Despite Rockets's Hack-A-Drummond strategy, Rockets lose to Pistons

Posted: January 20, 2016 -- 11:15 pm CDT.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Houston Rockets' best defense Wednesday was intentionally fouling Detroit Pistons' center Andre Drummond. Drummond did his part by missing an NBA-record 23 of his 36 free throw attempts; however, the Rockets were unable to keep the Pistons from scoring 123 points in a 123-114 Rockets' loss.

Dwight Howard was injured 55 seconds into the ball on a collision with teammate Ty Lawson. Howard injured his left ankle; and, after getting his ankle re-taped and attempting to return to the game, the the medical staff decided Howard was unable to return to the game.

With Howard out of the ball game, the Rockets' defense in the first quarter suffered. The Pistons (23-19) scored 12 points in the paint and made 5 of 10 three point attempts to lead 33-23 after the first period.

"It was a huge difference (with Dwight out of the game)," J.B. Bickerstaff said. "The way he has been playing for us. He's been impressive. He's been dominant; so, you miss that and your rotations are going to become shorter -- especially playing against a guy like Drummond. You need another body out there to bang and rebound with him and keep him off the glass. So, we missed Dwight."

After making just 1 of their first 9 field goals in the second quarter, Rockets' Ty Lawson sparked a surge with 10 points in the quarter on 4 of 5 field goal shooting. The Rockets (22-22) outscored the Pistons 24-23 in the quarter and trailed 56-47 at halftime.

The third quarter was one for the ages. Rockets' guard K.J. McDaniels fouled Drummond 5 times in the first 10 seconds of the quarter. With the Pistons in the penalty, the Rockets continued fouling Drummond to send him to the free throw line. Drummond attempted 16 free throws in 2 minutes and 38 seconds and made just 5 of the foul shots.

The Pistons took Drummond out of the game with 9:22 remaining in the third quarter.

While Drummond was clanging free throws, the Rockets erased their deficit with a 17-5 run to lead 64-61 with 7:58 remaining in the third quarter.

However, with the Rockets already in the free throw bonus and with so much time remaining in the third quarter, the Pistons attacked the Rockets' defense and outscored the Rockets 20-9 over the next 8 minutes to lead 81-73 at the 1:27 mark of the quarter.

At the end of three quarters, the Rockets trailed 85-79.

The Rockets scored the first five points of the fourth period; but, the Pistons responded with a 14-2 for a 99-86 lead. The Pistons' lead grew to 17 points (111-94) -- despite more intentional fouls on Drummond. Drummond made 6 of 12 free throws in the fourth period.

"We couldn't get any stops to be honest," Trevor Ariza said. "When we tied the game up, they made some big shots. We just couldn't get stops."

James Harden scored 33 points, grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds and dished out a career-tying 14 assists for the seventh triple-double of his career. Tonight's loss is the first game the Rockets have lost when Harden posted a triple-double.

Over the past two games, the Rockets are allowing 131.5 points per game after opponents averaged 96.5 points per game the seven previous games.

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