I was watching the Hornets broadcast on League Pass, the announcers mentioned that the Rockets had only won 2 games all year after trailing to star the 4th. So, yes, we had some, but not many.
Lowry is the epitome of what it means to be a fierce Rockets player, in the mold of Mario Elie. Guys who don't have as much talent as others, but who through hard work make themselves better. It is all about winning for them. Love Kyle Lowry.
best win of the year tonight, very clutch performance on the defensive end from hayes, lowry and lee. although i believe we caught some very lucky breaks with some of the TO's the hornets gave up in the 4th VERY lucky indeed. but the rockets showed tonight that they can step it up even when the hope is down. the defense did a complete 180, miller ran the floor well from the key. i was wondering where the hell budinger went during the second half, . even though we have a far easier schedule coming up in march, we still have a long way to go. i believe we can make it into the playoffs as long as we keep playing with this determination and defense. lets make it to .500 on tuesday!
Im glad we won but Lowry's game bread and butter is hustle. Im still not sold in his playmaking skills. The first half he was just riding his teammates ala Battier (not contributing). He needs to set the tone early every game, something Ish would do. Intensity
Offense is not the problem; is getting the D up to par. In the last couple of games the D is slowly moving into the positive side. I hope it continues to get better. I also hope that Thabeet can at least play some games and be able to contribute on the D side of the games.
CP gave it up to Lowry tonight: "I couldn't make a shot," Paul said. "I've got to do my part. My college coaches would say, 'It's a team game played by individuals.' I lost my matchup tonight." http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=310227003 I'm so glad we dropped the AB as starting PG experiment this season.
lol for those people saying that Lowry or Hayes were the best players in this game. These 2 (along with Battier) are always the most important players for us, meaning that the effort, the heart they put in every single play is contagious to the rest of the team. And we need to get back to those hard nosed efforts we would put every game last year, so these 2 guys are without a doubt very important, but they WERE NOT the MVPs for this game. As usual the most underrated player of the NBA was, just read: "Kevin was the player of the game," said Houston guard Kyle Lowry, who added 18 points. "He saved us." Having said that: "I couldn't make a shot," Paul said. "I've got to do my part. My college coaches would say, 'It's a team game played by individuals.' I lost my matchup tonight." If we win against Port and LAC on the road on a back to back, watch out because we are making a serious run at the playoffs. PeAcE
Wow I turned off the TV when we were down like 14 points and we end up winning the game, go Rockets!!
W4 baby! I hope it continues because it's now or never time for the Rockets. its the last chance of the season to go above the .500 for good.
PORTLAND IS JUST GETTIN HAMMERED BY THE ATLANTA HAWKS...HOPEFULLY WE CAN GIVE THEM A ENCORE COME TUES NIGHT :grin::grin:
Portland is making a comeback against the choking Hawks as we speak. They're too resilient to let go out of that last playoff spot.
I think they will make it. Portland and Denver are likely going to share 6th and 7th seed. 8th seed is for one of these: MEM/UTAH/PHX/HOU. Memphis have tough schedule coming up with no Rudy Gay. UTAH has lost 15 of last 20, will end season with a tough schedule. PHX has plenty of road games left.. play a lot of tough teams. Basically, 3 games out of that spot combined with easier schedule than other 3, allows us to make a run. It's up to us to make one. Portland can still fall out, but they are too resilient and talented. They are 4 games ahead.. We beat them next game = 3 above. They got toughest schedule. Can definitely catch up. BUT... note: we already lost series so we they are actually still 5 games ahead of us technically, not 4. Denver - On paper, looks like they will be fine. They got decent schedule. But you never know what will actually happen... tough to replace superstars. Bottom line: There is a spot for us out there; just need to go grab it.
It's weird how one win can seemingly change the momentum completely around for a season. Usually we struggle against teams like the Hornets. Teams with good defensive bigs; teams that turn it on in the fourth; teams that get a lot of steals and blocks. We were on the road on the 2nd night of a back to back against a team in the playoff hunt themselves. We were down by 16 and won the game with defense more than offense (22 and 29 points in the 3rd and 4th quarters... we routinely score more than that against the average team out there). Also... and I don't mean to bring up the tank vs play argument again. But does anyone else not enjoy winning games like this? More importantly, being able to watch games like this? It doesn't have to be against a solid playoff team in New Orleans, either. I know on the stretch run it's likely we lose maybe a little under half of our games (I'm being optimistic), so it's not like we will be dominating, but this is certainly more fun to watch than a team playing on pace to win 30 games at best.
Missed the game. A couple of questions and comments: Scola hurt? Dang NBA schedule makers loading the Rockets up with back-to-backs and insane travels that add to fatigue and injuries. Did NO just play that much better interior defense than the Nets or was there some other reason (fatigue? big deficit?) why the Rockets resorted back to the outside game? Why was Dragic inactive? Miller was rebounding?