Pistons-Rockets Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Nov 10 2012 6:00PM

James Harden has endured some rough efforts since a spectacular Houston Rockets debut that came against the Detroit Pistons.

Harden's Rockets have lost three straight entering Saturday night's home matchup against a winless Pistons team off to its worst start in 33 years.

The star shooting guard had been with Houston for four days when he had 37 points and 12 assists in his debut, a 105-96 victory at Detroit on Oct. 31.

Harden followed that performance with a 45-point effort in a 109-102 win in Atlanta two days later, but he's averaging 19.0 points on 29.8 percent shooting during the losing streak.

Harden has faced some tough defenders in his last two games, making 5 of 15 shots for a season-low 15 points while primarily facing Denver's Andre Iguodala in a 93-87 loss Wednesday. He was guarded mostly by Tony Allen and missed 14 of 18 field-goal attempts in Friday's 93-85 defeat at Memphis.

Now Harden will get a second matchup with Detroit veteran Tayshaun Prince, who was quick to give the Rockets guard credit for making 14 of 25 shots in the opener.

"We thought he would have had a tougher time as far as figuring out their offense, but they only stuck to a couple plays the entire game, which helped him out and kept him in a good rhythm," Prince said. "We know what type of player James Harden is."

Although Harden has been getting in more practice with the Rockets, their offense has regressed with an average of 85.7 points during the slide.

Houston (2-3) shot 40.8 percent and was outscored 21-5 in fast-break points Friday.

"We think we are just not running," point guard Jeremy Lin said. "We are not running with urgency and speed. Some of it is on me, too, not getting back (when opponents) do run the ball. We just need to make a conscious effort as a team of getting everybody up the floor."

Coach Kevin McHale won't be around to help that push. He's taken a leave of absence due to a family matter and there is no timetable for his return. Assistant Kelvin Sampson will be in charge while McHale is out.

Detroit (0-6) fell 105-94 at Oklahoma City on Friday. The Pistons, who will finish a six-game trip, are enduring their worst start since the 1979-80 team began 0-7.

There may be reason for optimism, however, since first-round pick Andre Drummond came alive with 22 points and eight rebounds against the Thunder. Drummond totaled 19 points in his first five games and only played 12 minutes in the opener versus the Rockets.

On Friday, the power forward proved to be formidable up front along with third-year center Greg Monroe, who had 14 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three blocks.

"When you have two guys like that, you have two big men guarding us and you know how they get mixed up sometimes with picks and stuff like that," Monroe said. "I was able to find him a couple of times with them mixed up and got a couple easy buckets."

Drummond, however, wasn't as big a factor on the defensive end. The Pistons allowed the Thunder to shoot 53.5 percent, a season high for an opponent.

"We've just got to kind of put it all together and keep building," coach Lawrence Frank said.

Houston has won four straight and seven of the last eight meetings with Detroit.

Harden leads Rockets to 96-82 win over Pistons

By KRISTIE RIEKEN
Posted Nov 10 2012 11:42PM

HOUSTON (AP) The Houston Rockets knew they needed to get back on track Saturday night after three straight losses.

When they learned they'd be without coach Kevin McHale against Detroit, they were even more determined to break the losing streak.

Harden scored 20 points, Omer Asik had 14 and the Rockets beat the winless Pistons 96-82 in their first game without McHale.

The team announced earlier Saturday that McHale was taking an immediate leave of absence to deal with a family matter.

Assistant coach Kelvin Sampson took over, and said before the game that he hoped the team would come together to win for McHale.

The Rockets did just that, using a third-quarter run to build a big lead and go on to their first victory at home. The Pistons fell to 0-7.

"It was good for us to come out here and get a win, especially for coach McHale and what he's going through," Harden said.

Jeremy Lin said it was a bit strange to play without McHale in charge of the team.

"It was definitely different," Lin said. "He's our leader. He's our voice. But coach Sampson did a good job coming in, and we played hard. Obviously we can't wait for coach McHale to come back. Everybody around here loves him to death."

Brandon Knight scored 16 points for Detroit and Greg Monroe added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Detroit scored five quick points to get within four midway through the third quarter. The Rockets responded with an 11-2 spurt highlighted by six points from Harden to make it 69-56 with less than four minutes left in the period.

Harden was fouled on a layup he made after a nifty assist from Lin during that run. Harden slapped the padded part of the goal after the shot, and promptly knocked down the free throw for the three-point play.

Sampson, who was a longtime college coach before moving to the NBA, acknowledged that it felt odd to be working as a head coach again for the first time since 2008.

"I was nervous at first," he said. "I kept tonight in perspective. I kept thinking of Kevin and his family and what he's going through. That's something far more important than me coaching a game for the first time in (almost) five years."

Houston padded its lead by scoring the first eight points of the fourth quarter. Detroit couldn't do anything offensively in the fourth quarter and missed its first 10 shots.

The Pistons didn't score in the quarter until Knight's jump shot with six minutes remaining made it 80-59.

"There was no offensive energy out there at all," Detroit coach Lawrence Frank said. "We didn't even give ourselves a chance during that run. I don't make excuses why because I know we're capable of doing more."

Detroit's Tayshaun Prince, who scored 13 points, was unhappy with the team's performance.

"The way we are playing right now is unacceptable," he said. "Guys should be upset right now."

Houston came in averaging almost 20 turnovers a game but had a season-low 14 against Detroit.

This was the second meeting between these teams this season. Harden scored 37 points and had 12 assists in a 105-96 victory in his debut with the Rockets on Oct. 31 after a trade from Oklahoma City days earlier.

Marcus Morris added 12 points for Houston and Toney Douglas had 11. Lin helped out with seven points, eight assists and four rebounds.

Houston was up 72-57 entering the fourth quarter.

The Rockets were up by five at the end of the first quarter, and used a 14-7 run capped by a 3-pointer from Douglas to open the second quarter and extend the lead to 34-22.

Houston's lead was 15 points late in the second quarter before Detroit scored nine straight points to end the period and cut the Rockets' lead to 47-41 at halftime.

NOTES: Houston rookies Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas made their NBA debuts on Saturday night. Jones had five points and two blocks and Motiejunas had three points . ... Houston's Chandler Parsons has made at least one 3-pointer in each game this season. ... There is no timetable for McHale's return.

Notebook: Rockets 96, Pistons 82

Matt Miller, For NBA.com
Posted Sat Nov 10, 2012 11:56 PM - Updated Sat Nov 10, 2012 11:56 PM

THE FACTS: Less than 24 hours after James Harden bolted from the visiting locker room at FedExForum in Memphis before the media was allowed to enter, the fourth-year guard pumped his fist in celebration while several thousand of the Rockets faithful showered him with cheers. This after breaking out of a three-game slump that coincided with Houston's three-game losing streak.

Success has a way of changing an athlete's disposition.

Harden's third-quarter surge paved the way for Houston in its 96-82 victory over the winless Detroit Pistons on Saturday at Toyota Center, as the third-year guard scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in the period to turn a competitive contest into a rout. Omer Asik matched his career high with 14 points and pulled down eight rebounds for the Rockets (3-3), who earned their first home win of the season and gave Kelvin Sampson a victory in his NBA coaching debut. Sampson will be in charge of the team while Kevin McHale is on a leave of absence to attend to a family matter.

Greg Monroe recorded a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Brandon Knight netted 16 points and handed out seven assists for Detroit (0-7), which is off to its worst start since the 1979-80 season.

QUOTABLE: "We never let down defensively. We put a great emphasis tonight on ... conversion from defense to offense and scoring in transition. ... Our guys are starting to take pride in our defense now."

-- Kelvin Sampson

THE STAT: For the first time this season, the Rockets finished with fewer than 18 turnovers and allowed less than 17 points off giveaways. Although Houston's offensive struggles continued, it finally made progress toward avoiding the self-inflicted damage that haunted it during its three-game skid.

TURNING POINT: The pesky Pistons were putting up a good fight at the end of a six-game road trip, trailing by only four points with five minutes remaining in the third quarter. But Jeremy Lin's ball-handling and passing skills, along with a pair of Harden buckets sandwiched around a Chandler Parsons trey, helped Houston net nine consecutive points to stretch its lead to 69-56 less than 90 seconds later. That stretch proved to be the knockout blow for Detroit, which never trimmed its deficit below double digits for the remainder of the game.

QUOTABLE II: "It felt good to finally see a couple [shots] go in. ... Finally, they went in, and you [breathe] a sigh of relief."

-- James Harden

HOT: The Rockets' Marcus Morris spearheaded a huge second-quarter run for the Rockets, pouring in 10 points on five consecutive makes. The second-year forward finished with 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting to go with career highs of eight rebounds and two steals.

NOT: The Pistons shot 39 percent in the first half, but it could have been much worse if Tayshaun Prince had not knocked down several jump shots. Aside from Prince, Detroit made only 11 of 35 shot attempts (31.4 percent) before halftime. With Prince unable to regain his touch after the break, the Pistons' offense collapsed as Detroit generated only 16 points in the third period.

BAD MOVE: Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said before the game that the conclusion of this six-game trek would test his team's character. The Pistons deserved an 'A 'in the first half, battling through some lackluster offensive performances to remain within striking distance. They earned an 'F' after halftime, however, as they committed nine turnovers, routinely failed to get back on defense and allowed a slumping Rockets squad to get to the line for 16 free-throw attempts. After Houston put a 9-0 run together to build a 13-point lead, Detroit rolled over -- the opposite of what Frank hoped to see.

QUOTABLE III: "I was extremely disappointed. Your resolve is tested every day regardless of what your record is. ... We could've built on last night, and we didn't. ... We didn't even give ourselves a chance during that [third-quarter] run. I don't make excuses because I know we're capable of doing more."

-- Lawrence Frank

GOOD MOVE: Frank switched to a zone defense after Houston built a 47-32 lead, leading to poor shot selection and turnovers for the Rockets that sparked a 13-2 Detroit run.

NOTABLE: The Pistons have dropped five consecutive meetings with the Rockets overall and seven straight in Houston. ... The Rockets won for a franchise-record 32nd consecutive game when limiting their opponent to less than 90 points. ... The Rockets overcame 40.2 percent shooting from the field with a season-high 24 fast-break points. ... Monroe has recorded a double-double in each of his last four games.

UP NEXT: For the Pistons, Monday vs. Oklahoma City, Wednesday @ Philadelphia, Friday vs. Orlando. For the Rockets, Monday vs. Miami, Wednesday vs. New Orleans, Friday @ Portland.

• Pistons: Kravtsov, Maggette
• Rockets: Machado, White

• Pistons: Jerebko
• Rockets: --

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Toyota Center, Houston, TX
• Officials: #23 Jason Phillips, #50 Olandis Poole, #20 Leroy Richardson
• Attendance: 15037
• Duration: 2:08