PrintThunder Roll Over Rockets
Oklahoma City snaps losing streak to Houston, cruises to 122-104 win
Jason Friedman
Rockets.com
Houston - A plethora of injured players plus a focused and motivated Thunder squad equaled negative fun for the Rockets Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.
With more than half of their roster either sidelined due to injury or playing at less than 100 percent physically, Houston came into its showdown in Oklahoma City facing a distinct disadvantage.
Sensing their now-or-never moment, the Thunder – losers of 13 straight to Houston entering Wednesday’s contest – cashed in on the opportunity right from the start, exploding for a team-record 74 first half points on their way to a comfortable 122-104 victory.
“They were just quicker to the basket and nobody was challenging their shots,” lamented Rockets Head Coach Rick Adelman. “We were getting beat off the dribble. We knew that they would be very aggressive tonight because they’ve lost some of their roll and they needed to get a win and there was resistance only in the first quarter.”
As the score would indicate, offense was not the problem for Houston – as it had been Monday night in Chicago. In fact, the Rockets had few issues on that end of the floor during the game’s first three quarters, with Luis Scola (team-high 25 points) and especially Trevor Ariza (20 points, 3-of-4 from beyond the arc) both producing at a high level throughout much of the evening.
Defensively, however, Houston was completely at a loss when it came to slowing down the Oklahoma City attack. With Shane Battier sidelined by a strained MCL and Jared Jeffries (Achilles), Jordan Hill (ankle) and David Andersen (back) all sitting out as well, the Rockets – only a middle of the pack defensive team as it is – appeared especially vulnerable and the Thunder were only too happy to take advantage of the wounded Rockets in the most prolific way imaginable.
Oklahoma City connected on 25 of its first 30 shots from the field on its way to shooting an astounding 71 percent in the opening half. MVP candidate Kevin Durant led his team with 19 points by the break but the Thunder’s early offensive prowess was probably best encapsulated by James Harden’s surprising scoring outburst. The rookie from Arizona State – fresh off a 5-game absence due to a strained hamstring – knocked down his first 5 shots while racking up 13 points in his first five minutes of action, helping Oklahoma City take a 17-point edge into halftime.
“He came into the game on fire,” said Kyle Lowry of Harden. “He gave them 23 points off the bench including three straight 3’s. It’s tough to stop that. He’s fresh. He was hurt but now he’s back and he was on fire. This team shot 59 percent from the field; that’s making a lot of shots and making them at a high percentage.”
Though the Thunder cooled off somewhat in the second half, Houston was unable to truly threaten at any point, allowing both teams to empty their benches for the vast majority of the final quarter. The loss dealt another blow to the Rockets’ fading playoff hopes, though after the game Scola made it clear that he and his teammates are bound and determined to fight until the very end.
“I understand it’s difficult,” said Scola. “Our chances are slim to none to make the playoffs. We’re basically praying for pretty much a miracle and it’s hard to focus and hard to remain concentrating but we have no choice.
“This is our identity. This is our job and we owe it to the people who pay our checks and we owe it to the fans who come to the games and what’s more important than anything else is we owe it to ourselves. We work really hard, everybody here in this locker room, to make a name for yourself in the NBA and we can’t just throw all that away for 10 games. We have to play harder than ever and be more together than ever.”
QUOTES
RICK ADELMAN
On Oklahoma City’s aggressiveness:
“They were just quicker to the basket and nobody was challenging their shots. We were getting beat off the dribble. We knew that they would be very aggressive tonight because they’ve lost some of their roll and they needed to get a win and there was some resistance only in the first quarter.”
On Rockets’ overall play:
“We lost. We’re disappointed. You just can play like that when you’re trying to win games. As a team we didn’t play well. That’s really what we need to talk about. We’ve got to respond tomorrow night and see if we can get better.”
LUIS SCOLA
On Oklahoma City’s offense:
“They were hitting every shot and not even taking every shot they wanted. It was very difficult to demand misses when you really don’t force them to take a shot they don’t like or at least a complicated shot. They took wide open shots all night long.
On continuing to play hard:
I understand it’s difficult. Our chances are slim to none to make the playoffs. We’re basically praying for pretty much a miracle and it’s hard to focus and hard to remain concentrating but we have no choice. This is our identity. This is our job and we owe it to the people who pay our checks and we owe it to the fans who come to the games and what’s more important than anything else is we owe it to ourselves. We work really hard, everybody here in this locker room, to make a name for yourself in the NBA and we can’t just throw all that away for 10 games. We have to play harder than ever and be more together than ever.
KYLE LOWRY
On Oklahoma City’s fan base:
“This is a great basketball town. This team is a good team and their crowd is a big part of their success right now.”
On James Harden:
“He came into the game on fire. He gave 20 points off the bench including three straight 3’s. It’s tough to stop that. He’s fresh. He was hurt but now he’s back and he was on fire. This team shot 58% from the field; that’s making a lot of shots and making them at a high percentage.”
OKLAHOMA CITY HEAD COACH SCOTT BROOKS
Opening statement:
“It was a great game for us. It was a tough loss for us against the Spurs, but we bounced back and played great basketball. We did a really good job of moving the ball and sharing the ball. The bench came in and did a great job. James (Harden) and Eric (Maynor) did a great job of coming in and keeping the score going up. They also did a good job of stopping their (Houston) guards. That’s a very talented offensive team. Thabo (Sefolosha) did a great job on Kevin Martin, and James came in and really continued that defense on him.”
On the team’s offense:
“We can’t expect to do that game in, game out. I just like the fact that the ball was moving, it was not a sticky ball tonight. The ball was moving to find the shooters, whether they make it or not. We just want to continue to find them and have good spacing, which we did tonight. Tonight was a good game for us offensively.”
On the return of James Harden:
“It’s good to have James back. You have to give James and our staff credit for staying in shape with a hamstring injury. That’s not an easy thing to do. He came in and played well. He made some shots for us. He brings a dynamic element to our team. He is a player who scores and can play on or off the ball. He makes plays for our guys.”
GUARD RUSSELL WESTBROOK
On beating the Rockets:
“They’ve beat us since I’ve been here, but we came out and competed on the defensive end. We did a good job as a team collectively coming out and competing”
GUARD ERIC MAYNOR
On the young guys on the team:
“Coach gives us time and we have to go out there and perform.”
On Serge’s shot blocking:
“He allows us to go out there and chase shots”
Importance of bouncing back:
“We felt like we played good against San Antonio, we just came up short. Coach said he wanted 25+ assists and we got 30.”
FORWARD JEFF GREEN
“We just did what got us to this point, we got our rest on our off day and getting our mind right, it was all mental. We did a good job of coming out and keeping the lead.”
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