PrintRockets Ring In New Year With Big Win Over Mavs
Houston earns split of season series with 97-94 victory
Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer
Houston - This time there will be no need for protests, excuses, or caveats. The Rockets made sure of that by beating Dallas at full strength during a thrilling affair Thursday night and, in the process, even found a way to neutralize Dirk Nowitzki without having to resort to painful charges ending with Carl Landry’s teeth in the Dallas star’s elbow.
It was all part of Houston’s heart-stopping 97-94 victory, one which put the cap on a tremendous 2009 for the club while evening the season-series with their rivals who had looked so dominant while defeating the Rockets by an average of nearly 25 points during the teams’ first two meetings.
“It means a lot,” confirmed Shane Battier, whose great all-around game featured 11 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and a clutch, late-game trey. “We think they’re one of the top three teams in the West, they’re really good. They have a chance to go for the title and after the first two shellackings, to come back and play them tough and even the series, that’s big for our ballclub. These are signature wins that we can draw upon later in the year and say, ‘You know what, when we play this way we can beat the really good teams.’”
The Rockets did so during a game which featured plenty of drama but none of the controversy or freakish injuries which took place the last time these two clubs faced off. Instead, the Rockets relied on yet another total team effort and the increasingly consistent crunch-time contributions of Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry. Brooks, who led all scorers with 30 points, made his only make of the final frame count, draining a huge triple to give Houston a 95-89 cushion in the last two minutes. Landry, meanwhile, simply lived up to his growing reputation as the Rockets’ fourth quarter assassin, scoring 9 of his 15 points in the period – all while mixing in some impressive one-on-one defense against Nowitzki.
“They were terrific,” said Rockets Head Coach Rick Adelman of his blossoming pair of third-year players. “Aaron made a great play at the end and…was aggressive and took it to the hole. Carl was tremendous in that fourth quarter again. He did a good job of making (Nowitzki) take that fadeaway jumper and not getting him on the line. (Dirk) only shot four free throws. Good effort, I can’t say enough about the effort.”
During the first half the Rockets found success by finding a new way to make the Mavs’ Nowitzki appear invisible. But instead of asking Landry to risk several more hours in a dentist chair this time, Houston allowed the officials’ whistles to do the dirty work. Nowitzki found himself stricken with foul trouble for the vast majority of the opening 24 minutes, causing him to head to the locker room at halftime with a stunning stat line that featured just two points, 0-for-2 shooting and 3 fouls next to his name.
The Rockets were only too happy to take advantage, racing out to a 56-47 lead at the break, sparked by their hot shooting (54.8% from the field, 5-of-11 from three), unrelenting style and seemingly unstoppable backcourt duo of Brooks and Kyle Lowry. The dynamic pair combined to score 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting, while hitting all four of their three-point attempts in the first half.
Houston found points harder to come by in the second half as Dallas switched to a zone defense which periodically gave the Rockets fits. Houston hit just 35 percent of its shots in the half, allowing the Mavs to make a run and keep things tight all the way up until the final buzzer when Jason Kidd’s last second three-point attempt rimmed out.
But the Rockets’ issues with the intricacies of the 2-3 zone can be fixed - said Adelman: “I’ve never had a team that’s really struggled against the zone and we shouldn’t either.” - the key takeaway for Houston is that their young players came through with winning plays in crunch time once again, bringing the Rockets’ record in games decided by 7 points or less at the end of regulation to a sparkling 9-4. In other words, the kids are growing up. Quickly.
“I think guys just go out there and we find ways to finish,” said Lowry. “We've got guys who have been through the wars and the experiences and we've got younger guys who are just learning. Aaron stepped up big time and Carl has been doing it all season. Those guys really helped us.”
QUOTES
RICK ADELMAN
Obviously just a great win. Our guys’ effort was tremendous tonight. We made big plays when we had to and got a big stop at the end there and played through a lot of stuff so I was really happy to finish the year like that.
(Aaron and Carl stepping up late): They were terrific. Aaron made a great play at the end and got fouled – how (the officials) don’t see that I don’t know. I thought he got hit across the arm. But he made the right play. He was aggressive and took it to the hole. Carl was tremendous in that fourth quarter again. It was the effort by the whole team right on through the 48 minutes that was terrific.
(playing against the zone): We haven’t played against the zone very much and it should not change what we’re doing. That’s one of the reasons we run what we call a corner, because you can run it against a zone or man-to-man but you have to have different emphasis’s. We haven’t seen it for awhile but we weren’t looking enough inside. You have to look inside. The zone is not a great defense if you attack it right and I thought we stood way too much. I don’t like standing or just taking standstill threes; we have to go inside, outside and we have to have cutters going through. Again, we haven’t seen it that much. It’s something we have to talk about but I’ve never had a team that’s really struggled against the zone and we shouldn’t either with the people we have inside.
(Landry’s defense on Dirk): We worked at it. (Dirk) got himself in foul trouble and that hurt him, I’m sure. Carl did a good job of making him take that fadeaway jumper and not getting him on the line. He only shot four free throws. Good effort, I can’t say enough about the effort.
(Shane’s 3-pointer): That play was there all night. We talked about it in the huddle, about Aaron running the baseline. (Shane) has to make the shot of course but he made the right cut, he came across and there’s nobody to guard him. That’s why I say, we have to get used to what’s available when teams play a 2-3 zone because there are going to be opportunities. You’ve got to have the mindset that you’re going to have cutters going through and you can’t stand around. I thought we stood too much.
AARON BROOKS
I think we did a great job on defense. That’s probably one of the best efforts that we’ve done on Dirk. We held him under 100 points and I think that’s one of the first time we’ve done that. That allowed us to shoot threes and miss a couple and still keep ourselves in the game.
(his scoring): I’m going to go out there, shoot when I’m open and whatever happens after that, I’m going to roll with it.
(feeling more comfortable taking shots in close games?): A little bit. Today one of our big shots came from penetration by Kyle Lowry. He found me when I was open. I think he did a great job of penetrating and the shot I did miss, Shane grabbed the rebound and whatever happened after that.
But I’m comfortable taking shots like that. I felt good today but maybe next time someone else will take the shot, I don’t know.
SHANE BATTIER
(what did you say to get the tech?): I don’t remember. We won the game, it doesn’t ever matter. I’m going to let this one die with 2009.
(on his big 3): Well we were a little bit short on answers against the zone; didn’t have very good ball movement and I wasn’t too happy with my shooting. But it was a play where I knew I’d be open in the corner if I ran a certain cut and they saw me, Dampier was running at me so I put a little extra arc on it and it helped it go in the basket.
It was a great game – a great game to win and to come out on top. The fans were into it, the players were into it and it’s a typical Mavs-Rockets game. We made enough plays and shots to close them out.
(on Aaron in crunch time): He’s our guy. He’s our guy so he better get used to it. We have all the confidence and faith in Aaron in late-game situations. We want the ball in his hands to make decisions and hit big shots like he did tonight.
(on splitting the season-series with Dallas): It means a lot. We think they’re one of the top three teams in the West, they’re really good. They have a chance to go for the title and after the first two shellackings, to come back and play them tough and even the series, that’s big for our ball club. These are signature wins that we can draw upon later in the year and say, ‘You know what, when we play this way we can beat the really good teams.’”
LUIS SCOLA
(On tonight’s game) “Definitely it was. We struggled with Dallas early in the season. We finally could win the last two games so we finished the year on a great note and we're happy with it.”
(On playing the Hornets on Saturday) “We're going there, actually, so it is also another big game. We just need to accumulate as many wins as we can and they will be a great rival for a playoff fight. It's going to be a huge game.”
TREVOR ARIZA
(On the Rockets good start in the 1st quarter) “That was important for us, getting out to a quick start. Usually when we get out to a big start we will keep up the lead and have our confidence going into the 2nd quarter or the second half.”
(On the win) “We are getting better and better every game and we are able to pull out tough ones. Every possession counted in the second half and we did what we had to do.”
KYLE LOWRY
(On the Rockets 4th quarter defense) “We played good defense. Everybody covered for each other and I think we did a good job. (Jason) Kidd missed an open shot but we had hands everywhere and we were contesting shots. We just wanted to go out there and play solid defense.”
(on the win) “I think guys just go out there and we find ways to finish. We've got guys who have been through the wars and the experiences and we've got younger guys who are just learning. Aaron (Brooks) stepped up big time and Carl (Landry) has been doing it all season. Those guys really helped us.”
COACH RICK CARLISLE
(on the game) “Our undoing was a sluggish first quarter. Houston hit us with early transition points and three’s. The rest of the game was about even. With a team like this you have to come out with energy early or you are in trouble.”
(on Nowitzki’s play) “He got off to a slow start and the second foul was very unfortunate and it really hurt us. Those things happen but you have to overcome them.”
(on his team’s play) “I was proud of the way we battled back in the second half. We gave ourselves a chance to win but the shots just wouldn’t drop. The first eight minutes of the game put us behind the eight ball. We didn’t do the things we needed to do consistently in the first quarter and that hurt us.”
DIRK NOWITZKI
(on his play) “I had a wide open shot (toward the end of the game) and didn’t knock it down. I have to make that shot for my team. We had our chances down the stretch but we couldn’t get over the hump. (on the final play) “The way I was shooting the ball without any rhythm, I thought passing the ball to Jason was the right basketball play. Houston made tough shots down the stretch to win the game.”
(on the Rockets) “Without Yao and Tracy, you have to give Houston a lot of credit the way they battle and play hard every game.”
JASON KIDD
(on the final shot) “I got a great look. I might have rushed it a second. I would love to have that shot again.”
(on the game) “Give Houston credit. They won the game. The zone helped us in the second half to get back in the game. We had an opportunity.”
(on Aaron Brooks) “He’s playing great. He plays very hard, is extremely quick and shoots well behind the three-point line. He is a big part of their success this season.”
JASON TERRY
(on the final play) “It was the right play and the ball got to the right man and it just rimmed out. Shane Battier hit an outstanding shot to help them win the game.”
(on the rivalry) “We’re rivals and have been since I’ve been in Dallas. It’s been tough all season and it’s an early end to our match-up during the regular season. Good luck to them and maybe we’ll see them in the playoffs. They always play hard.”
NOTES
Tonight’s attendance of 18,306 stands as this season’s largest crowd at Toyota Center. It also marks the seventh sellout for the Rockets this season.
Houston registered a 97-94 victory over Dallas tonight to even the season series at 2-2. Tonight also marked the 10th time the Rockets have ever played on New Year’s Eve. Houston’s overall record now stands at 6-4 in games played on the final day of the year.
The Rockets finished Dec. with a record of 11-5, which matched the most wins in the month of Dec. in team history (11-4 in 1995-96).
Houston also completed the month of Dec. a perfect 6-0 at Toyota Center, which extended its current home winning streak to a season-best six straight games (12/9/09-12/31/09).
The Rockets held the Mavericks to 17 points (8-23 FG) over the opening 12 minutes of action, which matched Houston’s opponent season low for first quarter scoring (17 by Grizzlies on 11/11/09 vs. Memphis).
Houston’s 32 second-quarter points marked a season best for that quarter, topping the previous high of 31 vs. the L.A. Clippers (12/22/09). The Rockets also had a 30-point second quarter in the prior meeting at Dallas (12/18/09).
The Rockets made 10-of-28 3-pointers (.357) tonight, while limiting the Mavericks to just 2-of-12 (.167) from beyond the arc.
Aaron Brooks recorded the third 30-point outing of his career with an even 30 points tonight, setting or tying career highs in field goals made (11, tied), field goals attempted (26), 3-pointers made (6) and 3-point field goals attempted (12, tied). Tonight also marked Brooks’ 10th 20-point performance during this month of Dec. To put that in perspective, Brooks entered this season with 11 20-point games over his first two seasons with the Rockets. Brooks also had five 3-pointers made (5-7 3FG) en route to 27 points (8-12 FG, 6-7 FT) in the previous game vs. New Orleans (12/29/09).
Luis Scola posted 12 points (6-11 FG) and 13 rebounds tonight. Scola also had 19 points (9-18 FG) and 10 rebounds in the last game at Dallas (12/18/09), while matching his career-high five assists.
Trevor Ariza finished with 11 points (4-10 FG), nine rebounds and a game-high seven assists tonight. He just missed his career high in assists of eight set at New Jersey (12/26/09).
Kyle Lowry had 12 points (5-8 FG, 2-3 3FG), six boards, five assists and one steal tonight. Lowry netted a career-high 26 points (8-13 FG, 3-5 3FG, 7-9 FT), dished out 10 assists, grabbed six rebounds and matched his career-best five steals in the last meeting at Dallas (12/18/09).
Jason Terry came off the bench to lead six Mavericks in double-figure scoring with 20 points (7-12 FG, 5-7 FT). Overall, Terry came off the bench to top Dallas in scoring in three of the four outings with the Rockets this season, including 27 points (10-11 FG, 4-4 3FG, 3-3 FT) and 10 assists at Houston (11/25/09).
Shawn Marion and Josh Howard each had 16 points tonight for Dallas. Marion and Howard also matched point outings with 17 apiece in the last meeting with the Rockets at Dallas (12/18/09).
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