Rockets-Bobcats Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Jan 10 2012 6:02PM

The Houston Rockets are giving up the most points on the road of any team in the NBA, but the potential return of starting guard Kyle Lowry may provide a spark.

The Charlotte Bobcats have struggled plenty on their home floor.

The teams hope to end their respective losing streaks when they meet Tuesday night in Charlotte.

Houston (2-6) has lost its first five road games by an average of 16.2 points, allowing a league-worst 110.2 points per game in those contests. The Rockets fell 109-94 on Friday at Oklahoma City before losing 98-95 at home Saturday as the thunder completed a home-and-home sweep.

Luis Scola scored a season-high 28 points Saturday for the Rockets, who have lost four straight overall and have been held below 100 points in seven of their eight contests.

Despite the loss, Scola claimed to be happy with how Houston played.

"I think we played a great game," Scola said. "(Oklahoma City) is one of the best teams in the NBA right there. At the end, we put ourselves in a situation to win the game. They were just too good. They made some great plays, and at the end of the game, it comes down to great players making great plays."

Goran Dragic scored 20 points and had eight assists in his second straight start in place of Lowry, who has been nursing a bruised right foot.

Lowry, second in the league with 10.0 assists per game, returned to practice Monday and hopes to be back in the lineup against Charlotte.

"I'm sore, but better," Lowry told the Rockets' official website. "Hopefully my foot reacts well to the treatment and practice and hopefully I can go out there and play.

"I feel like I let my team down by being hurt - that's the truth. I hate not being out there and being able to play with my teammates. The way they played on Saturday night - it was just an incredible effort that they gave and it made me sick to my stomach that I couldn't be out there to help."

The Bobcats (2-7) could use some help of their own after falling 91-87 at New York on Monday for their third straight defeat. They've lost seven of eight since beating Milwaukee in their season opener.

D.J. Augustin, who shot 4 for 13 and finished with 12 points, missed a potential game-tying 3-point attempt with four seconds remaining.

"The last play of the game we got a wide-open 3 from our best 3-point shooter. So I can't fault us at all for the effort," coach Paul Silas said.

Boris Diaw had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Bobcats, who committed 17 turnovers. Charlotte's only victory in its current slump was a 118-110 win at New York last Wednesday, when Diaw had a season-high 27 points.

The Rockets have won nine of the last 11 meetings with the Bobcats, including a 94-78 victory behind 21 points from Kevin Martin on March 16. Augustin had 22 points that contest.

The Bobcats, though, have taken the last two matchups in Charlotte. Diaw had 20 points and 10 rebounds in a 99-89 home win over the Rockets on Nov. 26, 2010.

Charlotte will be without forward Tyrus Thomas, who is sitting out due to fatigued legs. Thomas, who missed the first six games with a sprained left ankle, is averaging 7.7 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Parsons' 20 points lead Rockets past Bobcats 82-70

By STEVE REED
Posted Jan 11 2012 2:51AM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Kevin McHale has been around the NBA long enough to know that not every win can be pretty.

And Houston's 82-70 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday night was proof.

McHale's Rockets overcame 22 turnovers and won despite shooting just 39 percent from the field to snap a four-game losing streak.

Rookie Chandler Parsons scored 20 points and Kevin Martin 17 for the Rockets, while Jordan Hill came up big off the bench with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

"Sometimes in the NBA you've just got to win ugly," McHale said.

"Believe me that was ugly for both teams out there, but it was prettier for us and I was happy for our guys. They kept fighting. We've been preaching that you've got to win some ugly games."

The Rockets (3-6) broke open a tight game in the third quarter and the poor-shooting Bobcats could never make a serious run at the lead.

The closest they got was within five with 2:30 remaining, but Parsons made a 3-pointer from the right wing and a jumper from deep in the left corner to put the Rockets back up by double digits.

The Rockets held the Bobcats to 35 percent shooting from the field and outrebounded them 57-44.

"I thought we were tired and couldn't really do anything, couldn't execute, couldn't run, couldn't defend," Bobcats coach Paul Silas said.

"It's just one of those nights. Even layups. We had shots right at the hoop but we couldn't convert. I can't fault them, I mean, they played as well as they could play. We just didn't have it. They were sitting here waiting for us to come in (from New York). We played a tough game Monday night (at the Knicks), and then to come back tonight and have to play, that's rough. It's rough."

Parsons came into the game averaging just 5.3 points this season but got hot early, scoring six of his team's first eight points.

He shot 9 of 16 from the field and added seven rebounds to give the Rockets a much-needed spark.

"At the end of the day you're playing basketball and in a game like that it's just exciting for our team to be able to shoot that poorly from the field and be able to pull out a win on the road in the NBA," Parsons said. "That's the kind of effort we have to give on the defensive end every night to win games like this."

The Rockets began the season 2-2, but had lost four in a row while struggling on offense.

Kyle Lowry had 11 rebounds and eight assists for the Rockets, while Samuel Dalembert added 10 rebounds.

Jordan's double-double was big for the Rockets, particularly in the third quarter.

"Jordan saved our bacon there for a while," McHale said. "He played really well. We're still trying to find out rotations and try to find out what we're going to be doing. We're still working on all those things and trying to find out who is going to play and when they're going to play and whose they're going to play with."

The Bobcats (2-8) couldn't muster much offense with the exception of center Byron Mullens, who turned in another solid game off the bench scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

It was the sixth time in eight games Mullens has finished in double digits in scoring and marked his second double-double of the season since being acquired in a preseason trade with Oklahoma City.

The Bobcats were playing without starting forwards Corey Maggette, who is out two to four weeks with a strained left hamstring, and Tyrus Thomas, who needed a break to rest his fatigued legs after seeing significant playing time in the team's previous three games.

Their other top scorers didn't pick up the slack.

Boris Diaw, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds the night before against the Knicks, was held to four points on 2 of 13 shooting.

D.J. Augustin came into the game averaging 18.6 points, 7.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds in his previous five games, was held to 11 points on 4 of 13 shooting.

Notes: Mullens had made 19 straight free throws to start the season before missing one in the third quarter. He said the foul shot wasn't supposed to be his, but the referee sent him to the line. "It didn't feel right," Mullens said. ... Diaw has gone seven games and 185 minutes without going to the free throw line. ... The Rockets had allowed opponents to shoot 54 percent from the field on the road this season before Tuesday night.

Notebook: Rockets 82, Bobcats 70

By Derek S. Smith, for NBA.com
Posted Tuesday January 10, 2012 11:04PM

THE FACTS: Chandler Parsons scored five of his game- and career-high 20 points in the waning moments of the fourth quarter as the Rockets beat the struggling Bobcats 82-70 Tuesday for their first road win of the season. Byron Mullens paced Charlotte with 15 points off the bench.

QUOTABLE: "Chandler (Parsons) played really well out there. Chandler plays the same way in the fourth quarter as he does in the first. He plays the same way in practice as the way he plays in games. He just comes out and plays really hard."
-- Houston coach Kevin McHale

THE STAT: From way downtown. CLANG. The Bobcats were just 1-for-13 from behind the arc. It was a season-low for Charlotte for both made threes as well as percentage from the three-point line. The Rockets on the other hand were 6-for-17.

TURNING POINT: Parsons made the big plays when it counted down the stretch. The rookie out of Florida stopped the momentum of Charlotte with a three from the right corner with 2:34 to play to put the Rockets back up by eight points. He then grabbed the defensive rebound after a Charlotte miss and then made a step-back jumper this time from the left corner to put Houston up by double digits and seal the win.

QUOTABLE II: "It's a huge win for us. It's just big to walk out of here with a win."
-- Parsons

NOT: Boris Diaw. The Bobcats' most versatile player was anything but Tuesday night. Diaw scored four points on 2-for-14 shooting which included going 0-for-4 from behind the arc. He also committed three turnovers and got into early foul trouble which created rotation issues all night for Charlotte.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Byron Mullens. The Bobcats reserve center has become instant offense of late. Mullens led the team with 15 points Tuesday and has scored in double figures in five of the last six contests with an average of 12.7 in the six-game span. Mullens also had his second double-double in three games with 10 rebounds in the loss against Houston.

ROOKIE WATCH: The star of the game Tuesday was rookie Chandler Parsons. The first-year forward led all scorers with 20 points including buckets on back-to-back possessions which sealed the win for Houston. The Bobcats' Kemba Walker struggled offensively with nine points on 4-for-13 shooting. He did have a solid night on the glass with eight rebounds and added three assists and a steal.

NOTABLE: Charlotte was 30-for-88 from the floor against Houston. It was their second-worst shooting performance of the season. ... The Bobcats bench outscored the starters 37-33. ... Charlotte guard D.J. Augustin has scored in double figures in each of the last six games. ... The Rockets picked up their first road win of the season after dropping the first five. ... Houston assistant coach Kelvin Sampson had two players from his collegiate coaching days on the opposing bench. The Bobcats' Eduardo Najera (Oklahoma) and D.J. White (Indiana) were both coached by Sampson. ... The Rockets went 11-0 in 2010-11 when holding opponents below 90 points and are now 3-0 in such games in 2011-12. ... Kevin Martin continues to be among the best at the free throw line this season. Martin is 31-for-33 (.939) on the season. ... Luis Scola was held to single digits (nine points) for the first time in six games.

UP NEXT: For the Rockets, Wednesday @ San Antonio, Friday vs. Sacramento, Saturday vs. Portland. For the Bobcats, Thursday @ Atlanta, Friday vs. Detroit, Saturday vs. Golden State.

• Rockets: Lee, Morris
• Bobcats: Najera, Williams

• Rockets: --
• Bobcats: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC
• Officials: #36 David Jones, #61 Courtney Kirkland, #50 Olandis Poole
• Attendance: 13421
• Duration: 2:02