tracy McGrady.
Steve Francis committed three turnovers in the quarter and shot a woeful 1 for 5 from the field. Chuck Hayes and Yao Ming turned the ball over twice each and Shane Battier added another turnover.
"I'm very disappointed with the game, especially the 3rd quarter," said Rick Adelman after the game."Actually the whole 2nd half. I don't think we played with the energy we needed to play with. They really got rolling shooting the ball and their main people, once the get it going, it's really hard to stop them. It was a disappointing loss for us."
The Mavs continued their hot shooting in the fourth quarter making 8 of 13 shots; and, the Rockets seemed powerless to stop them.
Many of the 18,307 fans in attendance began leaving 4:44 left in the ball game.
Rafer Alston sat out the game due to a sore groin. Alston's injured groin has caused him to miss three of the Rockets' four games this week. The Rockets lost all of three of those games; and, the offense looked completely out of sync without Alston.
"The one area he struggled is shooting and otherwise he's really solid." Adelman added about Alston. "He handles the ball, he gets us into what we want to run, he's the best defender we have and, plus, he's a very smart player. He understands the game and what we're trying to do."
Tracy McGrady banged his knee during the first half; but, McGrady stayed in the game and played 38 minutes. However, McGrady limped throughout the second half. He only scored 12 points and made only 5 of his 18 shot attempts.
After the game, T-Mac said, "I've had a knee problem for 2 weeks now. I don't know the medical terms of it; it has something to do with my kneecap being out of line. Tonight, I banged it and it's just one of those things."
Yao Ming scored 28 points on 10 for 18 shooting He also grabbed 14 rebounds. Yao was the only Rockets player to play well in the game.
The Mavericks were led by Josh Howard's 23 points. Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points. Jerry Stackhouse scored 17 points off the bench. Harris finished the game with 14 points; and, Jason Terry added 10 points.
Dallas shot 50.7% (36 for 71) from the field for the game. However, the Mavs shot 58.8% (20 for 34) in the second half.
McGrady was candid about the loss.
"I don't know. It seems like we play this team and they are a team that has been in the Finals and have played at the highest level in the biggest games. They know what it takes to turn it up another notch. That's what they did in the 3rd quarter, we didn't match that. It seems like we're not really ready to take that next step and be mentioned in the same breath with Dallas."
The Rockets (12 - 12) led the Mavs (16 - 9) 41 to 38 at halftime only to allow the Mavericks to score 30 points in the third quarter.
After scoring zero points in the first half, Dallas guard Devin Harris lit up the Rockets for 12 points in the third quarter.
The Rockets committed nine turnovers in the period and only scored 20 points. The only Rockets starter who did not turn the ball over in the third quarter was Tracy McGrady.
Steve Francis committed three turnovers in the quarter and shot a woeful 1 for 5 from the field. Chuck Hayes and Yao Ming turned the ball over twice each and Shane Battier added another turnover.
"I'm very disappointed with the game, especially the 3rd quarter," said Rick Adelman after the game."Actually the whole 2nd half. I don't think we played with the energy we needed to play with. They really got rolling shooting the ball and their main people, once the get it going, it's really hard to stop them. It was a disappointing loss for us."
The Mavs continued their hot shooting in the fourth quarter making 8 of 13 shots; and, the Rockets seemed powerless to stop them.
Many of the 18,307 fans in attendance began leaving 4:44 left in the ball game.
Rafer Alston sat out the game due to a sore groin. Alston's injured groin has caused him to miss three of the Rockets' four games this week. The Rockets lost all of three of those games; and, the offense looked completely out of sync without Alston.
"The one area he struggled is shooting and otherwise he's really solid." Adelman added about Alston. "He handles the ball, he gets us into what we want to run, he's the best defender we have and, plus, he's a very smart player. He understands the game and what we're trying to do."
Tracy McGrady banged his knee during the first half; but, McGrady stayed in the game and played 38 minutes. However, McGrady limped throughout the second half. He only scored 12 points and made only 5 of his 18 shot attempts.
After the game, T-Mac said, "I've had a knee problem for 2 weeks now. I don't know the medical terms of it; it has something to do with my kneecap being out of line. Tonight, I banged it and it's just one of those things."
Yao Ming scored 28 points on 10 for 18 shooting He also grabbed 14 rebounds. Yao was the only Rockets player to play well in the game.
The Mavericks were led by Josh Howard's 23 points. Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points. Jerry Stackhouse scored 17 points off the bench. Harris finished the game with 14 points; and, Jason Terry added 10 points.
Dallas shot 50.7% (36 for 71) from the field for the game. However, the Mavs shot 58.8% (20 for 34) in the second half.
McGrady was candid about the loss.
"I don't know. It seems like we play this team and they are a team that has been in the Finals and have played at the highest level in the biggest games. They know what it takes to turn it up another notch. That's what they did in the 3rd quarter, we didn't match that. It seems like we're not really ready to take that next step and be mentioned in the same breath with Dallas."
posted by Kris Gardner @ 11:27 PM
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