Recap: Houston Rockets 81 – Memphis Grizzlies 99
Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
The Houston Rockets faced off against the Grizzlies tonight after losing to them by one point just last night.
Expectations
After seeing the game last night, you can assume that the Rockets would be prepared for tonight’s game. The biggest factor that can be determined, would be the absence of Omer Asik. When Dwight Howard gets into foul trouble, the Rockets do not have a great defensive backup big that can play defense besides Asik. In yesterday’s game, we all saw the spectacular defense being played by the Grizzlies. When you analyze their defense, they usually lock down the paint. With that being said, the Rockets were almost forced to take a contested shot. Lastly, with the Rockets shooting woes as of late, would the whole team put up better numbers tonight?
The Game
In the first quarter, you could basically say this was going to be a repeat of last night’s game. The Rockets had begun the game with high energy, and then the game starting going in favor of Memphis. The game had first started out to be a fast-paced game. Both teams were fully of energy, but mostly the Grizzlies. In this quarter, the Grizzlies had matched the Rockets tempo and basically played an even quarter. The Rockets and their quickness started to put Memphis in a situation that they didn’t want to be in. Throughout the first quarter, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol were getting tired, but that didn’t prevent the Grizzlies from giving up. The Grizzlies, after playing at the pace the Rockets like, won the quarter 16-14.
On to the second quarter they went. Only now, Memphis started to play the way they wanted to. The Grizzlies began to slow the pace down and take quality shots instead of rushing and wasting a possession. This quarter was in favor of the Grizzlies as well. The Rockets just simply could not penetrate the Grizzlies defense like they wanted too. From turnovers, to not very goodlooking shots, the Rockets were digging themselves in a hole. There weren’t any specific “game changers”, but the Grizzlies were gaining all of the momentum going into halftime. The Rockets had lost the quarter, 30-21, and trailed going into halftime, 46-35.
The Grizzlies never lost the momentum in the second half. When you compare this game to last night’s game, Chandler Parsons was the only player that was trying to ignite the offense. Tonight, nobody could provide a spark and they just looked completely lost. The Grizzlies defense, had made a statement for the second night in a row. The Grizzlies, after having the huge second quarter, just had to play and back-and-forth type of style which they did. They won the second half, 43-38.
Other than the score of this game, the stats were the main description of this game. The Grizzlies held the Rockets to 37% shooting while the Grizzlies shot 46.6% from the field. The Grizzlies defense, just simply got not be solved. The Rockets bench tried to provide a spark, and couldn’t. After this game, the Rockets finished the season series with the Memphis Grizzlies at 2-2. The Rockets may be done against the Grizzlies in the regular season, but the Rockets still have to face the other teams in the division. One being the San Antonio Spurs. The Rockets will have to regroup after this tough series against the Grizzlies and get ready to face the San Antonio Spurs in Houston on Monday night. That game can be seen on CSN Houston.