Houston Rockets Redux: Week 14: 01/25/2015

The Houston Rockets have gotten through Week 14 roughly unscathed.

In the past 10 days, they’ve only sustained one loss and that was to the Golden State Warriors Wednesday, Jan. 21.

That’s a pretty good track record if you ask me!

The Rockets continued to do the things that made them successful — play hard-nosed defense, shoot the ball well from all over and tap into the infinite resources of James Harden.

This past week, we’ve found out that Dwight Howard’s right knee is still giving him mobility problems as it was found that there was additional fluid buildup in that area.

He has left H-Town to seek an additional opinion in regard to the best way to recover from such a malady.

So until we find out, this team will have to press on without him and they’ve done fine so far without him in the lineup.

He’ll be needed in the postseason — when he usually turns it up a notch so I’m all for him taking the time he needs to get ready for that.

What a week!

Let’s take a look at how they did:

Rockets 99, Lakers 87: This game was one the Rockets had control of from the tip. They were enjoying double-digits leads of more than 20 points until a brief blip on the radar when the Lakers cut it to 12 (90-82) with 3:56 left on a Jeremy Lin free throw off a Donatas Motiejunas foul. This was a basketball clinic of sorts as the Rockets got what they wanted, when they wanted. This game also featured a starting lineup — Jordan Clarkson, Wayne Ellington, Ryan Kelly and Robert Sacre — that I ashamedly had to go look up outside of Jordan Hill. Harden had 37 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals off 12-for-20 shooting from the field and 9-for-10 from the charity stripe. The Rockets rolled in this one.

Rockets 99, Mavericks 84: This was certainly a showdown that all fans were looking forward to and they luckily were treated with a win. It’s always nice to get a win in your home building, especially against a familiar foe like the Mavs. We witnessed the return of Terrence Jones who seemed to be close to his original form, chipping in 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks in 20 minutes of action. Our bigs off the bench stepped it up and they were swatting anything and everything in their way. There were a total of seven blocks as a team between Josh Smith, Jones and Jason Terry. J-Smoove was excellent off the bench to add 18 points, six rebounds and three blocks in 27 minutes of action. This game did not involve as much of an offensive load for Harden — it was balanced scoring attack with three starters in double figures — Trevor Ariza (13), D-Mo (16); and, of course, Harden (17). Chandler Parsons was a bit more effective in this game with 21 points, three rebounds off 8-for-13 shooting. This game was close throughout with either team not leading more than 10 points but it’s certainly one a Rockets’ fan can be proud of despite not having D12 in the lineup.

Rockets 93, Celtics 87: There are no guarantees in professional sports — any team can win on any given night. This game was certainly an example of this. This game will certainly be defined by their awful 3rd quarter. With the game seemingly in hand by half time with the Rockets leading 60-42, the Celtics came out after intermission and started to play extremely hard to push the Rockets to their limits. The Celtics eventually outscored the Rockets 22-9 in the 3rd as they edged closer to Rockets, cutting their deficit to five with the quarter score being 69-64. In the 4th quarter they finally got it together, took control and Corey Brewer hit two big free throws with 21 seconds left to safely put the game in hand. D-Mo was a stud in this game — he scored 26 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and shot 11-for-16 from the field and 3-for-5 behind-the-arc. J-Smoove had 15/10 and Harden had an off-night. It was one of the worst games I’ve seen him play — he had 14 points off 4-for-21 shooting. This wasn’t the prettiest win of sorts but I’ll take it!

Jan 31, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Houston Rockets guard

James Harden

(13) and Detroit Pistons forward

Anthony Tolliver

(43) fight for position during the fourth quarter at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Pistons beat the Rockets 114-101. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Pistons 114, Rockets 101: This game was awful right out of the gate and it was clearly obvious that these guys were tired from the night before. Playing the 2nd game of a back-to-back on the road is always a tough task but they should’ve been able to beat those guys. The trailed 59-46 at the half and it didn’t seem to get much better until the 4th quarter where they went on a 23-6 run to close within four of the Pistons. But they just didn’t have enough firepower to get over the hump and our bigs, for some reason, were no match for the combo of Andre Drummond/Greg Monroe, who totally had their way with them. The Pistons’ backcourt of D.J. Augustin and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope combined for 56 of the team’s total points. Harden who injured himself in the first half but trotted back out after intermission, did everything he could to help his team win. He finished with 26 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. D-Mo chipped in 21 points. This was certainly a game to forget.

Houston Rockets Redux: Week 14: 01/25/2015 – 02/01/2015

By Brian K. Patterson | Feb 1, 2015