Rockets put Pistons Away in Fourth

Posted: January 17, 2012 -- 10:50pm CST.

HOUSTON, TX – Samuel Dalembert led a balanced Rockets scoring attack; grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds; and held Greg Monroe thirteen points below his average Tuesday night in the Houston Rockets 97-80 victory in front of a sparse crowd of 9,318 fans.

Dalembert and Luis Scola each scored 14 points as a total of six Rockets players reached double-digits in points versus the woeful Pistons (3-11).

The Rockets improve to 7-7 with the victory.

"It was a big win for us. It gets us back to .500," said head coach Kevin McHale. "I told our guys 'That the schedule we had to start off the year was brutal.'

"I didn't know whether we'd get back to .500; and, we got back to .500 pretty quickly -- after 14 games. I was really proud of the guys."

Both teams had difficulty keeping possession of the basketball. The Rockets turned the ball over 21 times while the Pistons played hot potato and fumbled the ball away 20 times.

The Pistons scored the first two points of the game; but, Kevin Martin tied the game with a 17-foot jumper and Dalembert's dunk put the Rockets ahead to stay.

The Rockets made 13 of 19 (68.4%) field goal attempts in the first quarter but only led the Pistons by eight (28-20) at the end of the period.

Neither team played well in the second stanza. The Rockets made just 8 of 23 shots and turned the ball over six times; but, the Pistons 9 for 24 shooting only trimmed one point off the Rockets first quarter lead. The Rockets led the Pistons 47-40 at halftime.

The Rockets' lead dwindled to three points twice in the third quarter; but, Dalembert and Scola combined for six points during an 10-0 run to boost the lead to 13 points.

Detroit's Rodney Stuckey rattled in a three-point basket to trim the Rockets lead to only six (70-64) with 10:04 remaining in the game; however, five different Rockets scored during an 17-6 run to put the game away.

"Detroit got it down to six," McHale said. "But, Goran (Dragic) made a steal and Sammy made a jump shot to open the flood gates."

Pistons' head coach Lawrence Frank credited Dalembert for limiting center Greg Monroe to four points (2 for 9 shooting).

"You have to give Dalembert credit," said coach Frank. "I've known Sam a long time when he was in Philadelphia. It takes guys a little bit to figure him out -- and not that once you figure him out, it's easy -- but, this is Greg's second year in the NBA. These are good challenges."

Luis Scola gave credit to Dalembert as well.

"Sam is a big part of our getting better," Scola added. "He has been playing great. He is rebounding the ball, playing defense, blocking shots and he is playing good offense too. So, he is doing well for us."

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