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."

Rockets 91, Raptors 79

The Rockets (15-15) pulled away from the Toronto Raptors (16-15) in the fourth quarter and defeated the dinosaurs 91 to 79 before the 10th sellout crowd of the 2007 - 2008 season.

"It was a tough game. Both teams really struggled at making shots in the first half," said Rick Adelman after the game. " But I thought our guys really stayed with it defensively. In the fourth quarter we just tried to go through Yao (Ming), because they had a little mis-match there. Our guys came up with the big shots, and it's a good win, to get. We've got to string some together. To comeback home after last night and get a win, it's what we needed."

Yao Ming led all scorers with 25 points. Four other Rockets scored in double figures -- Rafer Alston (18); Bonzi Well (13); Luther Head (13); and Shane Battier (10).

Yao added 11 rebounds; but, he also committed eight of the Rockets' 15 turnovers.

The game was tied at 19 at the end of the first quarter and 40 at the half.

Raptors' star forward Chris Bosh scored 19 points; but, he made just 7 of his 20 shot attempts. Bosh had a very difficult time trying to score against Chuck Hayes. Instead of simply shooting over the shorter Hayes (6'6), Bosh (6'11) kept showing the ball to Hayes at Chuck's eye level which allowed Hayes to deflect the ball and pick up three steals in the game. Bosh finished the game with five turnovers.

The Rockets shot 62.5% (10 for 16) in the third quarter and outscored the Raptors 28 to 24 in the period.

The Rockets forced six Raptors' turnovers in the fourth period and limited Toronto to just 15 points in the final period.

Bonzi Wells added 10 rebounds to his 13 points. All four of Wells' made baskets were slam dunks.

Tonight's win for the Rockets is the first time the team has won back-to-back games since December 5 (105 - 92 versus Memphis) and December 7 (96 - 89 at New Jersey). Tonight's win follows a 103-83 (+20) victory at Memphis (12/28/07), which marks the first sweep of back-to-back games for the Rockets this season.

"We haven’t done that (win back-to-back games) in a while,," Rafer Alston said. "It was great to define energy for two straight nights in a row and play with a total team effort both nights. We've had a total team effort offensively and with Tracy (McGrady) out, we've been able to share the ball, get a couple of guys in double figures and some off the bench and produce. Tonight we did it on defense as well.”

Rick Adelman summarized, "I think the last couple games,we've actually played well. Even though we didn't get all wins, I think we're moving in the right direction. We've got to get rewarded by staying with it and getting some wins."

Wallace and Gordon for T-Mac?

Two games, 227 (111 versus Denver, Thursday night and 116 versus Chicago, Saturday night) points for the Rockets.

Only one win; but, perhaps the offense is finally starting to click.

Thumping the woe-be-gone Bulls 116 to 98 Saturday night was impressive. The Rockets' bench outscored the Bulls' bench 51 to 21. Bonzi Wells scored 20 points; Luther Head added 13; Luis Scola scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds; and, rookie Aaron Brooks dished out six assists in only 17 minutes.

Let's see if the Rockets can continue the scoring upswing tonight at the Palace versus the Detroit Pistons (5pm CST).


T-Mac Trade Talks
Tracy McGrady probably won't be traded by the Rockets; but, that won't stop Rockets' fans; Magic Johnson; and other basketball people from talking about it.

Check out this article from Sam Smith of The Chicago Tribune:
"McGrady worth a Second Look"

How about it: Ben Wallace and Ben Gordon for T-Mac?

Rockets lose to Magic

Despite a very valiant comeback, the Houston Rockets lost to the Orlando Magic 97 to 92 in front of 18,270 fans at Toyota Center.

The Rockets were lifeless and listless through much of the first half; however, they led the Magic 22 to 15 at the end of the first quarter. Neither team shot above 30 percent (Houston 26.1%, 6 for 23; and Orlando, 27.8%, for 18) from the field in the quarter.

Tracy McGrady missed seven of his eight shots in the period.

T-Mac labored up and down the court; but, he continued playing despite the pain in his left knee.

The Rockets scored a few fast break points early in the second quarter to increase the lead to 10 points (37 to 27) with 7:32 left in the first half.

The Rockets missed their next nine points; and, Orlando took advantage of Houston's cold shooting by scoring 15 consecutive points to lead 42 to 37 with 2:31 left in the half.

Orlando led 44 to 40 at halftime.

During halftime, realizing his presence on the court was doing more harm than good to the team, Rockets head coach Rick Adelman and the medical trainers decided to sit McGrady down for the rest of the game.

T-Mac finished the game with just three points on 1 for 10 shooting from the field.

"Doctors, coaches and trainers saw how I was moving out there and decided to shut me down," said McGrady after the game. "Playing on one leg like that when you're putting so much pressure on that leg, the leg that feels good, there is a chance that you can injure that leg. And that basically is why they decided to take me out of the ball game."

Orlando outscored the Rockets 27 to 22 in the third period. Magic center Dwight scored seven points in the quarter; and, point guard Jameer Nelson sliced up the Rockets' porous defense with seven points, too.

The Rockets trailed the Magic 71 to 62 at the end of the third quarter.

Orlando led by as many as 13 points early in the fourth quarter; however, the Rockets trimmed their deficit to six (82 to 76) with 7:06 remaining in the game. The Magic up the lead to 11 again (87 to 76) with 4:01 left on the game clock.

Then, the Rockets woke up; and, Orlando's offense bogged down.

Bonzi Wells started the Rockets' run with a slam dunk. Yao Ming converted a tough three point play to pull the Rockets within five (89 to 84) at the 1:43 mark of the game.

Howard split two free throws; then, Rockets guard Rafer Alston scored a driving lay-up to pull within four points. Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu nailed a tough three-point shot to put the Rockets behind 93 to 86 with just 1:14 remaining. Bonzi Wells hit a long two-point jumper to move the Rockets within five points. Turkoglu missed a driving lay-up which was rebounded by Yao Ming. Yao hit two free throws to make the score 93 to 90 Orlando. Alston hit two free throws for a 93 to 92 score with 12.9 seconds remaining. Dooling swished two free throws to put the Magic ahead 95 to 92.

Time-out Rockets with 12.3 seconds remaining.

The Rockets failed to get off a good shot with a legit chance of tying the score.

Adelman summed up the Rockets pretty well.

"I'm disappointed in the loss but not in the effort our guys gave. If you look at the stat sheet from the first half, we defended them well...we had 17 offensive rebounds and 22 assists. We did the whole thing, but we couldn't make a shot. It seemed like it just went through the whole team. To our guys credit, when we got down in the fourth (quarter), they didn't quit. There's no easy way."

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."

Rockets Miss 'Throws' but Win

The Houston Rockets topped the Detroit Pisotns 80 to 77 Wednesday night in front of 17,453 fans. The game was very bizarre. The Rockets (12 - 11) shot 6 for 22 from the free throw line. Yes, that's right 6 for 22! At one point, the Rockets missed 13 consecutive free throws.

Yao Ming (3 for 6) missed three free throws. Tracy McGrady (0 for 5) wasn't even close on most of his five attempts. Bonzi Wells shot an awful 2 for 9. Luther Head shot 1 for 2. Head made the Rockets' first free throw during the second quarter. Then, the team missed 13 straight foul shots.

"That was crazy but at some point those things even out. That was unbelievable.", said Chauncey Billups, Pistons starting point guard, about the Rockets' free throw shooting.

"It was amazing. I don't think I've seen anything like it. It was like they were helping us and were on our side.", said Pistons forward Antonio McDyess.

The Rockets' woeful free throw shooting kept the Pistons in the ball game because Detroit was having similar problems making shots from the field.

Detroit (15 - 7) shot 27.3% (12 for 44) in the first half.

Houston led 38 to 33 at halftime as both teams struggled to make shots from anywhere on the court.

McGrady got hot during the early minutes of the third quarter with eight quick points; and, the Rockets increased their lead to 14 (51 to 37) with 8:15 left in the period; however, then, the Rockets' offense went cold while Detroit's offense finally woke up from its first half slumber. Detroit shot 10 for 17 during the third quarter and finished the period with an 18 to 6 run to trim the Rockets' lead to 57 to 55 at the end of three.

Detroit continued the run during the fourth quarter to take a 63 to 61 lead with 8:12 left in the ball game; but, Bonzi Wells tied the game with two made free throws (out of four). Rafer Alston gave the Rockets a three point lead with a three-point basket. The Rockets outscored the Pistons 12 to 0 over a three minutes and 15 second stretch; but, Detroit would not go away.

Pistons' guard Richard Hamilton drained a three-pointer to cut the Rockets lead to seven (73 to 66) with 3:52 remaining.

The two teams traded baskets for the next two minutes; and, the Rockets led 79 to 71 with 1:58 left in the game. However, Pistons' center Rasheed Wallace swished a three-point shot; then, after a turnover by Yao Ming, Hamilton made his second three-point shot of the game to narrow the Rockets' lead to two points (79 to 77) with 68 seconds remaining. Hamilton's basket was the last basket of the game for the Pistons as the Pistons missed one shot to tie the game and two shots to go ahead 80 to 79.

After a missed three-point shot by Billups, Yao Ming grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Rasheed Wallace with 0.8 seconds on the game clock. Yao missed the first foul shot; but, he made the second.

Despite many people believing Yao should have missed the second attempt, Rockets' head coach Rick Adelman was glad Yao made the second free throw.

"I'm just glad the second one at the end went in."

The Pistons called a 20-second time-out to design a play and move the ball to the frontcourt.

However, Antonio McDyess badly missed a desperation three-point shot at the buzzer. McDyess was trying to draw a foul with the shot attempt; but, the referees weren't buying it.

"The first option was for Chauncey, but on the switch it was for Rip (Hamilton), but he was covered and I was the last option. I don't usually shoot three's."

"We did a poor job of shooting free throws," said McGrady after the game. "It's unexplainable, 5 of 21. Yao missed his first two and I was zero for five. It was pretty bad tonight, so for us to come out with this win tonight, it's just really unexplainable."

Sixers Rout Rockets

I didn't watch much of Monday's butt-kicking the Rockets (11 - 11) received from the lowly Philadelphia 76ers because I was working late.

The final score, Philly 100, Rockets 88, does not tell the tale of just how thorough the beat down was; but, check out some of the comments from the Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen's article on the game:

For the second time in as many days, the Rockets lacked the fortitude to handle a tough stretch. And after a second-consecutive game, Yao Ming lamented what had become of the Rockets.
"When you are soft yourself, everything will feel tough," Yao said. "It's not because they are so tough. It's because of how soft we are."

It gets worse:

Until the fourth quarter, when Adelman benched his starters to play a group with ample reason to be hungry, the most emotion the Rockets demonstrated came with a brief shouting match between Shane Battier and Mike James.

Andre Miller had stripped James four minutes into the second half, sending Andre Iguodola on his way to a dunk-contest-worthy slam that inspired Battier to bark at James, presumably for standing in the backcourt watching. James shouted back at Battier. Battier later called it a "miscommunication. We got our wires crossed."

And finally, words from Tracy McGrady, sum up the current state of the Rockets:

"Just not playing hard, not playing smart, just, I don't know, man, we look discombobulated out there in all areas," McGrady said. "We really look like a team that doesn't have any identity, doesn't know how to play the game. It was really bad. If we continue to play that way, the results are going to continue to be the same as the last two games."

Wow! Those words sure seem like they've been spoken by someone playing on a team who has lost a lot more than just two games in a row.

Rockets Collapse in Toronto

Scoring 11 points in twelve minutes is not a good way to win a basketball game.

Sunday afternoon, the Houston Rockets (11 - 10) scored 11 points in the third quarter versus the Toronto Raptors. Those awful twelve minutes erased a 45 to 34 Rockets halftime lead.

Toronto (11 - 10) outscored the Rockets 28 to 11 in the period; and, continued attacking Houston in the fourth quarter to finish the game with a 93 to 80 Raptors' victory.

Rockets' guard Rafer Alston did not play in the game due to an injured game; so, Steve Francis started his first game of this season.

The office did not run smoothly in the second half at all. Houston's ball movement was slow; the players' were too close to each other which meant the Raptors' players could quickly double team the post and recover to their man on kick outs.

Yao Ming took only 10 shots -- in the entire game!

The Rockets' defense was just as inept. Despite shooting only 41.9% (36 for 86), the Raptors grabbed 18 offensive rebounds to keep possessions alive which seemed to zap Houston's heart in the second half.

Check out the box score.

The numbers are not pretty.

Rockets win; UT and UH in H-town

The Rockets upped their record to 11 and 9 Friday night with a solid 96 to 89 road win over the New Jersey Nets.

Yao Ming (25) and Tracy McGrady (24) combined for 49 points in the game. Yao also added 11 rebounds and five assists while T-Mac dished out six dimes.

The Rockets led the Nets from start to finish -- thanks to draining six of their first eight three point shot attempts.

The Nets didn't give up and trimmed Houston's lead to nine points with six and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter; however, Yao Ming helped push the lead back to 15; and, despite the Nets' turning the final few minutes into a foul fest, the Rockets were never in serious trouble.

Next up for the Rocks: a trip north of the border to play the Toronto Raptors, Sunday, December 9. Tip - off is at 11:30 am CST.


Longhorns and Cougars in H-town Saturday Night

The 4th-ranked Texas Longhorns and the 8 and 1 Houston Cougars are in Houston tonight; however, the teams will not be facing each other. Instead, both teams will be facing inferior opponents.

Texas will play the banged up and undermanned Rice Owls at 7pm in Toyota Center while the Cougars continue their eight game home stand against mid-major (and lower) level teams and host Southern University at Hofheinz Pavilion also at 7pm. (Yes, I know Kentucky comes to the HOF on December 18; but, that's one national power team out of eight!)

Neither game is expected to be close.

I don't blame Rice for scheduling the Longhorns; but, come on people in charge, WAKE UP! Whatever the excuses (and that's what they are -- excuses not reasons), it's ridiculous UH and Texas don't play each other on the basketball court on a regular basis.

Rockets Ground Grizzlies by 13

The Houston Rockets got a much needed victory Wednesday night over the defenseless Memphis Grizzlies 105 to 92. The win stopped a two-game slide for the Rockets (10 - 9) and sends the Rockets on the road with some positive vibes.

"It was a game we had to win before we went on the road," said Rick Adelman, Rockets head coach. "I thought we played well. Tracy was obviously good. I thought Yao was good. Luis and Bonzi were really good for a lift off the bench. It was solid win for us."

Despite making only 7 of his 22 field goal attempts, Tracy McGrady recorded his first career triple-double as a Houston Rockets player. T-Mac finished the game with 17 points; 10 rebounds; and 12 assists.

Yao Ming scored 24 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. Yao also added four blocked shots.

Bonzi Wells added 24 points while Luis Scola scored 16 points.

Both teams began the game in a fog; but, the Rockets began knocking down shots toward the end of the first period to lead 24 to 20 after 12 minutes.

Wells took full advantage of Memphis' guard Kyle Lowry trying to defend him in the second quarter. Wells posted Lowry at will and, despite Lowry's feeble attempts to front and / or stay with Bonzi in the post, Wells scored 12 points (6 for 8) in the second period.

"When guys have a mismatch, we like to give them the ball," said Wells. "And when they double team, we like to pass out and give guys shots. That's what happened today."

Luis Scola capitalized on the slimmer (and softer) Grizzlies front court players and scored 12 points in the second quarter. Memphis was without the enigmatic Stromile Swift (stomach virus) and Darko Milicic (ankle); so, Andre Brown and Hakim Warrick played in the second period.

The Rockets led 55 to 42 at halftime. The third quarter was free flowing. Neither team played much defense. Memphis shot 12 for 21 from the field while the Rockets shot 12 for 22. The Rockets led 85 to 71 at the end of three.

Memphis pulled within 10 points (90 to 80) early in the fourth quarter; but, a 7 to 0 run put the game away.

The Rockets outscored the Grizzlies 58 to 32 in the paint. The 58 points are a season-high for the Rockets for points in the paint.

The Rockets shot 50.6% (44 for 87) from the field for the game; and dished out 25 assists to only nine turnovers.

Shane Battier scored 13 points; but, more importantly, Battier blocked three shots which helped the Rockets set a season best for blocked shots with 11.

"If we can continue to have that type of balance throughout the season," McGrady said after the game. "It makes us a great team. We really don't have to rely on me and Yao for forty-eight minutes. If felt good to see Shane knock down those three pointers like he was knocking down last year. It was good to see Bonzi hit lay ups. It was just good to see those guys have some confidence out on the basketball court and not really have an explosive offensive game for myself."

Coogs Top Toledo 67-56

Robert McKiver, Dion Dowell and Marcus Cousin combined for 43 points to lead the University of Houston to a 67-56 victory over Toledo Tuesday night in Hofheinz Pavilion.


Despite 20 turnovers, the Cougars won their seventh straight game and improved their overall record to 8 - 1 this season.

The Cougars will try for their eighth straight win against Southern University this Saturday at Hofhienz Pavilion. The game tips off at 7:05pm.

UH's Fluff Shares Weekly Honor
On December 3, Conference USA announced that Houston senior guard Robert "Fluff" McKiver and UAB sophomore forward Walter Sharpe share this week's Conference USA Player of the Week honors for games through Dec. 2, as selected by a media panel covering the league.

McKiver and Sharpe both earned their first honor of the season as each led their respective team to a pair of non-conference victories during the week. Houston is currently riding a six-game win streak and UAB has won four in a row.

Howard and Jackson Named Players of the Week

The Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard and the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Jackson were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 26 through Sunday, Dec. 2.

Howard led the Magic to a 3-1 week, averaging 23.8 points and 15.3 rebounds in 38.8 minutes. On Nov. 28 at Seattle, Howard tallied a career-high 39 points, to go along with 16 rebounds and five blocks. Howard recorded his eighth career 20-point/20-rebound game on Nov. 30 at Phoenix scoring 30 points and grabbing 23 rebounds. This is Howard’s second Player of the Week nod this season.

Jackson led the Warriors to a 4-0 week averaging 23.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.8 steals in 41.5 minutes. The Warriors are 8-1 in the nine games since Jackson’s return to the team, after going 1-6 without him. On the defensive end, at Houston on Nov. 29, Jackson helped limit Tracy McGrady to 11 points (15 points under his average entering that game) and helped hold Kevin Durant to six points (14.4 points under his average entering that game) at Seattle on Dec. 2.

NBA November Awards

I know this news is a couple of days old; but, hey, that's okay:

On December 3, the NBA announced the award winners of the players; coaches; and rookies of November.

Players of the Month
The Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard and the Utah Jazz’s Carlos Boozer were named Eastern Conference and Western Conference Players of the Month.

Howard averaged 23.8 points on .618 shooting and a league-high 15.0 rebounds while leading the Magic to a 14-4 record. Howard recorded an NBA-best 15 double-doubles and scored 30 or more points six times, including a career-high 39 in a 110-94 win on Nov. 28 in Seattle.

Boozer ranked third in scoring (25.4 ppg) and tied for eighth in rebounds (11.2 rpg) while helping the Jazz to an 11-5 start. Boozer scored at least 30 points six times and posted 12 double-doubles, including six straight to open the season.

Coaches of the Month
The Boston Celtics’ Doc Rivers and the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in October and November.

Rivers guided the Celtics to a 13-2 (.867) record last month, including eight straight wins to open the season. Boston outscored opponents by a 13.7 ppg margin while holding teams to a .410 field goal percentage.

Popovich led the Spurs to a 14-3 (.824) record in October and November, tying the franchise record for best start after 17 games, last accomplished in 2005-06.


Rookies of the Month
The Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford and the Seattle SuperSonics’ Kevin Durant were named the Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month, respectively, for games played from the start of the season (Oct. 30) through November.

Horford, averaged 8.7 points and 10.2 rebounds for the month. He leads all rookies in rebounds, while ranking second in steals and minutes. Horford also had eight double-digit rebound games, four double-digit scoring games and one double-double. In addition, he leads the Hawks in rebounds, while ranking second in blocks and field goal percentage, and is fifth in scoring.

Among rookie qualifiers, Durant ranks first in the league in scoring with 20.4 points per game, fifth in rebounding with 4.4, and first in assists with 2.1. He is also ranked second in the league in free throw percentage with .816 and third in steals. In addition, Durant also posted a pair of career highs in points with 35 and blocks with three on Nov. 30. vs. Indiana.

Rockets end trip 2-2 with loss to Kings

Basketball is not brain surgery nor is it quantum physics.

Fans who saw Saturday's 107 - 99 Rockets loss to the Sacramento Kings can voice their opinions through various Internet outlets and discuss how a road trip went from successful (with a 2 and 0 start) to a disappointing 2 and 2 trip in almost the blink of an eye.

I'm not a fan. I'm a member of the media; however, since I'm not yet to the point where I can cover road games and conduct interviews, I'll discuss what I saw from the game.

Many people know the Rockets need to be more than a two-player (T-Mac and Yao Ming) in order to be successful. McGrady (40) and Yao (29) combined to score 69 of the Rockets' 99 points versus Sacto. The rest of the team combined to shoot just 13 for 37 from the field.

Obviously, in order to win a team must score more than the opponent; so, if the Rockets scored 99 points and still lost by eight points, then defense was the problem.

The Rockets' perimeter defense was horrible. The Kings ran pick-and-rolls (even without Yao involved in the defending) and sliced through the Rockets' defense throughout the second half. Kings' players Beno Udrih, Ron Artest, Kevin Martin, John Salmons went into attack mode and the Rockets' defense went into submissive mode.

Since starting the season 6 and 1, the Rockets are 3 and 8. In five of those eight losses, the Rockets allowed more than 100 points.

Despite the constant scoring inconsistency of any Rockets' players not named Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady, the defense needs to improve in order for the Rockets to accomplish anything worthwhile this season.