Houston Rockets Run Out Of Gas Against Golden State Warriors

The 16-4 Houston Rockets took on the red hot 18-2 Golden State Warriors in Oakland on Wednesday night.

The Rockets once again very shorthanded (suiting up only 10 players) missing Dwight Howard, Terrence Jones, Kostas Papanikolaou, Francisco Garcia and Isaiah Canaan, all out with various injuries. With rookie Clint Capela and last year’s playoff surprise Troy Daniels rarely playing, the Rockets were essentially playing with only 8.

The Warriors jumped out to the early lead 5-0 but the Rockets came fighting back and when Pat Beverley hit a 3 from the short corner, the Rockets held a 18-12 lead at the 6:30 in the first.

December 10, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) shoots the basketball against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23, left) during the second quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Rockets continued to work Donatas Motiejunas in the post, Harden in the open court and on penetrations with Patrick Beverley and Trevor Ariza spotting up on the 3-point line. The Rockets kept their foot on the pedal in the 1st and finished up with a 30-23 lead, with Harden leading all scorers with 10 and Beverley chipping in 7.

Houston kept things rolling to start the 2nd quarter as they fed D-Mo in the post and after he hit his second turnaround hook shot the Rockets held their biggest lead thus far of 11 points up, 36-25 at the 9:42 mark.

The Warriors however were not going to go away quietly and fought back with a 9-0 run, due to by Rockets turnovers. The Warriors and Rockets both cooled off after that, however the Rockets dry spell lasted almost 6 minutes without a bucket. Golden State had cut the lead but a James Harden jumper pushed the Rockets back to a 38-34 lead.

Both teams continued to play relatively sluggish throughout the rest of the 2nd quarter and it took until 1:42 to go before either Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson the Warriors sharp shooters hit a 3-pointer.  However, after Harden hit 2 free throws and having scored the final 10 points of the quarter for the Rockets, the Rockets and Warriors went into the half tied up at 46-46.

December 10, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Marreese Speights (5) shoots the basketball against Houston Rockets forward Joey Dorsey (8, left) during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Rockets 105-93. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Harden had 20 points at the half to lead all scorers. D-Mo had 8.  The Warriors were led by Steph Curry who had finally knocked down a couple 3’s and led the Warriors with 11 points. Neither team was shooting the ball well from 3, Rockets hitting only 20 percent (3-of-15) and the Warriors only slightly better at 28.6 percent (4-of-14).

The cold shooting continued in the 2nd half as these two teams looked far from two of the best teams in the Western Conference on this night. Ariza hit back-to-back 3’s early on to keep the Rockets afloat offensively and at 7:28 is was still tied at 54-54.

After that, the game went back and forth, up 3, tied, up 3, tied…. until Beverley and Ariza hit back-to-back 3’s follow by a Joey Dorsey post move for a bucket AND-1 to give the Rockets a lead at 70-66.

The Warriors chipped away with baskets from Marreese Speights and Harrison Barnes but Harden closed out the quarter with the last 6 points for the Rockets to give him 26 for the game when he hit a bucket on a rebound/follow shot with 1.4 seconds to go. Rockets lead 76-73.

The game tightened up again in the 4th early and was tied at 81 until Harden hit a 3 to give the Rockets the 84-81 lead.

The Rockets appeared to run out of steam from the 5-minute mark for the next 2 minutes as the Warriors went on an 11-0 run and their biggest lead of the game 100-89 Warriors lead. D-Mo finally broke the streak with a basket inside to make it 100-91 Golden State, but it was too little too late and the Rockets cold streak down the stretch doomed them.

The Rockets facing a back-to-back and will be at Sacramento tomorrow night, cleared the bench with a little over a minute to go and threw in the towel to rest the starters.

More from Houston Rockets

• Houston Rockets and Texans: Two different coaches with one glaring similarity
• Houston Rockets: Dig in, make threes, win series
• Houston Rockets: The time to make a statement is now
• Houston Rockets: Rest Russell Westbrook for remainder of the OKC series
• Houston Rockets: G2: What has put the team in driver’s seat against OKC

Final score was 105-93 in a game that was much closer than the final score.

James Harden led the team in scoring with 34, D-Mo and Ariza each added 18. The Warriors got 21 from Thompson and 20 each from Curry and Barnes. The Rockets struggled from the floor hitting only 41.6% and although they held the Warriors tough through three quarters, the Warriors finally warmed up in the 4th and outscored the exhausted Rockets 32-17, including a 17-3 run at one point in the quarter.

The Rockets will have to find some energy going into tomorrow night’s game against the Kings and will once again likely only suit up 10 players. Dwight Howard is now targeting Saturday’s game against the Nuggets for his return.

Stick with us here at House of Houston for all your Rockets coverage.