PrintMagic Prove Too Tough For Rockets
Howard, Orlando overpower Houston 110-92
Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer
Houston - Some nights are about applying lessons. Others are for absorbing them.
Wednesday night offered much more of the latter for the Houston Rockets during a difficult 110-92 defeat at the hands of mighty Orlando.
The Magic showed off not just their sizable talent and depth but also an identity borne of countless games, practices and repetitions. They know what they want to do on offense and it shows in the way they swing the ball, probe the defense and find the open man. Defensively, they’re just as sound, feeding off their anchor in the middle, Dwight Howard.
Sure, it helps to have all that talent. As Rockets Head Coach Rick Adelman pointed out before the game, Orlando boasts a starting lineup featuring four All-Star caliber players. That’s one heck of a luxury for Magic coach Stan Van Gundy to have at his disposal. But the lesson Houston can learn from Orlando lies not in the Magic’s embarrassment of roster riches but in their execution. They provide a snapshot of “the process” – that seemingly mystical path all players and teams must tread on their way to sports nirvana – in its final stages; when five men form a fully functioning, perfectly synchronized unit and their movements mimic the well-honed choreography of an intricate ballet.
Following last week’s blockbuster trade, the Rockets now find themselves back near the beginning stages of their own journey toward hoops harmony. To a man, every Houston coach and player hammered home the notion that the team must adjust on the fly and discover its new identity. Does the degree of difficulty get ramped up due to the fact the club must undergo this process two-thirds of the way into the season? You betcha. But difficult does not mean impossible. It’s simply the reality of the road the Rockets have been presently assigned.
“It’s obvious we’re a team in search of a new identity,” said Shane Battier after the game. “It’s like an exhibition game for us but they count. We need guys on the same page with coverages and this is as tough a matchup as there is in the NBA playing against the Orlando Magic and trying to explain rotations and traps on the fly. But I’m confident we’ll get it, we just have to keep working and keep improving every single day.”
It sounds cliché and lacks pizzazz but Battier is right: this is nose to the grindstone, get in the gym, soak in your own sweat, repeat until you get it right stuff. Extra time must be put in by everyone. Film must be devoured. Constant communication is essential.
The good news is these Rockets have never been afraid of hard work. They’ve shown themselves willing to do whatever it takes to win. And despite the present slump, Aaron Brooks – he of the stat-stuffing 24 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds line – insists he and his teammates do not lack for faith.
Yes, the Rockets still believe and still have reason to do so as well. As ugly as their first half was Wednesday night, they came out after halftime and showed the sort of resolve they’ll require if they’re to remain in the Western Conference playoff picture. Kevin Martin went into attack mode and found his rhythm, drawing fouls and scoring 12 points in the third quarter. Better ball movement led to open 3-pointers which were knocked down. And the defense, so overmatched by Dwight Howard’s sheer size, athleticism and physicality, worked hard to force the Magic to feast on their perimeter game as often as possible. The end result: what once was a 27-point deficit got trimmed to 9 on several occasions. And though that in and of itself presents little more than the moral victories of which Houston’s players have grown tired, it still stands as proof that these Rockets are capable of much more than they have shown of late.
“That was big,” admitted Martin of his team’s second half surge. “The main word around here for me is comfortable. The more comfortable I am and the more I play with these guys the better we’ll be. That second half was much needed.
“Team-wise, that’s how we need to play to be successful and unfortunately we were playing against a great Orlando team that’s been together for awhile and has a superstar. But that second half to make our run, I think that was big for our confidence.”
Added Adelman: “We just have to figure it out. It’s not going to be easy. We’re going through a tough period and I really believe those guys in the locker room are going to come out of this but we have to just keep working at it and play through it. It’s not going to be given to you in this league. You have to go out and make it happen.”
Consider it, then, a lesson learned; one tough to swallow to be sure but a learning experience just the same. Now it's simply up to the team to get back to work so that they might apply it as soon as possible. With a must-win game looming against San Antonio Friday night, the Rockets realize they must prove to be quick studies. Sure, a crash course in chemistry is not ideal but it's the only option available to them at present. This is their path. The process awaits. And, like any journey, it begins humbly, by putting one foot in front of the other until the pace starts to quicken, the breathing begins to steady and, before long, the entire team is sprinting in lockstep to perform their very own version of the beautiful ballet.
QUOTES
RICK ADELMAN
We have to find a way to figure out how we’re going to win games now. With the changes and everything, we’re really out of sync. We came back in the third quarter and played with more aggression and a lot more confidence. But in the first half we missed shots and we got our heads down again. We played a very good team and they’ve got a big guy in the middle who we had a hard time dealing with so we just have to keep working at it. Nothing’s going to come easy.
(lack of confidence now?): Yeah, that’s all I talked to them about yesterday, today, at halftime and after the game. We have to find out how we’re going to win. We just kind of lost whatever confidence we had. With everything that’s happened, we just don’t seem to play with the same energy and enthusiasm that we were before. We have to find a way to get that back.
(the new guys): We found out more about them for sure. We’re just trying to find out how does everybody mesh and how does it all work out. I played Hilton in the first half and wanted to see what he could do against Howard. We know that Jared has been in the league, knows how to play, is a good defender and is going to help us. Kevin came to life in the second half there and that’s what he needs; he’s got to keep playing and play through things. Our game has kind of changed the way we’re playing right now. We don’t have a low-post game right now and it’s especially tough for Luis when Howard or (Gortat) were zoning up behind him and causing him problems.
We just have to figure it out. It’s not going to be easy. We’re going through a tough period and I really believe those guys in the locker room are going to come out of this but we have to just keep working at it and play through it. It’s not going to be given to you in this league. You have to go out and make it happen.
AARON BROOKS
(lack of faith now?): No. There’s no lack of faith. We have to find our identity again. I think we did a pretty good job in the third quarter. Defensively we did a pretty good job and that led to some offense. We have to run a little bit more. They’re a good team and they showed that down the stretch when we got it close and they took off again.
(the third quarter run): It gives you something to build off of. We’re looking for something and that’s good. Martin did pretty good in the second half and hopefully we can carry that confidence into the next game and we should be alright.
They do a good job of spreading the floor. They have four shooters out there at all times who can really fill it up. Unless you’re real key on your rotations they’re going to kill you every time. If one guy is off it really hurts you.
SHANE BATTIER
It’s obvious we’re a team in search of a new identity. It’s like an exhibition game for us but they count. We need guys on the same page with coverages and this is as tough a matchup as there is in the NBA playing against the Orlando Magic and trying to explain rotations and traps on the fly. I thought we competed better in the second half; I didn’t think we brought the energy we needed in the second quarter which was really the difference but we’ll get it. I’m confident we’ll get it we just have to keep working and keep improving every single day.
(hoping for more after 2 practices?): That’s a lot to ask someone to pick up in two practices. What we expect is for everyone to play hard, play together and all of the nuances of what we’re trying to do, they’ll be picked up fairly soon. We just need to compete and at the end of the day just play basketball.
They’ve been playing really good basketball. I said before the game that they run one of the toughest plays in the NBA with Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson running the pick-and-roll with shooters all around. It takes amazing discipline (to defend). Even a team that’s been together 3 or 4 years has trouble guarding it and we just didn’t do a very good job of being on the same page but that’s to be expected. We can overcome that with some more effort.
KEVIN MARTIN
(second half turnaround): That was big. The main word around here for me is comfortable. The more comfortable I am around here and the more I play with these guys the better we’ll be. That second half was much needed.
Team-wise, that’s how we need to play to be successful and unfortunately we were playing against a great Orlando team that’s been together for awhile and has a superstar. But that second half to make our run, I think that was big for our confidence.
That first half I was just wondering why my shot wasn’t going in. It just happens like that sometimes. But once a couple started to fall, things started rolling and I finally felt like myself again.
CHASE BUDINGER
(On what went wrong second quarter) “Defensive lapses, our rotations were bad, we just didn't defend well in the second quarter and then offensively we couldn't make a shot. That combined just led to them getting out to a 20 point lead.”
(On the team adjusting to the new players) “It's still a learning process for everybody. We are still getting used to each other. We have only had two practices so you are not going to learn a lot with each other off of two practices. Hopefully, we can just keep working hard and start getting used to each other and start learning our style, our philosophy here and pick it up and start winning ball games.”
ORLANDO COACH STAN VAN GUNDY
(on the game) “We’re not very good when we get big leads. I’m not happy by the way we close out games. We played really good the first twenty-eight minutes and then we did a good job closing out the last four minutes of the game. We made almost made zero shots in the second half and got to be a real struggle for us. I thought we made good plays and got good looks at the basket but our defense was not there. We don’t defend the 3-point line very well. We give up way too many three’s and we don’t close out on shooters well.”
(on Dwight Howard’s play) “He was incredible! He was so patient inside and made all the right moves. He is so far ahead of anybody in this league in rebounding. He’s been great. His game has matured and he is not forcing the ball to the basket.”
VINCE CARTER
(on the game) “We try and attack early to establish how we want to play the game. We knew they would make a run and we took their hit and kept on playing. If we are going to peak at any time, this is the right time.”
RASHARD LEWIS
(on the game) “It was nice to come home but it was most important to get the win. Houston is a very scrappy team that plays very hard and we knew they would make a run. We played great defense in the first half and that helped us build the lead. Then Houston started hitting 3’s and it made it tough for us because they really spread out the floor.”
(on Dwight Howard’s play) “He’s been playing great and making his post moves inside. He’s really been working on it and it has really been showing in the games. His offensive game has really been coming on.”
NOTES
Houston was on the short end of a 110-92 outing with Orlando tonight. The Magic also took a 102-87 win at Orlando (12/23/09), marking the first season sweep over the Rockets since 2001-02.
The Rockets made 12-of-24 (.500) 3-pointers tonight. Houston has now shot 58-of-123 (.472) from downtown over the last five games.
Houston has lost four consecutive outings at Toyota Center. The last time the Rockets dropped four in a row at home was a run of seven straight back in 2005-06 (12/21/05-1/18/06).
The Magic set Houston’s opponent season high with 37 second-quarter points (14-19 FG) tonight, surpassing the previous best for second-quarter scoring of 35 points (14-20 FG) set by Miami at Houston (1/15/10).
Aaron Brooks registered 24 points (9-22 FG, 4-10 3FG), eight assists and six rebounds tonight, marking his 26th 20-point game of the season. Brooks has now averaged 20.0 points and 8.8 assists aver his last four games.
Kevin Martin recorded his highest scoring output since joining the Rockets with 19 points (8-9 FT) tonight.
Shane Battier totaled 14 points (5-6 FG, 3-4 3FG), a team-high nine rebounds and three assists tonight. Battier, who recently notched consecutive double-digit rebounding performances for his first time as a member of the Rockets (10 on 2/17/10 and 10 on 2/20/10), has averaged 8.0 rebounds over the last four outings.
Chase Budinger finished with 13 points (5-9 FG, 2-5 3FG) and a career-best six assists tonight. He also extended his season-high, double-digit scoring streak to six consecutive games (2/9/10-2/24/10).
Hilton Armstrong and Jordan Hill each made their Rockets debut tonight. Armstrong had two points (1-3 FG), two rebounds and one assist, while Hill saw his first 2:02 of action with Houston.
Dwight Howard posted 30 points (11-11 FG, 8-12 FT), 16 rebounds and one block tonight. Howard has now recorded a double-double in a team-record 19 consecutive games (1/15/10-2/24/10). Howard shared the old mark with Shaquille O’Neal of 18 straight double-doubles (Howard: 1/6/09-2/17/09; O’Neal: 11/27/93-12/30/93).
Dwight Howard’s 11-of-11 night from the field also set Houston’s opponent single-game record for field goal percentage, topping a .933 (14-15 FG) performance by Atlanta’s Dwight Jones at Houston (3/2/74).
Jameer Nelson, who led Orlando with 21 points (7-7 FT) and six assists last season at Orlando (11/22/08), added 17 points (7-15 FG, 3-5 3FG) and nine assists tonight.
Vince Carter chipped in with 16 points (6-9 FG) and a season-high-tying seven assists tonight.
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