PrintRoad Weary Rockets Fall Flat in Cleveland
Huge second half propels Cavs to 108-83 win
Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer
Houston - Relentless and resilient though they may be, even the Rockets’ young legs are not impervious to the fatigue and travails which accompany a taxing NBA travel schedule.
That much was certainly evident Sunday night as Houston – fresh off a five-day stretch which had witnessed the club log more than 3,500 miles of cross-country travel – fell flat against the red-hot Cavaliers, losing 108-83.
Cleveland, winners of four in a row and 9 of its last 10, outscored the Rockets 57-35 in the second half, breaking open a game which was nearly a dead heat at halftime. As always, the league’s reigning MVP, LeBron James, led the way, scoring 29 points to go along with 6 assists and 5 rebounds in a tidy and efficient 30 minutes of action.
“We hit a wall tonight,” admitted Aaron Brooks after the game. “They hit shots, we didn’t and those things happen. LeBron came down and hit a couple of threes, Mo (Williams) hit a couple of threes, Shaq was Shaq in the middle and it seemed like in the third quarter we couldn’t stop the bleeding. You have games like that. They are a great home team and that’s how it goes sometimes.”
Houston actually managed to keep pace with Cleveland throughout the first half, primarily thanks to Brooks’ strong play. The third-year point guard began the game on fire, knocking down his first three shots as Houston sprinted to a 16-4 lead. And though Cleveland immediately responded with a 16-1 run of its own, Brooks stayed hot, scoring 18 of his team-high 23 points in the first half as Houston trailed the Cavs by a mere three points at the break, 51-48.
The game turned in the third quarter, however, when James and Mo Williams took turns draining one three-pointer after another. The two combined to knock down five treys in the opening 4:14 of the half, as the Cavs’ lead quickly ballooned to 15. Houston never threatened from that point forward, as the Rockets simply lacked both the firepower and requisite energy to overcome such a deficit on the road against one of the league’s top teams.
“They just came down and drilled shots,” said Rockets Head Coach Rick Adelman. “We know they are the best three-point shooting team in the league and they pretty much dominated us. But I just think from watching some of our guys that we just ran out of gas. We didn’t have anything left to respond. It kind of took the wind out of our sails and we didn’t move the ball well enough to attack. I just thought the energy was gone at that point.”
Indeed, it was one of the few times all season during which the seemingly indefatigable Rockets showed signs of succumbing to their weary legs. Shots were left short, layups were missed and transition opportunities were routinely squandered. And perhaps no one felt the effects of fatigue more than Trevor Ariza, who continues to rank among the NBA leaders in minutes played – all while attempting to work his way through an extended shooting slump.
“We’ve been talking about it,” said Adelman. “I just think we have to look at the shots he’s getting and the shots he’s taking. I tried to cut back on his minutes, and last night (against New Jersey) I didn’t get it done. I think he’s maybe a little bit tired, too. He’s been playing the most minutes of anybody. He’s got to be more aware, I think, and see what shots he’s getting and where he’s getting them.
“He might be (pressing). You’re going to go through that. Things were going pretty well for him, now he’s struggling a little bit. That’s all the process of learning, where you are going to get your shots and not forcing the issue. We’re going to sit down and talk to him about it and try to get him back on track.”
QUOTES
RICK ADELMAN
(On the second half): “It was just a very poor second half. We just ran out of energy, I think, and they got very aggressive. They came out making shots and pretty much ended the game.”
(On Rockets reaction to Cavs three-point field goals in third quarter): “There were one or two mistakes, but they (Cavs) just came down and drilled shots. We know they are the best three-point shooting team in the league, and they pretty much dominated us. But, I just think, from watching some of our guys that we just ran out of gas. We didn’t have anything left to respond. It kind of took the wind out of our sails. And, we didn’t move the ball well enough to attack. I just thought the energy was gone at that point.”
(On Rockets offense of late with scoring droughts): “I think we’ve got to have more of a balance to where we move the ball. We try to do it all individually, and when we start getting down, you’re not going to get anywhere doing that. I thought it was all the way around: the low post area and out on the floor. It was a tough schedule. I don’t know, we had 15 hours to turn around and play. With an early game tonight and last night (at New Jersey), where you can’t get out, that’s a tough one. I don’t think our guys really recovered. And, what is this, our fifth straight back to back over the period of time? In some ways, it caught up with us, but we certainly have had these problems (on offense). We’ve got to address it, rely on each other and trust each other when things are getting tough.”
(On Trevor Ariza shooting slump of late): “We’ve been talking about it. I just think we have to look at the shots he’s getting and the shots he’s taking. I tried to cut back on his minutes, and last night I didn’t get it done. I think he’s maybe a little bit tired, too. He’s been playing the most minutes of anybody. He’s got to be more aware, I think, and see what shots he’s getting and where he’s getting them. He might be (pressing). You’re going to go through that. Things were going pretty well for him, now he’s struggling a little bit. That’s all the process of learning, where you are going to get your shots and not forcing the issue. We’re going to sit down and talk to him about it and try to get him back on track.”
SHANE BATTIER
“We didn’t have the juice to answer them. LeBron hit a few threes and Mo Williams hit a bunch of threes, and they opened up that 10-point lead and we just didn’t have the oomph to back at them.”
(on guarding LeBron): You just try to keep LeBron out of the lane and if he hits his jumpers then you tip your cap and say, ‘Good game, LeBron’ and move on to the next day.
(on the schedule): We don’t make excuses but it was very interesting; I’ve never played a back-to-back game where you play at 7:30 the night before and then you play at 6 o’clock the next day. That’s a first in my nine-year career, so it shows that the NBA is getting creative with its scheduling, so kudos to them.
AARON BROOKS
(on Rockets playing and travelling on back to back road games): “We hit a wall tonight. They (Cavs) hit shots, we didn’t and those things happen. LeBron came down and hit a couple of threes and, Mo hit a couple of threes, Shaq was Shaq in the middle, and it seemed like in the third quarter, we couldn’t stop the bleeding. You have games like that. They (Cavs) are a great home team and that’s how it goes sometimes.”
(On Cavs three-point shots in third quarter and how the Rockets defense reacted): “Some of those shots were pull up threes. I wouldn’t say those were great shots. We had a couple of shots that were contested, we had a hand in third face, and they hit them. Some of them were bad shots, shots that we wanted them to take, and they were hitting. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”
MIKE BROWN
(On tonight’s game): “It’s a good team win, good group effort. I thought, especially coming off the West Coast, we’d be a little sluggish to start the game. After that, we played extremely well, especially the last three quarters. One of the things we emphasized was the long rebounds or the loose balls, where anybody has a chance to go get them. Our guys did a nice job of going to get them.
(On protecting the paint): “For the Rockets to shoot 33 percent from the field with only 16 points in the paint means our defense was pretty good around the rim. I like more than anything else that they only got five offensive rebounds. We did a good job boxing out because that’s a very good offensive rebounding team. They’re athletic, energetic and give a lot of effort to get second chance points. It was a huge step for us.”
(On Mo Williams): “He’s done a nice job of running our team, getting guys in the right spot and getting the ball to the guys in the right spot. Often, he’s going to shoot and score the ball, and you kind of expect that. Right now, you just like the way he’s running the team. He’s bringing a physical presence at both ends of the floor in that point guard spot.”
LEBRON JAMES
(On first game back from the west coast trip): “You can’t shy away the fact that those road trips can take a toll on you when you come back home. You lose three hours. You are trying to catch up on sleep. We have been on west coast time for the last week or so, so it is mental and physical. But at the same time, you have a job to do and you have to come out ready.”
(On the strong offensive output against a good defensive team): “When you create turnovers, execute and get 25 points off turnovers that definitely helps us a lot. It was key for us to just stay in front of them and make them make shots with a contested hand (in their face), and then try to get out and get as many easy points as possible.”
(On looking for Shaq in the post): “He gets a lot of seals early in the offense. When there is a break in the defense and they are not really set, those are basically the times you want to try to give him the ball with a lob over the top where the defense is not back or just fire it in to him in the low post where he is sitting down. That is a constant effort on our part to try and do that.”
(On the effort to start the third quarter): “It was important. (In) a game like tonight, you definitely don’t want a team to hang around coming off a back-to-back even though they are as good as they are. Mo and I definitely came out aggressively on the offensive end and knocked down some threes. We just turned the game around.”
MO WILLIAMS
(On the team being fatigued coming off of their road trip): “From the second quarter on, I thought the energy started to come up. Our energy coming in the game was low. It’s typical coming off the west coast. I don’t know why, and I’ve been in this league seven years, (but) when you come off of the west coast…the energy is not there. We have a great crowd and they picked it up for us. In the third quarter, we came out with a lot of energy and kept it going.”
(On becoming more comfortable with his role on the team and confident in his play): “Another year being in this situation, being with this team and having a target on your back every night, yes my confidence is not lacking. Like I said at the end of the year and before the season started, they asked me what I learned from the playoffs and what I learned from last season and I said, ‘It’s confidence. (I’ve) been there, done that now.’ I’ve been in those tough situations. When I get in big game situations, I have to step up with the ball. I put that pressure on myself and I put it on there last year. I accept that challenge.”
(On the team picking up their defense in the first quarter after Houston went on a run): “As the game went on in the second quarter, we made plays and they made plays. Then in the third quarter, we just came out and made them miss a lot of shots. A lot of it had to do with our defense and they missed shots. A lot of those shots were open looks in the first half and all of a sudden, we kind of closed the gap a little bit. We did a great job on the defensive end tonight.”
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