Houston Rockets Slip Against Phoenix Suns 117-102

As the Houston Rockets head toward the finish line this season, it appears more evident that they’ll be limping all the way there.

A myriad of injuries to our big men are starting to mount up and it seems as if it’s too much to bear.

Dwight Howard has been out nearly two months with a knee injury, Terrence Jones may be out a week — or possibly longer — and Josh Smith may be missing time as well as he strained his right calf in the 2nd half.

But despite the challenges, the Rockets still must persevere and try to seize the ultimate goal of winning basketball games.

But you can’t always do that when guys that one is counting on are not available.

Last night’s game against the Phoenix Suns was one of the worst defensive efforts I’ve seen all season and it was certainly the reason why this team lost the game.

Any way, the Rockets started out quite well from the opening tip, taking a nine point, 27-18 lead with 3:22 left off a James Harden layup.

Trevor Ariza, who had been home most of the day ill, played as if nothing were wrong playing great basketball on both ends of the floor.

He was plucking steals, changing shots and had seven quick points by the end of the quarter.

But the Suns battled back but the Rockets were still playing well enough to keep them at bay, leading at the end of the 1st, 37-33.

The Rockets continued their hot shooting going into the 2nd quarter, causing them to go up by as much 12 points — part of a 11-5 run — with Corey Brewer leading the way with 10 quick points on the board already. Rockets 50, Suns 38

J-Smoove was also a key factor once he was inserted into the game — rebounding, changing shots, hitting three-pointers and passing the ball around to keep his teammates involved.

He also had a dunk that was so strong in the first quarter, it appeared as if the Earth shattered beneath as he was throwing it down. His hang time was so long, I was wondering when he was going to come back down to the surface!

But once again, for every shot the Rockets made, the Suns countered and they found themselves right back in the game after P.J. Tucker tied the game at 58-all with a hook shot.

Eric Bledsoe helped his team take a 60-58 lead after sinking two free throws but Jason Terry hit a three putting the Rockets back on top 61-60.

But Bledsoe once again countered with layup on the drive, leading the Rockets 62-61 at the half.

Although the Rockets hung tough briefly with their hot shooting from the three-point line but the Suns outscored them 26-14 in the final 9:08 of the third quarter to lead the Rockets 99-86 at quarter’s end.

A lot of this was Bledsoe’s doing as he already had 32 points to his credit.

I had a feeling the Rockets would be battling back to which they did!

More from House of Houston

The Rockets went on a 14-6 run to pull with five points after an Ariza three-pointer. Suns 105, Rockets 100

Unfortunately, it was at the 7:52 mark left in the 4th when J-Smoove injured his right calf having to go out of the game.

Coincidentally, the Rockets took a nosedive with their defense and were only able to manage to score two points in the final 5:32 of the 4th quarter compared to the 12 points the Suns scored.

Nick Johnson scored those two points in garbage time — had it not been for that, it would’ve been a total shutout by the Suns. Final Score: Suns 117, Rockets 102

This was just one of those games that was a tough pill to swallow as I saw things slip in those final minutes of the game.

The Rockets were out-rebounded 49-36 as the Suns exposed our lack of inside presence because of the injuries.

The scoring for the Rockets was actually quite even — but Ariza’s game was the most complete, finishing with 15 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Donatas Motiejunas lead all Rockets scorers with 18 points, while the Beard had a lackluster night with only 16 points off 5-for-19 shooting.

J-Smoove had 17 points, five rebounds before exiting the game with his injury.

For the Suns, it was Bledsoe that the led the Suns with 34 points, eight rebounds while Marcus Morris was able to snag 10 rebounds.

I just wished the end result would’ve been different than what I saw — I thought these teams were going to duke it out toward the end.