Hornets-Rockets Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Jan 02 2013 10:06AM

While James Harden continues to lead the way for the Houston Rockets, one of the team's lesser-known names is also keying their success.

Harden and Carlos Delfino look to build on impressive efforts Wednesday night as the Rockets host the New Orleans Hornets, losers of three straight at Toyota Center.

After falling 122-116 at San Antonio on Friday and 124-94 to Oklahoma City the following night, Houston (17-14) got back on track Monday with a 123-104 win over Atlanta. Harden scored a game-high 28 points for the Rockets, who shot 53.6 percent and held a 48-38 scoring edge in the paint.

"Tonight was a must win for us," said Harden, averaging 26.1 points to rank fifth in the league. "We were on a five-game win streak and then we had two kind of bad losses and we needed to come back and play our brand of basketball and do whatever it takes to get a victory. We're getting better. We're playing as a team."

After sitting out against the Spurs and Thunder, Delfino returned to score a season-high 22 points while shooting 8 of 10 and posting a career high-tying eight assists off the bench Monday. The Rockets, 3-6 without Delfino, improved to 14-8 when he plays and 7-1 when he scores at least 11.

"He just lets the game come to him and makes the right play, the easy play," coach Kevin McHale told the team's official website. "The ball hits his hands and he moves it to the next guy. He just plays real solid and is a very good basketball player. I've always liked him."

The Rockets now face a Hornets team coming off a 95-86 loss to the Hawks on Tuesday. Three nights after debuting with 24 points off the bench in a 98-95 win at Charlotte, Eric Gordon shot 5 of 17 and scored 11 points.

Gordon sat out the first 29 games with knee troubles.

"We just didn't put up much of a fight," coach Monty Williams said. "We just didn't have execution and didn't play with a lot of force.

"I think everyone was waiting on (Gordon) to do something, be Superman. That's not what we're about. We're a team and I got to find a good rotation."

New Orleans (7-24), limited to 89.3 points per game during a 2-13 slump, could have a hard time keeping up against a Rockets team that's taken 11 of 14 at home while averaging 112.1.

"We need to just buckle down and go over there and get a win," Gordon said. "We just need to do a better job with the game plan."

New Orleans has dropped seven of 10 in Houston, including three straight while shooting 39.8 percent. The Hornets nearly erased a 21-point deficit during a 100-96 defeat there Nov. 14, but couldn't overcome Harden's 30.

Greivis Vasquez, who had 24 points and nine assists in that game, is averaging 17.1 and 10.1 over his last 10. He had 17 points, 10 assists and a career high-tying nine boards Tuesday.

Harden scores 31 as Rockets beat Hornets 104-92

By JORDAN GODWIN
Posted Jan 03 2013 12:21AM

HOUSTON (AP) When the shots weren't falling, James Harden helped the Houston Rockets find a new way to score.

Harden had 31 points and seven assists to lead the Rockets to a 104-92 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night.

When he couldn't find a rhythm from beyond the arc, Harden took to the paint, where he scored 16 of his points. For a team that ranks second only to New York in 3-pointers attempted and made, Houston outscored New Orleans 60-28 in the paint.

"I think that shows the maturity that we're growing and that we're getting better," Harden said. "Sometimes our offense isn't on point, but we're finding ways to score."

Harden has led the Rockets in scoring for 14 straight games, not including a Dec. 10 loss to San Antonio where he was sidelined with an ankle injury. He has posted 20-plus points in a career-best 14 straight games, second only to Kobe Bryant for the league's longest such streak this season.

Omer Asik had 21 points and eight rebounds, and forward Patrick Patterson scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and added nine rebounds in the game for the Rockets.

Harden and Asik combined to score 18 of Houston's 25 third-quarter points.

Reserve Ryan Anderson had 18 points, and Greivis Vasquez had the third double-double of his last four games with 15 points and 14 assists for New Orleans, which lost for the 14th time in the last 16 games.

Just two days after hitting a season-high 16 3-pointers in a victory over Atlanta, the Rockets went cold from beyond the arc. Houston made a season-low five 3s on 24 attempts (20.8 percent.).

"They didn't hit the 3s that they normally hit, but they just kept attacking our guards," New Orleans coach Monty Williams said. "They played in our paint all night long."

The Rockets led 49-44 at halftime, falling short of 50 first-half points for just the second time in the last nine games. Houston entered Wednesday's game second in the league in scoring with 105.8 points per game.

"We're going to take a lot of 3s," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "It's just how our offense is and how our personnel is. We do live and die by that a little bit."

Anderson tied the game for New Orleans at 82 on a 3-pointer with less than seven minutes remaining, but Houston followed with a 10-2 run.

"They shoot the ball so well and when they run, they can capitalize very quickly," Williams said. "We just got beat up in the fourth quarter and weren't able to come back."

Chandler Parsons finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for Houston, and Jeremy Lin had nine points and seven assists.

In addition to Anderson, Jason Smith and Brian Roberts also scored in double-figures off the bench for New Orleans.

New Orleans was without guard Eric Gordon, who had spent most of the season recovering from a knee injury before making his season debut last Saturday. Gordon scored 11 points Tuesday night, but Williams rested him as a precaution and said he expected Gordon to return when the Hornets visit Dallas on Saturday.

Rookie Austin Rivers started in place of Gordon and finished with only four points and one assist in 17 minutes. Rivers made just one of six free throws, and New Orleans finished 11 of 20 from the free throw line.

"We have some young guys who have never been in this position before and they're overwhelmed," Williams said. "I wish the season started today because we'd be in a lot better shape, record-wise. Guys are frustrated, but I see tons of growth and this is going to help us going forward."

The Rockets visit Milwaukee on Friday to begin a stretch where they will play nine of their next 11 games on the road. Houston is 5-8 on the road and 13-6 at home.

Notes: Houston announced Wednesday the signing of G/F James Anderson, who averaged 3.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per game in 10 games this season for San Antonio. The Spurs waived Anderson on Dec. 20. To make room for Anderson, the Rockets released G Daequan Cook.

Notebook: Rockets 104, Hornets 92

Matt Miller, for NBA.com
Posted Thu Jan 03, 2013 12:05 AM - Updated Thu Jan 03, 2013 12:11 AM

THE FACTS: The Houston Rockets were attempting to capture an offensive rhythm throughout the evening, but the gritty New Orleans Hornets were unwilling to let the tempo get out of control. That is, until the fourth quarter, when Patrick Patterson popped off the bench to help the Rockets finally hit their stride.

Patterson scored 13 of his 15 points on 6-for-6 shooting and grabbed five of his season-high 10 rebounds in the fourth period to guide Houston to a 104-92 victory over the Hornets on Wednesday at Toyota Center. James Harden led the Rockets (18-14), winners of seven of their last nine games, with 31 points and seven assists, while Omer Asik made his presence felt in the paint en route to a career-high-tying 21 points and eight boards.

Greivis Vasquez paced New Orleans (7-25), which lost for the 13th time in its last 15 contests overall and had a two-game road winning streak snapped, with 15 points and 14 assists. Ryan Anderson added 12 of his 18 points off the bench in the final quarter, but that was not enough for the Hornets to overcome a 60-28 deficit in the paint.

QUOTABLE: "Down the stretch, when we realized the shots weren't falling, we started attacking the basket more. We started looking for one another, sharing the ball more ... We started doing that more often, and we were able to score at will."

-- Patterson

THE STAT: New Orleans fell to 0-19 this season when trailing after three quarters and 0-14 when allowing at least 100 points as another spirited late-game rally fell short.

TURNING POINT: The Hornets, who entered the final period trailing by eight, tied the game at 82 on a Ryan Anderson 3-pointer with 6:58 remaining. Houston, however, would regain the lead and stretch it to 89-84 by converting baskets on three consecutive possessions.

BAD MOVE: After Vasquez committed a careless turnover on an errant pass that landed in the crowd with New Orleans trailing 87-84, the Rockets scored on their next trip down the court and maintained an advantage of two possessions or greater for the remainder of the contest.

QUOTABLE II: "I thought we had some empty possessions ... and they capitalized. Every time we made a mistake, they were at the rim. ... They played in our paint all night long."

-- Hornets coach Monty Williams

HOT: Asik capped Houston's three-game homestand with a pair of high-quality performances, averaging 16.0 points on 13-for-21 (61.9 percent) shooting, 12.5 rebounds and 1.0 block over those two games.

NOT: The Rockets matched their season low in made 3-pointers, draining only five of 24 attempts (20.8 percent) from behind the arc. This came on the heels of a game in which Houston matched the franchise record for most treys made at Toyota Center (16).

GOOD MOVE: With Vasquez saddled with foul trouble and unable to find his shot during the first half, Williams relied upon rookie Brian Roberts to direct his team's offense. Roberts answered the bell with an efficient effort off the bench, finishing with 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting and zero turnovers in less than 14 first-half minutes.

NOTABLE: The Hornets played without shooting guard Eric Gordon, who appeared in the previous two games following a 29-game absence due to patella tendon disorder and a bone bruise in his right knee. Williams said Gordon will return to the lineup Saturday at Dallas, describing the decision to sit Gordon against the Rockets as a precautionary move that was recommended by doctors. "We just have to be careful," Williams said. "We don't have a lot of back-to-backs coming up, so this is the one that we kind of targeted that we wanted to watch out. ... He's healthy, but total health means you're in shape and physically able to do the things you know you're capable of doing." ... The Rockets won their first game of the calendar year for the first time since 2007, snapping a five-game losing streak. ... Houston improved to 3-0 this season when it pours in at least 60 points in the paint. ... Harden has scored at least 25 points in 10 consecutive games. ... The Rockets are now 9-2 when Harden reaches 30 points. ... New Orleans has lost four consecutive games in Houston. ... The Hornets fell to 0-15 this season against fellow Southwest Division members and 2-16 against the Western Conference. ... Nine of Houston's next 11 games are on the road, and it will not play consecutive contests at Toyota Center again until Feb. 2 and 5.

UP NEXT: For the Hornets: Saturday @ Dallas, Monday vs. San Antonio, Wednesday vs. Houston. For the Rockets: Friday @ Milwaukee, Saturday @ Cleveland, Tuesday vs. L.A. Lakers.

• Hornets: Miller
• Rockets: Jones, White

• Hornets: --
• Rockets: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 14

• Arena: Toyota Center, Houston, TX
• Officials: #27 Dick Bavetta, #38 Michael Smith, #74 Curtis Blair
• Attendance: 18198
• Duration: 2:01