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Friday February 27, 2009 1:11 AM

The Joy Of Six

Rockets thump Cleveland 93-74 for sixth straight victory

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Houston - Shane Battier called it a “slugfest,” the kind of physical, grind-it-out game typical of postseason basketball. The atmosphere certainly had that playoff feel. So, too, did the Rockets’ effort and intensity. And should they continue playing at the level witnessed Thursday night, Houston’s suddenly surging basketball club may very well find itself enjoying much more of the same this April – and beyond - when the playoffs begin for real.

Led by Yao Ming’s nearly flawless shooting exhibition and a nonpareil defensive effort, the Houston Rockets completely dominated LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 93-74. Yao scored 28 points on 13-15 shooting but, as good as he was, Houston’s ‘D’ was even better. The Rockets held Cleveland to season-lows in both points and field goal percentage (33.8%), while keeping MVP-favorite James from recording an assist for the first time in his NBA career.

“I thought [our defense] was really good,” said Rick Adelman after the game. “We just didn't want LeBron to get to the basket. We wanted to keep him out of the paint as much as we could and keep him from his transition baskets and make him shoot jump shots.

“He is so explosive getting to the basket, and if he gets to the line he's getting to the middle of the paint and he's finding all of their shooters. Ron [Artest] was very patient and just kept playing it that way.”

Of course, defense has been the hallmark of Artest’s game from the second he set foot in the league, so his proficiency on that end of the floor isn’t anything new. But Artest was also quick to point out that putting the clamps on a player like James is much more than just a one man show.

“I love to play defense,” he said. “I always think defense first but it's not going to be just me. Of course, you have to give respect to the game plans from coaches. Then, you have a guy like Shane that can give you a rest so it was definitely a team effort.”

The same could be said on the offensive side of the ball as well, with guys like Von Wafer (19 points, 4-6 from downtown), Luis Scola (14 points, 9 rebounds) and Kyle Lowry (7 assists) providing huge contributions throughout. But Yao was the primary engine powering the Rockets’ machine on offense; recovering from a slow start to help bury one of the NBA’s elite teams beneath a bevy of hooks, jumpers and dunks.

“I took about three possessions to read the defense,” explained Yao. “They double-teamed from other places like the weak side. I didn’t see that much, so it slowed me down a little at the beginning. I had some turnovers and missed shots, and then I think coach gave me a good tip on where to find the open man.”

What was Adelman’s advice?

“He’s got to see where they’re coming at him. Sometimes he gets impatient. The very first play of the game he caught the ball and spun baseline. [He needs to figure out] what are they doing? That’s why we posted you up, so you can find out where they are coming from. I think he just has to have that patience because he’s in control when he catches that ball. He doesn’t have to rush anything.

“In the second half especially, he made a lot of passes out where he didn’t get an assist, but his pass led to the next guy getting the assist because we kept swinging the ball and making the right decision, and that’s what he’s got to do.”

So after a perfect homestand which saw the Rockets turn the corner and climb the standings, the club now heads toward the Midwest for a two-game trip to Chicago and Minnesota. Houston’s road woes have been well-documented, as has their bizarre tendency to come up short when facing lower-level competition. So the club knows it can’t afford to spoil the momentum gained over the last two weeks at home by not taking care of business on the road.

“We kept talking about how we had to play and play harder and how we had to be more positive,” said Scola. “We talked about how important it was to come home and win these games. We executed finally so it was very important.

“Now, we have one more thing to fix and that is how we play on the road. On the road we are a pretty mediocre team. We are under 500 on the road so that is the last thing we need to fix. We have two games. We need to go for them - both of them.”

QUOTES

RICK ADELMAN

(On the win) “I am really proud of our team. We came out with a lot of energy and followed our game plan defensively, especially when we wanted to go inside to Yao and make them play him. I just thought our guys played with a lot of effort and consistency through the whole game, we just maintained the whole game. It was a really solid win against one of the best teams in the league.”

(On the defense versus LeBron James) “I thought it was really good. A couple of times we made some mistakes. They hurt us a little bit when he was setting the pick on the pick and rolls in the second quarter, but Ron really paid attention to him; we just didn't want him to get to the basket. We wanted to keep him out of the paint as much as we could and keep him from his transition baskets and make him shoot jump shots. If he starts making jump shots then we have to adjust. He is so explosive getting to the basket, and if he gets to the line, he's getting to the middle of the paint, he's finding all of their shooters. Ron was very patient and just kept playing it that way. Then whenever Shane and him (Artest) were involved, we were switching it every time so I think they followed the game plan great. Elston (Turner) came up with a great game plan on what we were going to do with all their pick and rolls. Then offensively, we get 25 assists and 12 turnovers again, that's a really good number, especially when you get 9 turnovers in the 1st half. The 2nd half we were very efficient offensively.”

(on Kyle Lowry): It’s going to take him some time. I thought he was very aggressive. He and Aaron have to stay with their aggression. I thought Aaron got really un-aggressive in the first half and then as the second half wore on, he got into the paint and he found people – Kyle was doing that as soon as he came in. Both of those guys have to keep giving us that; they have to keep getting to the middle and finding people. And in the second half, we started making shots.

(on playing on the road now): I think our guys need to understand that there’s nobody that can’t beat us. Just because we won this game doesn’t mean Chicago is going to just [give it to us]. Everybody can beat us and we just talked about it in the locker room: We have not played well on the road. We started out very well, but now we’ve dropped off and we’ve got to take care of that.

I say it all the time to the team: You put yourself in position during the course of the season and now we’ve won these six games on this homestand; you put yourself in position where you’ve moved toward the top of the West, and now you have to take advantage of it. You can’t drop back and we’ll see if that’s what we can do. We have to go on the road with the same purpose, with the same attitude and win on the road.

(on Yao’s patience): He didn’t panic. He made a lot of passes. In the second half especially, he made a lot of passes out where he didn’t get an assist, but his pass led to the next guy to get the assist because we kept swinging the ball and making the right decision, and that’s what he’s got to do. He’s got to see where they’re coming at him.

Sometimes he gets impatient. The very first play of the game he caught the ball and spun baseline. I mean, what are they doing? That’s why we posted you up, so you can find out where they are coming from. I think he just has to have that patience because he’s in control when he catches that ball. He doesn’t have to rush anything.

YAO MING

(On the win) “It is a big win. We played against one of the best quality teams in this league. They have one of the top records and their quality is almost like playoffs. That is a really good test for us to see how far we can go.”

(On Cleveland's defensive strategy guarding him) “Actually, at the beginning of the game I took about three possessions to read the defense. They double-teamed from other places like the weak side. I didn’t see that much, so it slowed me down a little at the beginning. I had some turnovers and missed shots, and then I think coach gave me a good tip on where to find the open man, and then when they played one on one against me, all I needed to do was to get to my position and use my hook shot and turnaround jumper.”

(special to block LeBron and dunk on him?): Actually, not much. All we need to do is not make highlights, we need to do a solid game and win the way we should win.

LUIS SCOLA

(On the winning streak) “It means a lot. We kept talking about how we had to play and play harder and how we had to be more positive. We talked about how important it was to come home and win these games. We executed finally so it was very important. Now, we have one more thing to fix and that is how we play on the road. On the road we are a pretty mediocre team. I think we are under 500 on the road so that is the last thing we need to fix. So, we have two games. We need to go for them, both of them.”

(On the defensive job on LeBron) “It was great. Ron did a great job but I think the team is also doing a great job the whole last twelve or ten games on defense. I like to give credit to Ron because he is doing a great job but I think everybody is doing a great job and everything is easier when everybody plays that hard and with so much intensity.”

SHANE BATTIER

(On defending LeBron James) “It was a great team effort. Ron did a great job of sticking to the game plan. LeBron is such a great player. We sort of gambled by letting him take a lot of shots and a lot of 3's. He made a few and he missed a few but we kept him to zero assists and that is pretty remarkable. I haven't seen him have zero assists in a long time. It was a great team defensive effort by our whole team.”

(On the Rockets offense) “I think we got more comfortable. Our offense was okay tonight. We scored 93 points tonight but our offense is still stagnant. We need to jump to a higher level and we need to get some more confidence and more flow, especially when things are not going well.”

(most complete game of the season?): It was a slugfest early on. I would have liked for us to make a few more shots early on and to have played better, but defensively that was probably our best game in a long time.

(on the benefit of playing a “slugfest” style game): For the guys who know about that type of basketball, it was a playoff atmosphere tonight. For the guys who haven’t been there like Kyle and Aaron’s never been at the helm as a starter on a playoff team, you need to grind it out. And when you have grinder games likes tonight, you have to find ways to manufacture points and still play defense.

(on heading out on the road): We’re really happy with our homestand. To go 6-0 is pretty tremendous. But we know our road play has been sub-par. If we want to make something of this season, we need to turn our attitude around on the road and come out and play a complete game.

We feel good, though. We feel refreshed after the All-Star break and we look at it as a great challenge that we’re excited to meet

RON ARTEST

(On holding LeBron to no assists) “Wow. It was just that type of game for him tonight. It was a game where we left him open and he had to take shots. I think at the end of the day we won as a team. I think he still made the right decisions. I'm not going to say it was all me. I'm going to take it game by game and see where we go from there.”

(On keeping LeBron out of the paint) “I love to play defense. I always think defense first but it's not going to be just me. Of course, you have to give respect to the game plans from coaches. Then, you have a guy like Shane that can give you a rest so it was definitely a team effort.”

VON WAFER

(On the Rockets defense) “I think defense wins championships. You may get into the second round but if you want to make that serious run and be a serious contender, you've got to be able to continue to play defense. We are trying to come together as a unit.”

(On the Rockets playing off of Yao) “We all know our roles, we just have to play off of Yao. If you want to be successful at the end of the day, you've got to play off of Yao and play really tough defense. As Yao goes, we go.”

KYLE LOWRY

(looking more comfortable): I’m just getting more comfortable with the team. These guys are great to me. They’re helping me out and giving me confidence to just go out there and play my game.

(on going from Memphis to a playoff contender on a roll): It’s huge. I’m just happy to be here. It’s a great opportunity and I’m on a really good team. We’re playing a lot better and we just have to keep the streak going.

(On Rockets defense) “I think we've been priding ourselves on defense. We've got good defensive players, Ron and Shane, to lead us and I think everyone is stepping up to the challenge.”

CAVS COACH MIKE BROWN

(on the game) “Give the Rockets a lot of credit. They did a heck of a job of carrying out their game plan. They wanted us to take jump shots. They gave us the jump shot but we just didn’t convert it. Houston was physical defensively and that caused us to miss some of our shots. You have to give Scola a lot of credit as he energized in the first quarter. Von Wafer was tremendous off the bench. Yao was awesome and you have to give him a lot of credit for shooting 13 of 15 from the floor.”

(on the Rockets game) “They wanted to shrink the floor and make the lane as crowded as possible. We can learn and grow from this but I am not going to beat a dead horse over this. We didn’t get the ball reversal that we needed.”

LEBRON JAMES

(on his ankle) “It’s alright. I’ll be ready to go the next game. I twisted it a little on the blocked shot by Yao.”

(on the game) “We just can’t seem to get in a good flow against this Houston team. A lot of credit has to go to them as they are a very good team. Defensively, we played really well.

Offensively, we couldn’t make a shot and we could never get in any rhythm.”

(on the Rockets) “They are very good team with or without McGrady. They feed off Yao and you can see what happened tonight.”

MO WILLIAMS

(on the game) “They had a great game plan and they stuck to it. They sagged off our shooters and they protected the basket.”

(on the Rockets) “They are pretty good. They go through Yao. The hardest thing for a coach is to play through two superstars. Now this is Yao’s team and he has a lot of talented players around him. They have given Brooks the reins and he has the confidence and the support of his coaches. They will be a team to watch.”

BEN WALLACE

(on his injury) “It happened in the second quarter but I don’t know the exact play. I thought is was a calf bruise and it would let up but it never did. It is broke. I saw the white line in the X-ray. Yao kicked me and it was a freak accident. I definitely will be back for the playoffs but hopefully before that. I didn’t know it was broke. I was disgusted when I hear it.”

NOTES

Tonight’s attendance of 18,399 ranks as the sixth-largest crowd in team history. It also marks the 16th sellout of the season at Toyota Center .

The Rockets registered a 93-74 win over the Cavaliers tonight, sweeping their six-game homestand. It marked the first undefeated homestand of six or more games since the team has called Houston home. The San Diego Rockets closed out the 1970-71 campaign with a 7-0 run at home to mark the only other unblemished homestand of six or more contests.

Houston has now gone two years without losing a game at home during the month of Feb. The Rockets went 8-0 at Toyota Center in Feb. 2008 and closed out Feb. 2009 with the exact same 8-0 record.

The Rockets are riding their longest overall winning streak of the season at six straight (2/11/09-2/26/09), limiting foes to just 83.7 points per game (502 TP) over this span.

The Cavaliers set or tied Houston’s opponent season lows in field goals made (27, tied), field goal percentage (.338) and assists (10). Cleveland also set its own season lows in points (74), field goal percentage and assists.

The Rockets limited the Cavaliers to opponent season lows in first-quarter scoring (11) and third-quarter scoring (10), surpassing the previous lows of 13 first-quarter points by the Nets at New Jersey (12/22/08) and 13 third-quarter points by the Maverick at Houston (2/20/09). Cleveland ’s 10-point third quarter was actually its lowest point total for any quarter this season (11 done three times prior, including first quarter tonight).

Yao Ming posted a game-high 28 points (13-15 FG), eight rebounds and one blocked shot tonight. The Rockets are now 23-2 this season when Yao scores 20 or more points.

Luis Scola had 14 points (5-7 FG, 4-4 FT) and nine rebounds tonight. Scola has now posted a career-best seven straight games of double-figure scoring (2/9/09-2/26/09). His previous high was double-digit points in six consecutive games (done three times: 2/24/08-3/6/08, 12/22/08-12/31/08 and 1/19/09-1/28/09). Scola had his streak of consecutive double-doubles snapped at a career-best five games (2/11/09-2/24/09).

Shane Battier notched a season-high four blocked shots tonight. Since posting his previous high of three blocked shots vs. New York (1/10/09), Battier has continued on to record 23 blocks over his last 20 games (1.15 bpg).

Von Wafer scored 19 points off the bench tonight, which included equaling his career best in 3-pointers made (4-6 3FG).

LeBron James finished with 21 points (7-21 FG) and no assists tonight. James, who also recorded a 21-point outing (7-22 FG) in a game at Toyota Center back in 2006-07 (12/2/06), marked his first career game without registering an assist.

Mo Williams added 21 points (8-18 FG) and four assists tonight. Williams also recorded 23 points and four assists in the last meeting at Cleveland (12/23/08).

Cleveland Injury Update: Cavaliers center Ben Wallace suffered a fractured right fibula and is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks.

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