Recap: Houston Rockets 87 Memphis Grizzlies 88
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
After finally beating the Sacramento Kings, the Houston Rockets faced the Memphis Grizzlies tonight to cap off the 5-game home stand.
Expectations
Man your fingernails – Memphis’ defense, matched against the Rockets high-powered offense, this is going to be a nail-biter. Everyone saw this coming. The Rockets playing at a fast pace, while the Grizzlies try to slow the game down. Most teams want to play their style of basketball, but not all the time will teams have it their way the whole game. For the first time this season, Marc Gasol was active for the Memphis Grizzlies. When the Rockets faced them twice earlier on this year, the Grizzlies were without their defensive-minded center. Coming into tonight, the Rockets knew that tonight wouldn’t be easy.
What Really Happened?
In the first quarter, things looked a bit shaky for both teams. The Rockets, as usual, started the game off slow, but managed to not let this game get completely away. The Grizzlies defense was successful early on. There wasn’t anyone specific getting the touches for the Rockets early on. Houston kept on trying to feed anybody that was open. Throughout the first, it went bucket for bucket, the Grizzlies lead, 21-20.
The second quarter went a little something like this – “Houston shoots and misses the basket”. The Rockets simply could not buy two points. Miss after miss after miss. They played decent defense and kept the Grizzlies within “striking distance”. It almost seemed like The Rockets were trying way too hard to play their style of ball. Dwight Howard and James Harden were off, struggling against Memphis defense. Houston gained a little momentum in the final minutes and only trail by nine at the half. Grizzlies 44, Rockets 35.
Houston came out swinging in the 3rd, and put together an impressive run in the second half. The story of the second half/game was Chandler Parsons. Parsons had himself a game. After an extremely quiet first half, Parsons found his shot and made 6 consecutive three pointers in the THIRD QUARTER! 6-6 from behind the arc in the third, alone. He didn’t stop there. Parsons then made 4 more threes in the final period and set a new Houston Rockets record of 10 threes in a game, breaking the previous record of 9 set by Robert Horry. Not to mention, Parsons also set a career high with 34 points. The women in the Toyota Center were cheering as if The Beatles were in town. Parsons, you heartbreaker.
Despite Chandler Parsons having it his way in the 2nd half, the rest of the Rockets simply could not find their rhythm. With about 8 seconds left, the Rockets were trailing 88-87, and McHale called a timeout to draw up a play. Marc Gasol reminded us why the Grizzlies will frustrate opponents and their fans. The Rockets just simply could not penetrate. They tried giving the ball to Parsons, but he could not get a shot off. He had to pass the ball to Beverley who was trapped in a corner and simply could not hit the game winner. Houston fell short tonight. But they have a chance to redeem themselves ,when they face the Grizzlies in Memphis tomorrow.
Although this game didn’t turn out the way all of us hoped for, it was definitely worth the watch. These two teams battled it out from start to finish. Hopefully, tomorrow the Rockets will have a better result. If you missed this thriller, you sure won’t want to miss the game tomorrow! Rockets vs Grizzlies tomorrow at 7! The game can be seen on CSN Houston.