Utah Jazz vs. Houston Rockets, 11/2/09

Up-tempo Rockets roll blast past Jazz
Andrew Aragon, for NBA.com

SALT LAKE CITY (NBA.com exclusive) -- They wore their red road uniforms and brought recognizable players such as Shane Battier, Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks back to EnergySolutions Arena.

But the Houston Rockets might have made Utah wonder if it was a case of mistaken identity when they ran their way to a 113-96 victory over the Jazz on Monday night.

The Houston team that used to grind out games and base its offense around throwing it inside to Yao Ming was nowhere to be found. In its place was a team that run-and-gunned its way to a fairly easy victory over the Jazz.

The Rockets, who will be without Yao for the entire season, don't have the size to play the way they did when their 7-footer was healthy. So they have adapted, and the results have been positive. Houston has won three straight games.

"We have to play fast," said Houston forward Shane Battier. "That's the best way to combat physical play. If we would have tried to bang with those guys, they're too big. They're bigger than us."

Size was seemingly the only advantage Utah had on Houston on Monday. The Rockets dictated the game's tempo, pushing the ball at every opportunity until the game's outcome was determined in the fourth quarter. Houston caught Utah sleeping a couple of times after made baskets, and got some easy points off of layups.

"We really pushed the ball the whole game and kept coming at them," said Rockets coach Rick Adelman. "We got some stops in the second half. It was a terrific win."

Houston pulled away in the fourth quarter with a lineup consisting of Battier, Scola, Kyle Lowry and rookies Chase Budinger and David Andersen. Budinger banked in a 15-footer to give the Rockets the lead for good at 82-80 and then splashed in a 3-pointer with an assist from Lowry. A 22-4 run in less than six minutes gave the Rockets a comfortable 102-84 lead.

"That group that came in the fourth quarter just really made a huge difference with Kyle and Chase and Shane," Adelman said. "It was terrific. It was fun to watch."

It wasn't quite as enjoyable for the home fans, who started emptying the building with about five minutes remaining. The Rockets came into the game averaging 102 points and they hit that total when Lowry made a 3-pointer with five minutes left in the game.

"I think they did a terrific job," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "They put all kinds of pressure on us the way they pushed the ball up the floor and did a great job of getting on the boards."

The Jazz are having the same issues as they did last season with injuries, poor defense and an uncertain future for their roster. The Jazz gave up 84 points in the first three quarters of their 111-98 win over the Clippers on Friday. They did manage to hold L.A. to 27 percent shooting in the fourth quarter to salvage that victory.

The Rockets weren't as accommodating.

"It's like we picked up right where we left off [last season]," said Jazz guard Deron Williams. "We haven't played a good game of basketball yet. It doesn't look too good right now from the inside, and I'm sure it doesn't look good from the outside. Anytime in the third game of the season you're getting booed in your home arena it doesn't make you feel good."

Houston's second-half defense didn't make Utah feel all that great either, holding the Jazz to 37 percent shooting. The first half was fast-paced and somewhat sloppy defensively for both teams. After halftime, the Rockets took away Utah's easy opportunities.

"There's always a trade-off when you're trying to play a certain way," Adelman said. "You're running and you're pushing it but you're giving up easy ones, too. You've got to concentrate on the defensive end so you don't give that up."

Brooks led an incredibly balanced Houston effort with 19 points. Eight players scored in double figures for the Rockets, who got a big fourth quarter boost from Budinger. The rookie had a career-high 17 points and five assists.

Houston also made 10 3-pointers with Battier draining three of them.

Without Yao and without Tracy McGrady, who's out indefinitely while recovering from microfracture surgery on his left knee, the Rockets are still finding their way. After three straight wins, they seem to be figuring out how to be successful without their two stars, and the way to do it is to run and gun.

"We're going to have to," Battier said. "We can't afford to slow it down and play a half-court game. We just not big enough. We're going to make a lot of threes and look good some nights and some nights we're going to miss a lot of threes and look terrible. We think in the long run we have enough talent to win this way."

POSTGAME QUOTES Houston Rockets 113, Utah Jazz 96 November 2, 2009
Notes: The Jazz is 91-75 all-time against the Rockets and 58-26 at home … Utah had won the last three games at home against Houston including six of the last seven … The Jazz entered tonight’s game tied with the Dallas Mavericks for the best home record in the NBA since the 2006-07 season at 102-22 … The Jazz has trailed entering the fourth quarter in each of its three games this season … The Jazz shot 27.3% from the three-point line … Wesley Matthews scored a career-high six points in a career-high 16 minutes of play.
Jerry Sloan – Head Coach [1-2) On the Rockets’ play
“I think they did a terrific job. They put all kinds of pressure on us. The way they pushed the ball up the floor and did a great job of getting on the boards. We gave away 26 points in 19 turnovers, pretty tough to play against anybody. It doesn’t make a difference who it is, but I think you’ve got to give them credit.”
On whether the Jazz took this game lightly
“I mean if you’re not going to defend, it’s pretty tough to have a chance to win. If you can’t keep people in front of you on the attack, defensively, then you’re going to have a tough time. They got on top of the basket, they drove around us, they went up to the ball on the boards and they passed the ball.”

Ronnie Brewer – Guard [19 points, 3 rebounds) On the game
“We didn’t execute our offense. We started taking quick shots, turned the ball over, and the main thing is that we didn’t get defensive stops, and I think that was the key thing. They hit big shot after big shot after big shot, especially from the three-point line, and if they missed from the three-point line, they had guys crashing the boards and they were getting a lot of offensive rebounds. We’ve got to put forth a better effort, especially at home, to try to get a win.”

Ronnie Price – Guard [3 points, 3 assists) On the loss
“That’s the good thing about the league. You don’t sit on a loss for a week, you have a game right around the corner. In our case, we’ve got a game tomorrow, so we’ve got to put this one behind us and go get a win tomorrow on the road.”
“When you make mistakes, and you’ve got teams that can capitalize on your mistakes, you can get yourself in trouble really fast, and that’s what happened tonight.”

Carlos Boozer – Forward [7 points, 11 rebounds) On the loss
“I don’t think we took them lightly. I just think they brought it to us. I’m not going to take anything away from them. They play hard, executed their game plan… We just didn’t do a good job on both sides of the ball and that’s the reason why we lost.”
On if a home loss in the third game of season is a cause for concern
“We want to get back on the same page defensively and offensively as well. If we can come together as a team we can be great. That’s the plan, that’s the goal, that’s the blueprint for it. Hopefully we can do that.”

Deron Williams – Guard [18 points, 8 assists) On his concern about loss
“It’s like we picked up right where we left off (last season). We haven’t played a good game of basketball yet. It doesn’t look too good right now from the inside, and I’m sure it doesn’t look good from the outside. Anytime in the third game of the season you’re getting booed in your home arena it doesn’t make you feel good.”
On where the team goes from here
“What else can you do? We’ve got the players we got. We’ve got the coaches we got. We’ve got the coaching staff we got. We’ve got to go out there and get wins.”

Notes: The Rockets had 15 offensive rebounds compared to Utah’s eight … The Rockets had lost their last three games at Utah … Luis Scola registered his second double-double of the season with 14 points and a season-high 15 rebounds … Shane Battier has made at least one three-pointer in his last 16 regular season appearances … The Rockets are now 3-0 when scoring at least 100 points.
Rick Adelman – Head Coach (3-1 this season) On the game
“We kept coming at them and started to make some stops and I think we just played terrific. We talked about it at halftime that we were giving up a lot of easy baskets and there’s always a trade off when you play a different way. You’re running it and pushing it but you’re giving up easy ones too. You’ve got to concentrate on the defensive end where you don’t give that up.”
“I thought tonight we had maybe the best ball movement we’ve had all year. The 29 assists could have been a lot more. Everyone was moving the ball well, I think we had eight guys in double figures, I mean that’s a pretty balanced team. That group that came in in the fourth quarter just really made a huge difference, it was fun to watch.”
On the Rockets’ defense
“In the second half we did a much better job. The first half we gave up too many opportunities to them. Even though we want to push the ball and get it up the court you have to get back. You can’t just run one way. You can’t give them easy baskets.”

Aaron Brooks – Guard [19 points, 9 rebounds] On the win
“It’s a big game. When you’re playing against Utah, you know its going to be tight at the end of the season. So even though it’s early in the season we know these games really count because you know, they can determine a lot later on down the road.”
“We play hard, we play hard, we put ourselves in a great position at the end of the game. They missed a couple shots, we made a couple shots, we pushed the lead out a little bit further. Normally in those situations they tend to come back.”

Chase Budinger – Forward [17points, 2assists] On the road with the second unit
“That second unit, we’re just going out there and just trying to play as hard as we can because we each have to help out with the starters and we have been doing a good job so far. “
Pulling away from the Jazz on their home court
“Yes, all I have heard of is how tough it is to win here, how every game is going to be close. And just talking after the game people are just amazed how bad we kind of beat them, just because that doesn’t happen here.”

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