Houston Rockets Slide Past New York Knicks 91-86

The Houston Rockets are fresh off a quality win over the Dallas Mavericks this past Saturday.

It was the biggest of match ups and the Rockets came through by doing what it took to win the game.

I certainly wish the Houston Texans could take note of this!

Despite the guys that one has out, one still has to play hard to win the game.

That’s why you play games.

And the Rockets definitely did so — they led the Mavs by as much as 18 points and were able to survive a comeback led by J.J. Berea thanks to one James Harden.

He definitely took charge down the stretch.

Let’s fast-forward back to last night.

Despite the Rockets being without Dwight Howard and Patrick Beverley because of injury, the team maintained control and were able to defeat the New York Knicks.

The game started out with both teams trading buckets until about the 6:01 mark where Isaiah Canaan hit a big three-pointer to counter a Jose Calderon three to spark a 9-1 run.

Nov 24, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Donatas Motiejunas (20) and New York Knicks forward Travis Wear (6) battle for a loose ball during the fourth quarter at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Knicks 91-86. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Canaan closed out their incredible run with a pull-up jumper with 4:56 left in the 1st quarter. Rockets 20, Knicks 13

Acy was fouled by Joey Dorsey and he hit one out of two free throws stopping the Rockets lengthy four-minute run.

Kostas Papanikolaou chimed in with the provisional put-back layup with 3:42 giving the Rockets their largest lead of the quarter — eight points. Rockets 22, Knicks 14

For the 2nd quarter, the Rockets shots continued fall with a barrage of three-pointers, put-backs and jump shots.

Carmelo Anthony suffered a hard fall shortly thereafter and took himself out of the game because of back spasms. He did not return.

Trevor Ariza was one of the heaviest contributors — collecting seven points and helping the Rockets take an 11-point lead with 1:06 left in the half. Rockets 51, Knicks 39

But after a bad pass by Harden and missed three-point attempt by Jason Terry, Amar’e Stoudemire, J.R. Smith and Travis Wear helped mount an 8-0 run to cut their deficit to five at the end of the half. Rockets 51, Knicks 46

In the third quarter, the Rockets cooled off a bit but did enough to stay in the game. However, the three-pointers were still falling for Harden, Motiejunas and Terry.

Neither team would lead by more than three points.

At the start of the 4th quarter, the Knicks took the lead for the first time of the game with a Smith pull-up jumper. Knicks 71, Rockets 69

Tim Hardaway Jr. led a quick 5-1 run to give the Knicks their largest lead of the game — six points. Knicks 78, Rockets 72

An Ariza three-ball and a Motiejunas layup put the Rockets back within one totally evaporating the run the Knicks had just put together.

Then Harden went to work!

For the last five minutes it was all Harden as he hit two key three-pointers and drew three fouls — two off Iman Shumpert and one off Stoudemire. He took advantage of the opportunity and hit six free throws down the stretch putting the Rockets up 91-82.

That was for a total of 12 of his 36 total points that he scored.

The Knicks simply could not stop Harden and their feeble attempts to get back in the game proved fruitless. Final Score: Rockets 91, Knicks 86

Harden also threw in eight rebounds, facilitated with six dimes off 7-for-12 shooting from behind-the-arc. He was a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe.

D-Mo came up big once again with 13 points, eight rebounds of 6-for-12 shooting from the field.

Nice job Rockets and it’s on to the next one!