Rockets Take Advantage of Woeful Warriors
HOUSTON, TX -- The Golden State Warriors are a good tonic for what ails a struggling team. The Rockets took advantage of what the Warriors' call defense and picked up a 119-97 victory in front of an announced crowd of 12,845 fans.
Trevor Ariza scored 14 points in the first quarter; and, the Rockets (26-22) led by as much as 21 points (33-12) in the opening period which seemed to indicate a rout was just beginning.
Not quite. The Warriors (13-34) finished the first quarter outscoring the Rockets 13 to 6 and trailed by a more manageable 14 points (39-25) at the end of the opening 12 minutes. The 39 points were a season-high for the Rockets in the first quarter.
Monta Ellis scored 11 points in the first period; but, he heated up in the second stanza and dropped in 16 points on 6 for 10 field goal shooting.
The Rockets fumbled the ball away eight times in the second period; and, Ellis drained a three-point shot to pull the Warriors within one point (50-49) with 2:17 left in the half.
Aaron Brooks scored six points during a 9-0 run as the Rockets were able to finish the shaky second quarter on a positive note and take a 59-49 lead into halftime.
"I thought the biggest part of the game was the last two minutes of the second quarter," Rick Adelman said. "When we went from one up to ten up going into halftime.
"Overall, it's a win we really needed to go into this weekend. Glad, we got it."
The Rockets extended the run with a 9-2 burst at the start of the third period capped off by a three-point basket by Shane Battier. Houston led 68-51 after Battier's three-pointer.
The Rockets led 83-68 at the end of the third quarter.
Chase Budinger (14 points) and Carl Landry (12 points) dominated the fourth quarter with a combined 26 points. They combined to shoot 10-for-10 in the quarter.
The Rockets shot 60.9% (14 for 23) from the field in the period and led by as much as 28 points (117-89) in the quarter.
Monta Ellis started the fourth quarter with 34 points. Ellis finished the quarter with 34 points. Ellis played the first two plus minutes of the period and sat the rest of the quarter as the Rockets cruised to the win.
The Rockets, yes, the Rockets, out rebounded the Warriors 57 to 35.
"We felt that that's something we could do at both ends of the court," said Rick Adelman. "We hurt them the first two games on the boards. We wanted to make them a jump shooting team. If we did that, they are not a great offensive rebounding team; so, we should control it and that's what we wanted to do.
"When you're playing a team like this, your concentration has to be consistent. There were three or four times where we tried to go for steals in the backcourt; and, that opens it up in the transition game. You can't do that."
Adelman added, "Overall, it's a win that we really needed to go into this weekend. Glad, we got it."
Trevor Ariza scored 14 points in the first quarter; and, the Rockets (26-22) led by as much as 21 points (33-12) in the opening period which seemed to indicate a rout was just beginning.
Not quite. The Warriors (13-34) finished the first quarter outscoring the Rockets 13 to 6 and trailed by a more manageable 14 points (39-25) at the end of the opening 12 minutes. The 39 points were a season-high for the Rockets in the first quarter.
Monta Ellis scored 11 points in the first period; but, he heated up in the second stanza and dropped in 16 points on 6 for 10 field goal shooting.
The Rockets fumbled the ball away eight times in the second period; and, Ellis drained a three-point shot to pull the Warriors within one point (50-49) with 2:17 left in the half.
Aaron Brooks scored six points during a 9-0 run as the Rockets were able to finish the shaky second quarter on a positive note and take a 59-49 lead into halftime.
"I thought the biggest part of the game was the last two minutes of the second quarter," Rick Adelman said. "When we went from one up to ten up going into halftime.
"Overall, it's a win we really needed to go into this weekend. Glad, we got it."
The Rockets extended the run with a 9-2 burst at the start of the third period capped off by a three-point basket by Shane Battier. Houston led 68-51 after Battier's three-pointer.
The Rockets led 83-68 at the end of the third quarter.
Chase Budinger (14 points) and Carl Landry (12 points) dominated the fourth quarter with a combined 26 points. They combined to shoot 10-for-10 in the quarter.
The Rockets shot 60.9% (14 for 23) from the field in the period and led by as much as 28 points (117-89) in the quarter.
Monta Ellis started the fourth quarter with 34 points. Ellis finished the quarter with 34 points. Ellis played the first two plus minutes of the period and sat the rest of the quarter as the Rockets cruised to the win.
The Rockets, yes, the Rockets, out rebounded the Warriors 57 to 35.
"We felt that that's something we could do at both ends of the court," said Rick Adelman. "We hurt them the first two games on the boards. We wanted to make them a jump shooting team. If we did that, they are not a great offensive rebounding team; so, we should control it and that's what we wanted to do.
"When you're playing a team like this, your concentration has to be consistent. There were three or four times where we tried to go for steals in the backcourt; and, that opens it up in the transition game. You can't do that."
Adelman added, "Overall, it's a win that we really needed to go into this weekend. Glad, we got it."
posted by Kris G @ 10:36 PM
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