Rockets Roll By Blazers
Monday night, the Houston Rockets shifted into a higher gear and defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 95 to 83. Houston led by as many as 18 points in the game.
Yao Ming led all scorers with 25 points. For the first time this season, all five Rockets' starters scored in double-figures.
Rafer Alston scored 17 points; dished out seven assists; and pulled down five rebounds.
Tracy McGrady added 12 points; six assists; and four rebounds.
Shane Battier and Luis Scola each scored 11 points.
Battier did a solid job defending Portland's Brandon Roy throughout the game. Roy finisihed the game with 15 points; but, he made just five of his 13 field goal attempts.
"He just keeps working," said Rick Adelman of Battier. "It's gotta be a combination of things, obviously. This (Portland) team plays about as many pick and rolls as anybody in the league and he (Shane) is really good at it. He (Brandon Roy) is really good at the pick and roll but I think Shane just keeps making it work. He really follows the defensive plan and I think that is probably the key. He knows this is where I want him and where I want to send him and he should have help when he does that."
Portland was led by LaMarcus Aldridrige's 22 points. Aldridge attempted 26 shots and made just 10.
The Blazers led the Rockets 24 to 18 after the first quarter; and, Portland led for much of the second period before the Rockets used a 7 to 2 run to lead 44 to 43 at halftime.
Rafer Alston scored 13 points in the third quarter to help the Rockets outscore the Blazers 25 to 19 in the period.
“Well, we came out with a little more energy than we did to start the game," Alston said. "It helped us get up and down the floor and move the ball. We had so much energy to help us put forth the effort in the third quarter.”
The Rockets' defense keyed a 15 to 6 run in the fourth quarter to increase the lead to 18 (86 to 68) with 4:45 remaining in the game.
"We picked it up in the second half defensively," said Tracy McGrady. "We were kind of going through the motions in the first half. They were getting every shot they wanted and we came out with a different focus and a different intensity in the second half. We kind of got after them a little bit."
"Battier is a very good defender and he made Brandon work hard all game," said Blazers head coach Nate McMillan. "He does a very good job defensively. Shane's energy is used to take out one of the top scorers each game. He has the freedom to really gamble with Yao back inside, and he made some big defensive plays against us."
Brandon Roy added, "He does a very good job of staying close to me all game. He's a hard worker and a very tough guy. He's one of the best defenders in the NBA."
The win is the seventh straight for the Rockets which stands as the team's longest winning streak since the 2004-05 Rockets captured their final seven games of that season (4/7/05-4/20/05). The Rockets have won 11 of their last 12 games.
Yao Ming led all scorers with 25 points. For the first time this season, all five Rockets' starters scored in double-figures.
Rafer Alston scored 17 points; dished out seven assists; and pulled down five rebounds.
Tracy McGrady added 12 points; six assists; and four rebounds.
Shane Battier and Luis Scola each scored 11 points.
Battier did a solid job defending Portland's Brandon Roy throughout the game. Roy finisihed the game with 15 points; but, he made just five of his 13 field goal attempts.
"He just keeps working," said Rick Adelman of Battier. "It's gotta be a combination of things, obviously. This (Portland) team plays about as many pick and rolls as anybody in the league and he (Shane) is really good at it. He (Brandon Roy) is really good at the pick and roll but I think Shane just keeps making it work. He really follows the defensive plan and I think that is probably the key. He knows this is where I want him and where I want to send him and he should have help when he does that."
Portland was led by LaMarcus Aldridrige's 22 points. Aldridge attempted 26 shots and made just 10.
The Blazers led the Rockets 24 to 18 after the first quarter; and, Portland led for much of the second period before the Rockets used a 7 to 2 run to lead 44 to 43 at halftime.
Rafer Alston scored 13 points in the third quarter to help the Rockets outscore the Blazers 25 to 19 in the period.
“Well, we came out with a little more energy than we did to start the game," Alston said. "It helped us get up and down the floor and move the ball. We had so much energy to help us put forth the effort in the third quarter.”
The Rockets' defense keyed a 15 to 6 run in the fourth quarter to increase the lead to 18 (86 to 68) with 4:45 remaining in the game.
"We picked it up in the second half defensively," said Tracy McGrady. "We were kind of going through the motions in the first half. They were getting every shot they wanted and we came out with a different focus and a different intensity in the second half. We kind of got after them a little bit."
"Battier is a very good defender and he made Brandon work hard all game," said Blazers head coach Nate McMillan. "He does a very good job defensively. Shane's energy is used to take out one of the top scorers each game. He has the freedom to really gamble with Yao back inside, and he made some big defensive plays against us."
Brandon Roy added, "He does a very good job of staying close to me all game. He's a hard worker and a very tough guy. He's one of the best defenders in the NBA."
The win is the seventh straight for the Rockets which stands as the team's longest winning streak since the 2004-05 Rockets captured their final seven games of that season (4/7/05-4/20/05). The Rockets have won 11 of their last 12 games.
posted by Kris Gardner @ 9:16 AM
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