Houston Rockets Redux: Week 18: 02/22/2015

It’s the last day of the month and it’s with pleasure to inform you that your Houston Rockets are undefeated (3-0) for the week!

Yes, I said it was possible that we’d finish the week undefeated and they found a way to do that!

With them facing the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Los Angeles Clippers and Brooklyn Nets, I knew that there was a good chance of this happening.

This was because of the fact they have been at home at Toyota Center for more than a week now to which they’re almost complete with a five-game home stand.

The only match up that I was concerned about was against the Clippers because we hadn’t figured out a way to beat them this season.

Although we weren’t perfect in execution early-in, adjustments were made later in game to defend them better and we were able to come out the victor.

As I looked at the score in the 4th quarter, we were still hanging in there, giving me a reason to believe that a win was in the cards.

The first meeting Nov. 28 was pure domination and the last meeting that occurred Feb. 11 was a better effort but the Rockets ran out of gas toward the end.

But the Rockets did what they were supposed to this week, beat the teams they were supposed to defeat and stood toe-to-toe against their competition when their backs were against the wall.

Not a bad week to be a Rockets’ fan!

Let’s take a look and see how they did:

Feb 23, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard

James Harden

(13) and teammates celebrate Harden

Rockets 113, Timberwolves 102: This game turned out to be a lot more entertaining than I envisioned. These teams fought hard throughout until about the 3rd quarter when they started to pull away with a 15-3 run to lead 75-65. James Harden was absolutely sensational this game — he faked, he euro-stepped, he drew fouls and did everything possible to help his team win. The highlight to this game was just before the end of the quarter when I witnessed perhaps the crossover of the year! The victim? Ricky Rubio. Harden went left and then right so quickly that Rubio could not keep up and he started to slide in a motion as if he were on skates! Then the inevitable happened — Rubio fell on his rear as Harden stepped-back and hit a three that was nothing but net! This was as Rubio looked on because there was absolutely nothing he could do at that point. Beard killed Rubio at that moment — you’d almost want to put a tombstone at the top of the arc where he fell because it was damn lethal! R.I.P. Ricky Rubio. The Rockets did take a 92-78 lead after that but it evaporated after a 10-0 run by the Wolves to cut their deficit to four points. They cut their lead one after Nikola Pekovic hit two free throws off a Donatas Motiejunas foul making the score 97-96. But Terrence Jones, Trevor Ariza and Harden went to work to put them away for good with a couple of three-pointers, a multitude of free throws, sprinkled with a bit of rebounds in between. Harden had a night of pure dominance — earning his 4th career triple-double — with 31 points, 11 boards, 10 assists and four blocks. Jones had 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Feb 25, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward

Glen Davis

(0) takes the ball to the basket during the fourth quarter as Houston Rockets forward

Donatas Motiejunas

(20) and guard

Corey Brewer

(33) defend at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Clippers 110-105. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Rockets 110, Clippers 105: This was another game that panned out to be a lot better than I expected. I knew it was going to be entertaining but I was worried DeAndre Jordan would get the best of us and although he was a factor, the Rockets were still able to overcome. The Rockets matched the Clippers bucket-for-bucket throughout the game and kept their turnovers quite low with only four at the half. They Rockets continued to sizzle from behind-the-arc with them shooting at a 47.4 percent clip at the half. The crazy thing? The Clippers were shooting just as good as the Rockets. After a jam-packed 3rd quarter with the Rockets trailing 85-84, the 4th quarter was amongst the best efforts I’ve seen this season. Corey Brewer completely went out of his mind, getting red-hot! He attacked the basket, drew fouls and just about everything he threw up in the air was nothing but net! This allowed the Rockets to take a 99-86 lead shortly after the midpoint of the 4th with things seemingly in the Rockets’ favor. J.J. Redick, Jordan and Jamal Crawford worked together to cut their deficit being down 101-93 with 4:56 left. There was brief scare thereafter when Harden rolled his ankle causing him to tumble to floor wincing in pain. But you know what? He got up, walked it off and kept on playing accompanied with “MVP” chants by the crowd. The Clippers tried again to get a bit closer but Harden put them back at bay with a three-pointer putting the Rockets up 109-98. After one last effort late by the Clippers with them constructing a 6-0 run to close their gap to four with the score being 109-105, Harden did it again. He was getting repeatedly hit by Chris Paul while bringing the ball up frustrating Harden to a point where he had a few unpleasant words for him. Harden hit one out of two free throws to put the Rockets up for good after the Clippers could not overcome their deficit. Harden led all Rockets scorers with 21 points and 10 assists. But Brewer equally was a factor chipping in 20 points, six rebounds while Ariza had 17 points off shooting 55 percent from three.

Feb 27, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Brooklyn Nets center

Mason Plumlee

(1) shoots the ball during the third quarter as Houston Rockets forward

Terrence Jones

(6) defends at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Nets 102-98. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Rockets 102, Nets 98: The Rockets mental wits were certainly tested this game as the Nets pretty much were in control through the 1st half. This was because they jumped out to a 15-4 lead early in the game and didn’t really look back with Nets going up by as much 13 points. After 2nd half, the Rockets went on a 6-0 to cut their deficit to three points with 8:03 left. Motiejunas, Jones and Harden all contributed to that run and things got interesting after that. The Rockets tied the game 65-65 off a Jones dunk with six minutes left in the third and took their first lead of the game after an Ariza three-pointer with the Rockets going up 68-67. The Rockets battled and ended up on top by one at the end of the third 74-73. However, the Nets went on a 7-0 run to take a 86-78 lead after a Joe Johnson pull-up bank shot. But the Rockets fought back hard after a D-Mo jump hook and an Ariza three to cut their deficit to three. After the Rockets fell to a 91-83 hole, they fought back again with the help of a Jones hook shot and a Patrick Beverley three to tie the game 95-95. Harden then hit essentially the game-winner with 27 seconds left which was a signature step-back putting the Rockets up 98-95. The Nets could not recover after that and Rockets closed this one out with immense pride. Jones came up big in his best effort his season while an ailing Harden had to pump the brakes a bit from his ankle sprain two nights before. Jones had 26 points, 12 rebounds while Harden was relegated to being primarily a facilitator with 15 points, 12 assists. Ariza had 20 points off 56 percent shooting from three, a night nearly identical to his performance against the Clippers. I’m hoping he continues this streak of hot shooting! This was one of those gutsy Rockets’ wins where dug deep to find a way to win to which I’m very proud.

Houston Rockets Redux: Week 18: 02/22/2015 – 02/28/2015

By Brian K. Patterson | Feb 28, 2015