Houston Rockets Extinguish Miami Heat 115-79

The Houston Rockets were back in action as they undertook the second game of a back-to-back against the Miami Heat tonight.

Luckily, they fared better than in their last instance of this which was last month with a huge overtime win over the Denver Nuggets Dec. 17th only to succumb to the New Orleans Pelicans the following night.

But it’s understandable — because the game was so late in Denver, the Rockets didn’t arrive to the Big Easy to early that morning.

They were tired and it was obvious.

They sure didn’t play like that tonight.

The Rockets faced a Heat team struggling to find their identity after the departure of LeBron James — the two other big pieces in Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade are still there but it’s obvious that the cohesiveness of those former championship teams is no longer there.

In fact, they’re dead last in the league in many categories such as rebounds and blocks. And they’re near-last in offense and assists.

Basically, if Wade is having an off-night, there is a good chance that the Heat are going to lose.

It’s good to know that the Rockets took advantage of their misfortunes.

That was by inserting Donatas Motiejunas back into the lineup.

I’m glad that Kevin McHale finally decided to make the decision to add him back into the lineup — there many instances when he was coupled with Patrick Beverley, James Harden, Trevor Ariza and Dwight Howard, they’d be as efficient as a +20.

The first quarter remained close as each team jockeyed for position with multiple lead changes.

D-Mo immediately fell into the fold by scoring nine points, keeping the Rockets right in the mix of things.

Jan 3, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Donatas Motiejunas (20) controls the ball during the first quarter as Miami Heat forward

Danny Granger

(22) defends at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

However, he picked up two quick fouls and had to go to the bench, sending Josh Smith to the court earlier than likely what was expected.

But the Rockets still held tough to end the quarter trailing by four. Heat 27, Rockets 23

At the start of the 2nd quarter, things were close but Corey Brewer hit a three-pointer to bust things right open for the Rockets and they’d never look back. Rockets 34, Heat 29

The Rockets took advantage of the Heat’s lack of an inside presence by pounding the ball into Howard and it worked.

He had 19 points, eight rebounds right before the end of the half including 15 of those in the 2nd quarter.

Erik Spoelstra tried to throw Bosh, Chris Andersen and even Hassan Whiteside to stop him, it just didn’t work at all.

And the Rockets found themselves leading the Heat 61-49 at the half. They scored 38 2nd quarter points, their most in a quarter this season.

The third quarter allowed plenty of room for the Rockets to push their lead up further.

The Heat went ice-cold for about a four-minute period at the beginning of the 3rd allowing the Rockets to go on a 9-0 run culminating with two Harden free throws to put them up by 24 points. Rockets 79, Heat 53

Spoelstra finally waved the white flag with about three minutes left in the 3rd, pulling the majority of the starting lineup.

It got worse for the Heat as Harden, Brewer and Jason Terry teamed up to shoot their way into a 34-point lead at the end of the 3rd. Brewer hit a right-on-time three with virtually no time left on the clock! Rockets 94, Heat 60

Jan 3, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard Corey Brewer (33) is congratulated after a play during the second quarter against the Miami Heatat Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The 4th quarter was mainly an exhibition show starring our bench as Smith and Brewer continued to display their talents.

There was nothing much the Heat could do at that point and the Rox had this one in the bag winning by 36 points, their largest margin of victory this season. Final Score: Rockets 115, Heat 79

This is also the first time the Rockets have swept the Heat in six seasons — what a milestone and it indicates that the tides are finally turning in our favor.

Harden led all scorers with 28 points and five rebounds.

Howard had another double-double with 23 points, 13 rebounds including shooting 9-for-13 from the field and 5-for-9 from the charity stripe. He was a +35 in the lineup tonight.

Smith had 12 points, seven rebounds off the bench and Brewer had 11 points including shooting 3-for-7 from behind-the-arc. Each were a +26 and +20 respectively.