Mavs Overwhelm Rockets by 31
HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- Wednesday night, the Houston Rockets played like they practiced on Tuesday. The Rockets lost to the Dallas Mavericks 130 to 99 Wednesday night in front of 18,157 fans. Now, you know how practice went on Tuesday.
"There wasn't any defense," said Rick Adelman, Rockets head coach after the game. "But, it's kind of the way we practiced yesterday; and, it came out today."
Ironically, the Rockets jumped out to a 15 to 2 lead; and, the Mavs looked liked they had not recovered from their fourth quarter collapse Tuesday night versus the Golden State Warriors six healthy players. However, Drew Gooden strolled down the lane for a dunk and the Mavs' offense started to percolate.After Shane Battier swished a three-point bucket, the Rockets led 25 to 13 with 5:21 left in the first quarter.
The Rockets did not score the rest of the quarter. Not one free throw. Not one field goal.
Unfortunately, the Mavs went bonkers and scored 26 straight points. After making just 3 of their first eight shots, the Mavs finished the quarter making 12 of 14 attempts. Mavs' guard Jason Terry (a.k.a. Rockets Killer) scored 10 points in the final 2:46 of the first period. Jason Kidd scored seven points during the run.
"I'm just very disappointed," Adelman added. "Five minutes to go in the first quarter on, we came to an abrupt halt and they (the Mavericks) just took over."
The Mavericks amazingly hot shooting continued in the second quarter as forward Tim Thomas drained back-to-back three-point bombs and scored two fast-break layups to put the Mavs up 46 to 29 before a suddenly stupefied crowd of Rockets fans.
The Mavericks shot 70% (14 for 20) from the field in the second quarter and 69.0% (29 for 42) in the first half.
"We were so non-aggressive. They shot almost 70 percent in the first half and we sent them to the line six times. We didn't even get close enough to them to even foul them in the first half."
The Rockets (8-7) trailed the Mavs 68 to 51 at halftime.
The Rockets outscored the Mavericks 26 to 23 in the third quarter; but, the Mavs re-focused to blast the Rockets out of the water with a 39 to 22 blitz in the final period.
Dallas (11-4) shot 68.0% (17 for 25) from the field in the final stanza and an opponents' high 65.5% (55 for 84) for the entire ball game.
"Defensively, we played terrible," said Aaron Brooks after the game. "We scored enough points to win the game; but as far as defense, we were terrible.
"Everytime we made a mistake, they hit a shot; and, we allowed that to get to us."
The Rockets' youth and inexperience playing together seems to be a growing reason for the lapses on defense.
"Defensive rotations were not sharp," said Shane Battier. "We had breakdowns all over."
Battier added, "Sometimes you get a demoralizing energy; and, when you get that energy, especially with young teams, you just become unsure of yourself and you don't play aggressively. When you don't play with aggressiveness, good teams like Dallas punish you."
Adelman hopes this blowout loss serves as a wake up call for his squad.
"Sometimes you need to get hit in the jaw to wake yourself up. I hope that's what happens. We can't play that way. There's no way we can succeed. We have to go back and work at it."
"There wasn't any defense," said Rick Adelman, Rockets head coach after the game. "But, it's kind of the way we practiced yesterday; and, it came out today."
Ironically, the Rockets jumped out to a 15 to 2 lead; and, the Mavs looked liked they had not recovered from their fourth quarter collapse Tuesday night versus the Golden State Warriors six healthy players. However, Drew Gooden strolled down the lane for a dunk and the Mavs' offense started to percolate.After Shane Battier swished a three-point bucket, the Rockets led 25 to 13 with 5:21 left in the first quarter.
The Rockets did not score the rest of the quarter. Not one free throw. Not one field goal.
Unfortunately, the Mavs went bonkers and scored 26 straight points. After making just 3 of their first eight shots, the Mavs finished the quarter making 12 of 14 attempts. Mavs' guard Jason Terry (a.k.a. Rockets Killer) scored 10 points in the final 2:46 of the first period. Jason Kidd scored seven points during the run.
"I'm just very disappointed," Adelman added. "Five minutes to go in the first quarter on, we came to an abrupt halt and they (the Mavericks) just took over."
The Mavericks amazingly hot shooting continued in the second quarter as forward Tim Thomas drained back-to-back three-point bombs and scored two fast-break layups to put the Mavs up 46 to 29 before a suddenly stupefied crowd of Rockets fans.
The Mavericks shot 70% (14 for 20) from the field in the second quarter and 69.0% (29 for 42) in the first half.
"We were so non-aggressive. They shot almost 70 percent in the first half and we sent them to the line six times. We didn't even get close enough to them to even foul them in the first half."
The Rockets (8-7) trailed the Mavs 68 to 51 at halftime.
The Rockets outscored the Mavericks 26 to 23 in the third quarter; but, the Mavs re-focused to blast the Rockets out of the water with a 39 to 22 blitz in the final period.
Dallas (11-4) shot 68.0% (17 for 25) from the field in the final stanza and an opponents' high 65.5% (55 for 84) for the entire ball game.
"Defensively, we played terrible," said Aaron Brooks after the game. "We scored enough points to win the game; but as far as defense, we were terrible.
"Everytime we made a mistake, they hit a shot; and, we allowed that to get to us."
The Rockets' youth and inexperience playing together seems to be a growing reason for the lapses on defense.
"Defensive rotations were not sharp," said Shane Battier. "We had breakdowns all over."
Battier added, "Sometimes you get a demoralizing energy; and, when you get that energy, especially with young teams, you just become unsure of yourself and you don't play aggressively. When you don't play with aggressiveness, good teams like Dallas punish you."
Adelman hopes this blowout loss serves as a wake up call for his squad.
"Sometimes you need to get hit in the jaw to wake yourself up. I hope that's what happens. We can't play that way. There's no way we can succeed. We have to go back and work at it."
posted by Kris Gardner @ 11:39 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home