PrintRockets Lower The Boom On Thunder
Defense comes through again in low-scoring affair
Adjust Font Size
RSS NEWS FEED
Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer
Click here to listen to postgame interview with Rafer Alston - Rest of Rockets postgame show can be found here:
HOUSTON - Frustrated after a first half which saw his team struggle with turnovers and poor shooting, Shane Battier jokingly remarked at halftime that, "This game is putting me to sleep."
Thankfully, the Rockets woke up - and presumably stirred their nattily-attired teammate - just in time.
With its offense MIA for most of the night, Houston once again leaned on its suffocating defense to pull out an 89-77 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Tracy McGrady led the way with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, but even T-Mac wasn't immune to the sloppy play which infected the evening - he also committed a game-high 5 turnovers.
"I thought that we didn't play very smart offensively," said coach Rick Adelman after the game. "We just didn't move well without the ball... We seemed to want to do everything off the dribble, with one guy dribbling and we weren't setting picks. I don't know if we were being lazy or what, but we just can't play that way."
Brent Barry didn't mince words when discussing the state of the offense, either: "Our defense is decent right now but, offensively, we can’t fool ourselves into thinking we can just rely on the talent we have to win basketball games. That may work against the lower third of the league, but when you play against good teams, when there’s no execution then you become the executed. That’s just the way it works in this league, so we’ve got a long way to go on that end of the floor."
Why so much fretting over the offense? The Rockets' first half numbers tell the tale: 42 points, 8 turnovers, a 32.5% shooting percentage from the field and a measly one point lead - all this against an Oklahoma City team which only won 20 games last season.
But Houston finally started to make its move about midway through the third quarter. Ron Artest (10 points, 5 rebounds) hit a three-pointer at the 5:47 mark to give the Rockets a 5 point lead, and pointed toward the stands on his way back down the court, basking in the game's first real explosion from the fans.
Then Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry keyed a 9-0 Houston run early in the fourth quarter as the Rockets finally established a comfortable cushion. Their defense took over from there, silencing the Thunder for the rest of the evening.
And 1's: Looking for a bright spot on offense? The Rockets continue to be red-hot from the free throw line. Houston hit 27-of-31 from the charity stripe against Oklahoma City, as the Rockets are now a remarkable 77-of-87 (88.5%) from the line this season.
Notes & Quotes
RICK ADELMAN
(on the team's overall play) " I thought that we didn't play very smart offensively. We turned it over too many times and in the first half it just seemed like we were content to take the first option and force the play if it wasn't there and not move the ball. We had three or four spurts during the course of the game, and as soon as we had a spurt we let them come right back at us.
AARON BROOKS
We’ve got a lot of stuff we need to work on. I don’t think our intensity is where it needs to be. But we better work on it fast because we’ve got Boston coming up.
RAFER ALSTON
(on the 3-0 start of the season) "We will have to play with more energy. We gotta run both ends of the floor and take care of the basketball. We gotta move our bodies and move the basketball. We have to rebound better. We have to shoot the ball better, things like that. We have to get in here the next two days and understand that we have a team coming in here that has really handed it to us the last three to four times that we have played them."
TRACY MCGRADY
(on playing with the same level of intensity) "It's really not hard because we really strive in this locker room for greatness. Tonight was one of those nights where we couldn't find the rhythm. It was an ugly game. We found a way to push ourselves through it and get a comfortable lead we needed."
(on the depth of the bench) "In order for us to be a great team, that's what we are going to need. Our starters are getting a lot more rest this year. Our bench is a little bit more confident this year. They're playing with a great deal of energy and it is really good to have that. We are going to need that down the stretch this season."
RON ARTEST
(on the Rockets taking control in the 4th quarter) "It was a defensive game today. That's the beauty of having a team that has big time players and a great bunch of other guys together because in games where you're going to be off, somebody will be on. In the fourth quarter, we were just solid tonight and some nights you're going to be solid. We had some turnovers that we wish we could take back but for the most party, our defense was good."
(on his strategy for guarding players) " When the game starts, you haven't seen these guys in awhile so you don't know how they are playing or if they've improved on their game. You try to feel them out at the beginning of the season and sometimes you've got to treat Kevin Durant like he's Michael Jordan. You've got to play him like that. For the most part, he (Durant) played great. You've got to treat every player like they're Jordan."
YAO MING
(on the Rockets play in the 4th quarter) "This game was very similiar to the home opener against Memphis. For whatever reason, we were not making shots and we struggled on defense. We let them (Thunder) come back and we were not really focused out there. In the fourth quarter, I think everybody realized that if we don't pick it up right now then the game will slip away from us. They (Thunder) had really good ball movement. Their transition game was their strength so we were trying to force them to play half court and that's how we had success in the fourth quarter."
(on the physical play of the game) " It was what I am used to."
THUNDER COACH P.J CARLESIMO
(on the game) “ There were a lot of good things but we couldn't make our shots. They are too good of a team and they really hurt us defensively. We had a lot of open looks but we didn't make our shots. Their bigs did a really good job. Landry gave them a boost and really hurt us on the boards. We played enough to win but not against a team as good as Houston, in Houston.
(on his team's play) “If we continue to play the way we played tonight, we'll be fine. We had too many fouls and some bad turnovers. Defensively, for the most part, we did a real good job. We can't get beat up like that on the boards.
EARL WATSON
(on the game) “They played well and they beat us at the free throw line. We will eventually make our shots, but we didn't tonight.
(on the team's defensive play) 'It all started in practice and how hard we played defen
We have to learn to manufacture points and take our defense to the next level.
(on Artest's addition to the Rockets) “He's been a winner since I've know him. He won in high school, college and in the pros. He brings an attitude and gives h\Houston and edge that will take Houston to another level.
KEVIN DURANT
(on the game) “We played hard and our defense was good, but we needed to make more shots. We tried to double down on Yao as much as we could and it led to some steals.
(on playing against Tracy McGrady) “To play against Tracy McGrady is an honor. Ive always followed his career and looked up to him. Chasing a guy around like T-Mac is always tough and it takes a lot out of you.
(on playing against Ron Artest) “He tries to be very physical and tries to push me off my spots on the court. Ron is very hard to guard because he is so strong and he bullies over you.
NICK COLLISON
(on the team's defensive play) “Our defense is getting better but a loss is a loss. Moral victories don't feel very good.
(on the Rockets addition of Ron Artest) “He's a very tough defender because he is so big and strong. You can get a hit on him but he bounces right off it like you didn't even touch him. He is a unique defender and one of the best in the NBA.
Game Notes
Houston moved to 3-0 with an 89-77 win tonight over Oklahoma City . The Rockets have now opened the past two consecutive seasons with three wins in a row. Overall, it marks just the eighth time in team history to begin a campaign with a 3-0 record: 1978-79, 1984-85, 1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97, 2007-08 and 2008-09
The Rockets now own eight straight victories over the Thunder, which extends Houston’s longest winning streak in the history of this series (prev. best: six in a row from 3/8/05-3/29/06). The Rockets have also captured the past eight consecutive games at home over Oklahoma City.
Houston won the battle of the boards by 10 rebounds (49-39) tonight. The Rockets outrebounded their opponent by a double-digit margin 21 times last season.
Oklahoma City was 0-for-4 from 3-point range tonight. Memphis was 0-of-13 from beyond the arc at Houston (10/29/08). Smush Parker with the L.A. Clippers (4/16/08) owns the last regular season 3-pointer by a Houston opponent at Toyota Center .
The Thunder outscored the Rockets, 48-32, in the paint tonight. Their best effort against the Rockets last season was 40 points in the paint at Houston (4/9/08).
All five Houston starters reached double-digit scoring for the first time this season. The Rockets accomplished this feat just four times in 2007-08 (2/11/08 vs. Portland , 2/21/08 vs. Miami , 2/24/08 vs. Chicago and 3/19/08 at New Orleans ).
Tracy McGrady registered a team-high 22 points (9-10 FT), seven rebounds and five assists tonight. It marked McGrady’s first 20-point game in the regular season since a 22-point night at Utah (4/14/08).
Dating back to the third quarter at New Orleans (2/22/08), Yao Ming made 25 consecutive free throws (5-5 in 2007-08, 20-20 in 2008-09) before his first miss in the fourth quarter tonight. Yao, who stands as one of just nine Rockets to make at least 20 free throws in a row since 1997-98, finished with 16 points (4-5 FT) and 11 rebounds. He now has a double-double in each of the first three games this season.
Carl Landry came off the bench to record 14 points, 11 boards and two steals, matching his career high for rebounds (11 on 1/11/08 vs. Minnesota and 11 on 2/22/08 at New Orleans ). It also marked the second double-double of his career (15 points and 11 boards on 1/11/08 vs. Minnesota ).
Kevin Durant finished with 26 points, five rebounds and four steals, equaling his career high in thefts set last season against the Rockets (four steals on 4/9/08 at Houston ). Durant also had a pair of 20-point outings against the Rockets last season, netting 25 points at Seattle (1/23/08) and 26 points at Houston (4/9/08).
Johan Petro and Desmond Mason each had three blocks in tonight’s game. Mason actually tied his career high for blocks (three done twice before).
Have a question for Rockets.com? Send it to Jason Friedman via email at: jasonf@rocketball.com.
