Rockets Come Up Short Against Kings

Landry emerges victorious in "homecoming," leads Sacramento to 84-81 win

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Houston - Aaron Brooks couldn’t have asked for a better look. With the seconds ticking away and his team down three, Houston’s point guard squared up, set his feet and fired away, without as much as a hand in his face.

But like so many of the shots fired by both team Wednesday night, the ball found iron instead of nylon. And with that final miss, Houston’s last gasp slipped silently into the night, leaving the Rockets to ponder a thoroughly disappointing 84-81 defeat at the hands of the Sacramento Kings.

“It was a good play,” said Brooks, who led Houston in scoring with 22 points but struggled mightily with his shooting touch, finishing 9-of-25 from the field and 2-of-13 from beyond the arc. “It was just like all my shots today: a little bit short or a little off to the right or left.”

Truth be told, however, this game was decided by factors far more important than one measly miss. Chief among them: Sacramento’s borderline unbelievable 24-13 advantage on the offensive glass, which allowed the Kings to overcome their own errant shooting. Sacramento shot an anemic 32 percent from the field, with Rookie of the Year candidate Tyreke Evans symbolizing their struggles with a 4-for-22 night after being harassed all evening by Rockets’ defensive ace Shane Battier, who set a career-high with 7 blocked shots.

But the Kings relentlessly pursued their misses and time after time their efforts were rewarded with extra possessions. Through three quarters of play, Sacramento had already corralled more offensive rebounds (21) than Houston had allowed to an opposing team all season (the previous high, 19, had come against Minnesota during a game which went to triple overtime).

“It’s a deflating basketball play,” said Battier. “We did our job defensively. You don’t see too many games in this league where a road team can shoot (32) percent and still win the game. But they took 23 more shots than we did and that’s a tough number to overcome.

“We were getting stops early and there’s a period when you’re playing a team, especially one that’s played the night before, where you’ve got to show them that you mean business; show them that if they want to win this game they’ve got to expend a lot of energy. We didn’t show them that and we gave them hope that maybe they could steal one on the road tonight. And once you give a team hope, it’s almost impossible to take it back; you’re in a dogfight. We were never able to break that spirit.”

Sacramento’s win capped what turned into a storybook homecoming for new King Carl Landry, who made his first return to Houston following the blockbuster 3-team deal which sent him to northern California at the trade deadline. Landry received a loud ovation before the game and was honored with a touching tribute video during the first quarter. Then the third-year forward proceeded to spark his new team to victory, sinking the game’s first basket, scoring 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds (5 offensive) before concluding the scoring with a pair of clutch free throws in the final seconds.

“I just wanted to win,” said Landry. “I had fun here and Houston is a wonderful place with great fans. It was real fun playing against all my brothers on the other side.”

The Rockets, meanwhile, were left contemplating what might have been after falling short in a game of paramount importance for their playoff push. Their defense was superb but there were simply too many misses and not enough ball movement to overcome the myriad mistakes they made. Luis Scola, who was brilliant throughout with 19 points and 18 rebounds, took the loss especially hard, venting his frustration toward his team’s inconsistent play.

“It feels horrible,” said Scola. “We keep talking about and it sounds silly because then you win one game and lose one game. We just keep going like this. We’ve got to be solid and we’re not. We lose one game and then we go play well and win by 20 and play great. We beat Memphis, Milwaukee, Toronto and San Antonio there – a lot of games that we’ve played great but then the very next day we go back to making the same mistakes. How to fix that I really don’t know.”

There are no easy answers, of course; no simple solutions which entail little more than a snap of the fingers. The Rockets must simply keep working, keep grinding and keep the faith; forever clinging to the hope and the belief that the win streak they so desperately seek awaits them right around the corner.

QUOTES

RICK ADELMAN
Just not happy with the way we played. They beat us to every loose ball and killed us on the boards. Between our turnovers and the points they got off the offensive boards, that’s 41 or half their points. Those are effort plays. We just, for whatever reason – I don’t know if we thought we were going to come out here and win because we blew a team out the other day or what. But to hold a team to 32 percent shooting at home and they get 23 more shots than you do – you had to have the ball, we just didn’t do it. They just crushed us on the boards

(regression in terms of ball movement?): There wasn’t any (ball movement). That’s what we talked about every timeout and at halftime. We’re trying to attack one-on-one, we settled for jumpers early in the game; just jumper after jumper. We didn’t make them move at all. It’s just very disappointing. I don’t know if we have a young group and they think that because they win a game they expect to win the next one but it doesn’t work that way in this league. I don’t care who you’re playing you’ve got to go out and make it happen. Give Sacramento credit, we just didn’t do enough during the course of the game and then it ends up being a 3-point game and there are so many little things that you can point to. There’s just no reason they should have beat us that badly on the boards.

SHANE BATTIER
With our lack of size rebounding has to be an energy thing every single night. We don’t have 7-footers to get space rebounds. I thought Luis worked his tail off on the glass but, in a game like that where there are so many misses, there really has to be extra energy put into rebounding because you know we’re playing good defense and the ball is going to come off the rim.

It’s deflating basketball play. We did our job defensively. You don’t see too many games in this league where a road team can shoot (32) percent and still win the game. But they took 23 more shots than we did and that’s a tough number to overcome.

We were getting stops early and there’s a period when you’re playing a team, especially one that’s played the night before, where you’ve got to show them that you mean business; show them that if they want to win this game they’ve got to expend a lot of energy. We didn’t show them that and we gave them hope that maybe they could steal one on the road tonight. And once you give a team hope, it’s almost impossible to take it back; you’re in a dogfight. We were never able to break that spirit and that comes from playing with energy and a sense of purpose.

AARON BROOKS
(Happy with the last shot): Yeah. It was a good play. It was just like all my shots today: a little bit short or a little off to the right or left.

I think defensively we did a great job. Offensively, we just weren’t running. I don’t know how many transition points we had in the first half but it probably wasn’t that many. And seeing how we were getting so many stops, it’s kind of awkward that we didn’t get many transition points, so maybe our energy wasn’t there. I don’t know what happened and it’s uncharacteristic of us. This was a big game that we had to have and now we have to go on the road for three big games and get all of them.

KEVIN MARTIN
We wanted that one. It just didn't happen for us tonight. There was no flow or anything tonight. You hold a team to 32 percent, you’re betting a lot of money that you’re going to win but not tonight.

LUIS SCOLA
These are the same things we’ve been doing the whole year. We started the game a little bit bad, then tried to fight back and made a lot of mistakes and they made us play.

(Brooks’ missed free throws): We wouldn’t be anywhere without Brooks. He was our leading scorer in the game. That was just one of the many mistakes we had the whole game.

(missed opportunity): It feels horrible. We keep talking about and it sounds silly because then you win one game and lose one game. We just keep going like this. We’ve got to be solid and we’re not. We lose one game and then we go play well and win by 20 and play great. We beat Memphis, Milwaukee, Toronto and San Antonio there – a lot of game that we’ve played great but then the very next day we go back to making the same mistakes. How to fix that I really don’t know.

KINGS COACH PAUL WESTPHAL
(on the win)  “It was very gratifying. We shot 100 field goal attempts, and to get a road win with our offense struggling to get baskets was big. Basketball is a funny game. It’s all part of our learning process. We knew when we left Brooks wide open we’d win. (ha-ha). Carl’s (Landry) free throws at the end were fantastic. Aaron brooks misses a wide open 3-pointer and not by our design but we will take it.”

(on Landry’s play)     “You can see why everyone in Houston loves him because the way he plays the game. He wants the ball in his hands at the end of the game. He came through big.”

(on Battier’s defense of Tyreke Evans)    “Battier was fantastic and did a super job defensively against Evans. He had his way with Tyreke and now will be see how he will adjust next time we play.”
  
CARL LANDRY
(on getting to play against Chuck Hayes)    “Chuck had a long night, didn’t he? He tried to get me with his spin move but it didn’t work. I was just telling him things on the court. We talked a little trash but that was all.”

(on his return to Houston)    “I just wanted to win. I got fouled and made it to the line and when I hit my free throws, it felt great. It was a sigh of relief. I had fun here and Houston is a wonderful place with great fans. It was real fun playing against all my brothers on the other side. Coach (Westphal) talked to me before the game and said I didn’t have to be too aggressive, just play my game.”

(on the key to the game)    “We played defense and that was the key to the game.”

(on Battier defending Evans)     “Shane is a great defender and he knew all of Tyreke’s moves before he even made them.”
  
SPENCER HAWES
(on winning and shooting 32%)   “It’s as big a surprise as it gets. When you are not shooting well you have to buckle down and bring something else to the table. We brought it defensively and that was the key to the victory.”
  
FRANCISCO GARCIA
(on the key to the game)   “Defense did it for us. It’s tough to win on the road without good defense. Our defense is picking up and we have to keep rolling. The last four games we have played well.”

(on playing against Kevin Martin)    “It was weird playing defense on Kevin but it was also kinda fun. I knew coming in I was going to be playing against my friend. But we are both professionals.”

NOTES

The Rockets snapped a six-game home winning streak over the Kings with an 84-81 loss tonight. Sacramento’s last road win over the Rockets was an 88-80 decision at Houston (1/11/06).

Houston is now 0-8 this season when scoring fewer than 90 points in a game.

The Rockets held the Kings to 32-of-100 (.320) from the field in this game tonight, including 18-of-61 (.295) shooting over the first two quarters. Sacramento set Houston’s opponent season lows for field goal percentage in a game (prev. low: .381 on 11/15/09 by the Lakers at Los Angeles) and a half (prev. low: .319 on 12/18/09 by the Mavericks at Dallas).

Sacramento set Houston’s opponent season high with 24 offensive rebounds tonight, outscoring the Rockets by a 25-9 count in second-chance points. Overall, the two teams combined for 107 total rebounds (Kings 57, Rockets 50).

Luis Scola posted 19 points (8-16 FG, 3-3 FT), a career-high-tying 18 rebounds (career-high-tying 14 defensive) and a career-high-tying five assists (five assists: 1/11/08 vs. Minnesota, 11/15/09 at L.A. Lakers and 12/18/09 at Dallas).

Scola, who now has a double-double in three of his last five home games, also had 18 (13 defensive) rebounds vs. Minnesota (3/26/08), 18 (set career-best 14 defensive) vs. Indiana (11/26/08) and 18 (career-high-tying 14 defensive) vs. Chicago (2/3/09).

Shane Battier, who had three blocks in the last game vs. Toronto (3/1/10), had a career-high seven blocks tonight.

Battier has now notched five or more blocks in a game eight times in his career (prev. game: 1/13/10 vs. Minnesota). He set his previous career best of six blocked shots earlier this season at Golden State (12/3/09).

Aaron Brooks finished with a team-high 22 points (9-25 FG, 2-13 3FG) tonight, which included setting his career high in 3-point field goals attempted (13). Brooks has now reached double-figure scoring in career-best 32 straight games (12/23/09-3/3/10).

Kevin Martin had 14 points (7-8 FT) and eight rebounds against his former team. Martin has now hit a combined 38-of-40 (.950) from the free throw line over the last four games.

Carl Landry registered 22 points (7-13 FG, 8-8 FT) and 10 rebounds (5 offensive) tonight, marking his 19th 20-point outing and his fourth double-double of the season. He has now reached double-digit scoring in all seven of his outings with the Kings (first 20-point game). Landry reached double-figure scoring in a career-best 13 consecutive games earlier this season with the Rockets (11/20/09-12/16/09).

Spencer Hawes, who led six Kings in double-figure scoring (all five starters) with 24 points (10-16 FG) and nine rebounds last time in Houston (11/21/09), added 10 boards tonight.

Beno Udrih, who also had 18 points (8-18 FG, 2-4 3FG) and eight assists in the prior meeting at Houston (11/21/09), scored 13 points (5-15 FG) tonight.

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