Warriors Shoot Past Rockets in 4th
As Rockets forward Bonzi Wells stated after the game, the Rockets played "like trash" in the fourth quarter.
No argument here.
However, the seven turnovers the Rockets committed in the third period led to their demise in the fourth period.
Golden State (19 - 13) bombed in seven three pointers in the fourth period to defeat the Rockets 112 to 95. The Warriors outscored the Rockets 37 to 15 in the fourth quarter.
Baron Davis, after a truly awful first three quarters -- 7 turnovers and 4 for 13 shooting from the field, started percolating in the fourth quarter.
Davis started the fourth quarter by draining a three point shot; next, he found teammate Matt Barnes for a lay-up; then, Davis tied the game at 84 by swishing a 21-foot jumper. After Monta Ellis put the Warriors ahead with a lay-up; Davis scored the next five points and found Ellis for a slam dunk.
Golden State led the Rockets 93 to 84 with 6:50 left in the game.
Davis accounted for 14 of the Warriors' 18 points in five minutes and 10 seconds.
Then, Golden State's Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington took turns sinking three-point shots: Harrington hit the first (off a pass from Davis); Jackson splashed in the next two; and Harrington capped off the barrage with the fourth three-pointer (assist from Davis) to put the Rockets (15 - 16) behind 105 to 94 with 3:11 remaining in the game.
"Obviously, a disappointing 4th quarter," Rick Adelman said. "They just caught fire and we just caved into the situation. We couldn't make a shot; the whole game, we just turned the ball over so much. We could have been up 10, 12, 14 points (in the third period) and we just let them hang around. We talked about you can't turn over against this team. In the 4th quarter, when they got it going, Baron Davis takes over, (Stephen) Jackson hits his shots. I don't know what we were, 0 for 7 for 3s, in the 4th quarter and they're 7 for 13. That's the easy way to explain it."
The Rockets finished the game with 23 turnovers. Bonzi Wells committed six of the turnovers.
The Warriors turned the ball over 21 times through three quarters; but, they didn't turn the ball over once in the final quarter.
"Especially, I was upset with myself," said Baron Davis. "I told everybody 'we have been sloppy all game' and then we worked out way out of it in the fourth quarter. We made out shots, didn't turn the ball over and kept the pressure on them."
"We just ran out of gas. You've got to continue to defend," lamented Rafer Alston after the game. "Those guys thrive on mismatches and one-on-one zone. I'm amazed that we didn't realize that down the stretch. People don't understand that game was decided near the end of the 3rd quarter. When you're up 10 points and all you've got to do is take care of the basketball, we turned the ball over and the 10-11 point lead went down to a 2-point game. That game wasn't decided in the 4th quarter. We gave them the chance near the end of the 3rd."
Alston finished the game with 22 points (8 for 17 from the field) and five assists. Wells added 17 points. Yao Ming scored 16 points; but, he took only eight shots from the field. Luther Head scored 10; Luis Scola added nine; and Steve Novak, yes, Steve Novak, scored 8 points (2 for from the field including 2 for 3 on threes).
Davis led all scores with 23 points. Monta Ellis added 20 points (8 for 11 from the field). Stephen Jackson scored 18 points; and, Al Harrington scored 16 and grabbed 11 rebounds. Kelenna Azubuike came off the bench and scored 13 points.
"For 3 quarters we played great Rockets basketball," Wells said. "We did what we wanted to do and we executed our game plan to perfection, but the 4th quarter, just trash."
No argument here.
However, the seven turnovers the Rockets committed in the third period led to their demise in the fourth period.
Golden State (19 - 13) bombed in seven three pointers in the fourth period to defeat the Rockets 112 to 95. The Warriors outscored the Rockets 37 to 15 in the fourth quarter.
Baron Davis, after a truly awful first three quarters -- 7 turnovers and 4 for 13 shooting from the field, started percolating in the fourth quarter.
Davis started the fourth quarter by draining a three point shot; next, he found teammate Matt Barnes for a lay-up; then, Davis tied the game at 84 by swishing a 21-foot jumper. After Monta Ellis put the Warriors ahead with a lay-up; Davis scored the next five points and found Ellis for a slam dunk.
Golden State led the Rockets 93 to 84 with 6:50 left in the game.
Davis accounted for 14 of the Warriors' 18 points in five minutes and 10 seconds.
Then, Golden State's Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington took turns sinking three-point shots: Harrington hit the first (off a pass from Davis); Jackson splashed in the next two; and Harrington capped off the barrage with the fourth three-pointer (assist from Davis) to put the Rockets (15 - 16) behind 105 to 94 with 3:11 remaining in the game.
"Obviously, a disappointing 4th quarter," Rick Adelman said. "They just caught fire and we just caved into the situation. We couldn't make a shot; the whole game, we just turned the ball over so much. We could have been up 10, 12, 14 points (in the third period) and we just let them hang around. We talked about you can't turn over against this team. In the 4th quarter, when they got it going, Baron Davis takes over, (Stephen) Jackson hits his shots. I don't know what we were, 0 for 7 for 3s, in the 4th quarter and they're 7 for 13. That's the easy way to explain it."
The Rockets finished the game with 23 turnovers. Bonzi Wells committed six of the turnovers.
The Warriors turned the ball over 21 times through three quarters; but, they didn't turn the ball over once in the final quarter.
"Especially, I was upset with myself," said Baron Davis. "I told everybody 'we have been sloppy all game' and then we worked out way out of it in the fourth quarter. We made out shots, didn't turn the ball over and kept the pressure on them."
"We just ran out of gas. You've got to continue to defend," lamented Rafer Alston after the game. "Those guys thrive on mismatches and one-on-one zone. I'm amazed that we didn't realize that down the stretch. People don't understand that game was decided near the end of the 3rd quarter. When you're up 10 points and all you've got to do is take care of the basketball, we turned the ball over and the 10-11 point lead went down to a 2-point game. That game wasn't decided in the 4th quarter. We gave them the chance near the end of the 3rd."
Alston finished the game with 22 points (8 for 17 from the field) and five assists. Wells added 17 points. Yao Ming scored 16 points; but, he took only eight shots from the field. Luther Head scored 10; Luis Scola added nine; and Steve Novak, yes, Steve Novak, scored 8 points (2 for from the field including 2 for 3 on threes).
Davis led all scores with 23 points. Monta Ellis added 20 points (8 for 11 from the field). Stephen Jackson scored 18 points; and, Al Harrington scored 16 and grabbed 11 rebounds. Kelenna Azubuike came off the bench and scored 13 points.
"For 3 quarters we played great Rockets basketball," Wells said. "We did what we wanted to do and we executed our game plan to perfection, but the 4th quarter, just trash."
posted by Kris Gardner @ 10:08 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home