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Paul Lifts Hornets Past Rockets 88-79

Friday December 26, 2008 10:41 PM

Rockets' Offense Goes MIA in Big Easy

New Orleans pulls away late for 88-79 victory

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Houston - During an evening saturated with errant shots and missed opportunities, the Rockets somehow managed to save their worst for last.

Houston (19-11) hit only one field goal during the final ten minutes Friday night, capping off a woeful offensive performance which proved too much to overcome, as the Rockets fell to New Orleans 88-79.

How bad was it? The Rockets shot 36.1% for the game and Yao Ming was the only Houston starter who came within sniffing distance of 50 percent (he was 6-of-13 from the field).

Yet despite the Rockets’ myriad problems putting the ball in the basket, they were still within striking distance down the stretch, trailing by a mere three points with two minutes left to play. But while New Orleans’ Chris Paul (26 points, 10 assists) produced points for his club in crunch time, Houston simply couldn’t respond, succumbing to the same offensive dysfunction which had plagued the team throughout the evening.

“I think we left (our offense) back in Houston,” said Tracy McGrady, who struggled for the second game in a row, scoring just 11 points on 2-of-11 shooting. “We had some great looks, even down the stretch. The offense just wasn’t there for us. Defensively, I thought we were pretty solid. We just couldn’t make any shots.”

Right from the outset, there was no mistaking what sort of game this would be. The play was physical, the pace plodding. Houston shot a mere 30 percent (6-of-20) from the field in the first quarter, but only trailed 23-18 because New Orleans wasn’t exactly setting the scoreboard ablaze, either. In fact, the only player who enjoyed much success on the offensive end in the opening frame was Paul, who set the standard with 11 points and 4 assists.

The Rockets drew even in the second quarter thanks to a superior effort from their second unit. Aaron Brooks was the ringleader, scoring 7 straight points during one stretch, then capping that run with a three-pointer to tie the game at 35. All told, Houston’s reserves outscored their New Orleans counterparts 21-5 in the first half, as the Rockets crept within 46-44 at the break.

If possible, the game got even more sluggish in the second half as every possession seemingly became a grind-it-out battle of wills. The Hornets managed to increase their lead to 9 at one point but, once again, Houston managed to methodically chip away at their deficit, finally drawing even when Brent Barry punctuated a 13-4 run by draining a triple to knot the score at 62 with 3:18 left in the third quarter.

Amazingly, the Rockets would only go on to hit only three more shots the rest of the night.

“We had some open shots in the fourth quarter; we just didn’t knock them down,” lamented Coach Rick Adelman after the game. “I don’t think we played real well tonight. We weren’t moving. We have to have more movement than we had tonight… I thought there were times that we had shots but we passed them up and we made one more pass to a guy who had a worse opportunity than the passer did. Sometimes you can be too unselfish; you got to take plays as they come at you. When we kick it out, you have to take the shot.”

QUOTES

Tracy McGrady

On his play: “I’m not 100%. I’m gutting it out, playing through this knee surgery. I’m doing what I can. Some nights I feel like I could go 30-35 minutes, some nights I feel like I can’t do anything at all. Tonight, I felt pretty good.”

Shane Battier

On the game: “I think we started out slow offensively. We didn’t have the ball movement that we’ve had the past month.”

On the fourth quarter: “We were right there. It was a grind-out game. It was there for us. We just didn’t make enough plays. They got some big shots and key offensive boards. If you want to win this tough game, you either have to make those plays or eliminate them.

Head Coach Byron Scott:

“We played with a lot of energy tonight. I was really proud. Last year, we would hear from other coaches and General Managers that said “ya’ll played real hard”, I hadn’t heard that a lot this year. I told the guys that’s what we have to do, that’s our identity and that’s how we have to play. We cannot allow people to outplay us. We played with that energy. It still boggles my mind with how we could play yesterday and I think the guys took it upon their selves to come out and play a much better basketball game.”

“No matter who we play, we have to bring it every night.”

“Sometimes it takes those bumps and bruises (game against Orlando), we can understand that these are things that we can do. The point is a little better taken now, push a little more, and get much better ball movement. We did a better job on both ends. They shot 36% tonight and that’s pretty good defense against a team like that.”

Hornets Forward David West:

(On the win after yesterday’s loss)

“We just wanted to come out with a better effort. We felt like Houston was a team that we gave one away to earlier this season and we wanted to protect home court and we came out with a good enough effort today. They are a good basketball team and have been playing good. We knew we had our hands full with Yao and McGrady. We came out with good effort on the defensive end. We were able to make some key plays down the stretch to win.”

(On the 2 losses before the win)

“I think we got outplayed. Teams have been doing some things to us that we didn’t adjust to well. Tonight we did a better job of making them have to defend us. I think Houston was 2nd or 3rd in the western conference. We made it a point this morning to talk about the fact that when we have an opportunity to play a team above us, we have to try to win that game.”

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