Rockets-Warriors Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Feb 11 2012 4:53PM

As bad as their leading scorer has been, the Houston Rockets are doing quite well on their longest road trip of the season thanks greatly to their bench.

The Rockets surely would like to see Kevin Martin rediscover his shooting touch as they go for a fourth straight win Sunday night when they face the Golden State Warriors.

Since opening this six-game trip with a 100-91 loss to Minnesota last Saturday, Houston (16-11) has won three in a row, including a 96-89 victory over Phoenix on Thursday.

Martin entered the road swing averaging 20.7 points but has been held to a combined 16 in the last four games, shooting 19.2 percent and missing all nine of his 3-point attempts.

His drop-off is part of coach Kevin McHale's overall concern about his starters not pulling their weight.

"We're going to have to get better, but we'll address that," McHale said of the starting five.

The Rockets reserves have picked up the slack. They outscored their Suns counterparts 57-13 on Thursday, led by 14 points from Patrick Patterson and 12 from Chase Budinger. Goran Dragic added 11 points and matched a career high with 11 assists.

Houston's second unit also keyed a 103-96 win at Portland the previous night with a 66-point performance.

All five players who came off the Rockets bench Thursday scored in double figures and they combined to shoot 59.5 percent, compared to 38.6 by the starters.

"Our bench has been amazing - simple as that," starter Kyle Lowry said. "Tonight every last one of them went over 50-percent shooting from the field. You can't ask for more than that."

Budinger is averaging 16.7 points and 5.3 rebounds during the win streak, going 10 for 19 from 3-point range. Patterson has 25 points and 13 rebounds over the last two games while shooting 11 of 15 from the field. Fellow reserve Courtney Lee has scored in double figures in a season-high three straight games.

Maybe a visit to Oracle Arena can help get Martin going. That's where he scored a career-high 50 points April 1, 2009, and he's averaged 28.3 in his last six games there.

Martin and the Rockets have not faced the Warriors since winning three of four meetings last season as he averaged 29.3 points.

Houston has won 12 of 13 against Golden State (9-14), including six of seven at Oracle Arena.

The Warriors avoided a third straight loss with a 109-101 victory at Denver on Wednesday behind Stephen Curry's season-high 36 points. He shot 13 of 17 overall, including 6 for 9 from 3-point range, to go with seven assists and seven rebounds.

"Just a spectacular night," coach Mark Jackson said. "When you look at that stat line it's a thing of beauty."

While Curry took care of things offensively, the Warriors received a solid team effort defensively. Ekpe Udoh had five of the team's season-high 14 blocks and Golden State held the Nuggets to 34.9-percent shooting over the second and third quarters. The Warriors had given up an average of 116.5 points in the previous two games.

"Coach ripped us at halftime about our effort," Curry said. "Our effort was just awful so we had to come out and get defensive stops and when we got stops, we were able to run and get out in transition and we were able to execute our offense really well and knock down open shots."

The Warriors are playing the first of three straight games at home, where they are 6-8.

Thompson sparks Warriors past Rockets 106-97

By ANTONIO GONZALEZ
Posted Feb 13 2012 12:36AM

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets will forever be tied together for making the same spectacular misjudgment on budding NBA sensation Jeremy Lin.

The next guard in the rotation is making a future decision a little easier on both.

Rookie reserve Klay Thompson had 14 points and sparked a late run with fellow guards Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry, leading the Warriors past the Rockets 106-97 on Sunday night for their second straight victory over a Western Conference playoff contender.

Thompson, selected 11th overall out of Washington State, shot 4 of 6 from 3-point range in his latest sharp-shooting effort. After a slow start this season, he is 12 of his last 16 from beyond the arc.

"The thing I love about him is nothing bothers him," said Warriors coach Mark Jackson, who was stunned last week when Thompson didn't make the roster for the rookie-sophomore game during All-Star weekend.

"It's absolutely funny," Jackson added. "He doesn't care. He's a big-time shooter, but he's a big-time competitor and an underrated defender, underrated passer.

"It's scary to think just how good he's going to be."

Ellis had 33 points and seven assists and David Lee added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Warriors. But it was Thompson and Curry, who also scored 14 points, providing some big shots late to help Golden State upset another top team.

The Warriors (10-14) also won at Denver on Thursday night.

"We want to get on a little win streak here and get back in the playoff hunt," Thompson said. "We're more than capable right now."

Kevin Martin started to break out of a recent shooting slump with 28 points and Luis Scola had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets (16-12), whose three-game winning streak ended. Houston is 3-2 on its current road stretch and has a chance to head home with a winning trip Tuesday at Memphis.

"It just seemed to me like the whole night it felt like we were playing in 8 inches of water," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "We just couldn't get going."

The Warriors pulled away in the fourth quarter with a mix of substitutes and starters.

Ekpe Udoh came off the bench and finished with a strong layup at the rim, drawing a foul on Chase Budinger to convert a three-point play. Thompson followed with a 3-pointer on the next possession, Lee added a put-back dunk and a three-point play and Golden State opened up a 93-80 lead with 7:24 remaining.

Too late and too much for Houston to come back.

The Rockets scored six straight capped by Patrick Patterson's tip to quickly close within seven and give Golden State a brief scare. Then, Curry dribbled along the baseline and finished with an acrobatic, one-handed reverse layup underneath the rim despite getting sent tumbling to the hardwood by Scola. Curry made the free throw for the three-point play to put Golden State back in front by 10 and seal the victory.

The two franchises suddenly tied together by a similar move are trying to make their own marks this season.

Lin was waived by Golden State in December - in large part because of Thompson's and fellow rookie Charles Jenkins' presence - after splitting last season between the Warriors and the NBA Development League. Houston picked the point guard up for a couple of weeks before cutting him, and the Knicks decided to give him a look.

All Lin has done since is help New York to five straight victories and engulfed the NBA in swift and stunning fashion. So much so that Rockets coach Kevin McHale acknowledged he went to a Bay Area sports bar Saturday night to watch Lin lead the Knicks past the Minnesota Timberwolves, where McHale had previously coached.

Sunday's matchup had little of the same intrigue.

After going scoreless for almost three minutes to start the game, the Rockets scored 13 straight - including the last six points by Scola - to take a 13-5 lead. Martin also made 3 of his first 4 from beyond the arc to put Houston ahead by nine points later in the first quarter.

The Warriors whittled the deficit down in a hurry behind some strong 3-point shooting of their own. Golden State made eight of 13 from long range before the half, taking an eight-point lead during one stretch with Curry leading the sparkling shooting display.

Both teams settled down and neither created much separation until Golden State pulled away in the fourth quarter behind Thompson and a flurry of 3-pointers. The Warriors finished 13 for 24 from beyond the arc.

"The good news is that if he continues to play like he's playing and continues to work hard, he'll be in the big show," Jackson said. "He won't have to worry about freshman-sophomore games."

And the Warriors certainly won't have to worry about missing out on the next big thing.

Notes: McHale (TNT) and Jackson (ABC/ESPN) both left the broadcast table for NBA head coaching jobs this season. Asked what enticed them to leave broadcasting, McHale said: "I like the butterflies before the game. I like being in the fight. There's nothing like being in the scrap."... Warriors F Dominic McGuire was inactive with left knee soreness. ... Houston's Jonny Flynn sat out with a lower back injury.

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Follow Antonio Gonzalez at: www.twitter.com/agonzalezAP

Notebook: Warriors 106, Rockets 97

Posted Monday February 13, 2012 1:19AM

By Geoff Lepper, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Monta Ellis scored 33 points with seven assists and his Golden State teammates drained a dozen 3-pointers as the Warriors beat the Houston Rockets, 106-97, Sunday night. David Lee had 15 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, while Stephen Curry and rookie Klay Thompson each had 14 points and combined for seven treys. Golden State shot 54.2 percent from beyond the arc to hand Houston just its fifth loss in the Rockets' last 18 games, negating Kevin Martin's 28-point night.

THE STAT: Ellis and Curry combined for 47 points. Over the Warriors' last five games -- three Golden State victories and a couple near-misses -- the backcourt duo is averaging 50.4 points per game together on 55.8 percent shooting. With a career-high 48-point performance for Ellis against Oklahoma City on Tuesday and a season-high 36 for Curry in Denver on Thursday, this is arguably the most productive stretch the pair have enjoyed since being teamed together three years ago.

QUOTABLE: "What they're doing right now is playing off of one another. They're realizing who has the hot hand -- at all times, they're being unselfish. From Day 1, those guys looked to make plays for the other. Almost too much. They're a talented tandem, and when they're clicking, they're as good as it gets in this league."
-- Warriors head coach Mark Jackson on the Curry-Ellis combination.

TURNING POINT: The Warriors have had trouble maintaining production while mixing and matching their starters and reserves. But a group of two starters -- Ellis and Lee -- blended with Thompson, Nate Robinson and Ekpe Udoh to deliver a 17-5 run at the start of the fourth quarter, turning a close game into a comfortable lead that never again dipped below seven points.

ROOKIE WATCH: Thompson didn't match his career-high 19 points against Denver from Thursday, but he still was a critical component of the Warriors' offense, going 4-for-6 from deep as a complement to Ellis and Curry. After a slow start, Thompson has hit 12 of his last 16 3-point attempts, and leads all rookies in 3-point shooting at 49.3 percent.

GOOD MOVE: With Thompson in a groove, Jackson let him stay on the floor for the final 14:17, and the rookie responded with nine points, four rebound and two assists in that stretch.

QUOTABLE II: "The thing I love about him is nothing bothers him. It's absolutely funny. He doesn't care. He's a great shooter, but he's a big-time competitor. Underrated defender, underrated passer. It's scary to think just how good he's going to be."
-- Jackson on Thompson.

HOT: Ellis started slowly, missing six of his seven shots in the opening 8 1/2 minutes. From then on, he was deadly, going 12-for-16 and blowing apart Houston's defense.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Martin came into the evening on a 5-for-26 cold snap over the first four games of the Rockets' current trip. Turns out a dose of the Warriors -- who allowed Martin to average 29.3 points per game against them last season -- was all the ailing gunner needed. Martin went 5-for-11 on 3-pointers and 9-for-10 from the free-throw line to reach the 25-point plateau for the 11th time this season.

NOTABLE: The Warriors and Rockets combined for assists on the first 19 baskets of the game. There wasn't an unassisted bucket until Robinson pulled up for a 3-pointer at the 10:34 mark in the second quarter. . . . Lee and Curry each recorded their 1,000th career assist during the first half. . . . Warriors forward Dominic McGuire, whom Jackson considers his best individual player, missed the game due to soreness in his left knee.

UP NEXT: For the Warriors, Monday vs. Phoenix, Wednesday vs. Portland, Friday @ Oklahoma City. For the Rockets, Tuesday @ Memphis, Wednesday vs. Oklahoma City, Friday vs. Utah.

• Rockets: Morris, Smith
• Warriors: Brown

• Rockets: --
• Warriors: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
• Officials: #41 Ken Mauer, #11 Derrick Collins, #44 Eli Roe
• Attendance: 19596
• Duration: 2:09