The Houston Rockets are rolling ya’ll. And it’s not even just a simple confirmation. These guys love playing with each other.
TheHouston Rocketsare rolling ya’ll. And it’s not even just a simple confirmation. These guys love playing with each other.
Not only that but they call believe in one another and in the philosophy that Mike D’Antoni has instilled within each and every one of them.
I see things that I haven’t since the season before last — guys joking around and enjoying the passion that makes them so great.
Did you see the chest bump between Patrick Beverley and coach last night?
That affirms that this team is buying what he’s selling.
And I have as well.
I have to admit — I was skeptical of how successful this team would be with a new offense installed but this coaching staff continues to preach the importance of defense.
Although I’ve come to accept that this team won’t be an elite group of defenders, they will improve and will clamp down when they have to in order to get the wins that they need.
This trend should continue tonight as the team takes on the 5-17 Dallas Mavericks.
Life has been tough in Big D for this team, facing their worst start since the 1997-98 season where they finished 20-62.
With all the talent on their roster, it’s quite surprising to see them underachieve.
But it will be to the Rockets’ advantage tonight to put them out of their misery by burying them early.
It could happen but the Rockets are coming off a 102-99 thriller last night over the Oklahoma City Thunder so they may be slightly tired from all of that hard play.
We’ll have to see.
So who’s leading the charge for the Mavericks?
Harrison Barnes leads the team in scoring (20.6 PPG), Andrew Bogut is the team’s top board-getter (10.4 RPG) and shot-blocker (0.9 BPG). Deron Williams doles out the dimes (6.5 APG) and Dwight Powell is in charge of the steals (1.3 SPG).
Let’s talk about what the Mavericks do well.
They’re decent at crashing the boards defensively.The Mavericks are 4th in league as far asdefensive rebound rate (79.4).
They’re also solid at taking care of the basketball.The Mavericks are tied for 10th in the NBA — along with the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz — as far as turnover ratio with only12.4 percentof their possessions ending in a turnover.
Injuries:
Andrew Bogutrecently injured his right knee earlier this weekand is expected to miss up to four weeks as a result. Expect Salah Mejri to fill-in for Bogut as he recovers.
Dirk Nowitzkiis still dealing with a strained right Achilles’ tendonand hasn’t played in a game since Nov. 23. The team hopes that he’ll be able to start practicing as early as next week but we know for sure that he’ll be out for tonight.
Source(s): Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com and Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Three Things to Watch:
- James Hardenvs. Wesley Matthews
- Patrick Beverleyvs. Deron Williams
- Trevor Arizavs. Harrison Barnes
Prediction:
114-96in aHouston Rockets’win!
The Rockets are back at home to take on theMavsatToyota Center.
Tip-off is scheduled for7 p.m. CST.
The game will be televised onROOT Sports Southwestand broadcast onSportsTalk 790 AM (KBME), Sirius/XM/SiriusXM 217 (Internet 890)andLa Ranchera 101.7 FM (KNTE) & 850 AM (KEYH) in Spanish.
Go Rockets!
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