Rockets Bounce Back In Style

Rockets run OKC out of town with 105-85 victory

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Houston - Some nights, everything just clicks. The light bulb goes on overhead and suddenly the court is illuminated in such a way that seemingly every trip down the floor plays out as if it’s simply the manifestation of a proud coach’s diagram.

Perhaps Monday night did not quite live up to that lofty ideal for head coach Rick Adelman and his Rockets. But there were certainly more than a few moments when it sure must have seemed that way.

With Adelman tightening his rotation in an effort to get his club regular season ready, the Rockets responded with their most complete performance of the preseason, whipping the up-and-coming Oklahoma City Thunder 105-85. And though plenty of Houston players earned their turn in the spotlight, none was more impressive than Kyle Lowry, the man who triggered the Rockets’ second half surge, often times doing so with a dazzling array of dissecting passes leading to spectacular dunks and wide open three-pointers.

“I thought he was terrific,” agreed Adelman after the game. “He had 10 assists and although he only took three shots, he had a huge impact on the game. One thing he did was he found people in the open court and he made the right decisions there. I thought Aaron (Brooks) did a nice job, too; both those guys are getting a feel for trying to run and the things we’re trying to do.”

Indeed, the Rockets spent much of the second half pushing the pace and playing the type of up-tempo basketball that forces fans out of their seats; especially with players like Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Chase Budinger putting on their own private highlight reel with dunk after dunk. But those fastbreaks didn’t simply materialize out of thin air; they were the byproduct of a focused re-commitment to sound defense and the results speak for themselves: Oklahoma City produced a mere 33 second half points, giving the Rockets ample opportunity to turn all those missed shots and turnovers into opportunities to push the pace and attack the basket with impunity.

“We had a very nice offensive night but tonight I was more proud of our defense,” said Shane Battier, who continued his stretch of red-hot shooting from beyond the arc with a trio of three-pointers in only five attempts. “People have to understand this is who we have to be every night. We have to be a team that fights, attacks, plays loose and at the same time stays true to our principles. We don’t have the talent to just be Team Cool and turn it on in the fourth quarter and expect to win ball games. We have to come out and scrap for every loose ball, every rebound and be the aggressor every single night. And the sooner we figure that out on a nightly basis, the better this team will be.”

The young Rockets clearly are learning. Now it’s just a matter of continuing to apply those lessons so that games like this become the rule rather than the exception.

QUOTES

RICK ADELMAN

I was just really pleased, especially with the second half. I thought the whole game we moved the ball really well as a team but the second half we defended situations a lot better. We made it tougher on them and got in the open court a lot. That’s about as well as we’ve passed the ball all year long – just a wide variety of people. We turned it over too much in the second half but when you’re going to try to do things in the open court you’re going to make decisions and make mistakes sometimes. But, overall, I thought we were pretty good in the second half.

It’s about trying to get the defense off balance so we can attack them and you saw some instances tonight where Kyle and Chase got it going pretty good with the hand-off for three and the back-cut; things that if you keep doing the repetitions, you’re going to start looking for things. I thought Chuck was really crucial the way he played; he was really solid the whole way through. I just liked the way we approached the game and the way we played. We saw some steps forward in defending situations that we really got hurt on the last two games before this, so it’s just something we’ve got to keep working on this whole week and try to keep gaining ground on where we want to be.

(on Kyle Lowry): Tonight I thought he was terrific. He had 10 assists. He only took three shots but he had a huge impact on the game. One thing he did was he found people in the open court and he made the right decisions there. You’ve got to give him credit. I thought Aaron did a nice job, too; Aaron could have had more assists if we would have made more shots. But both those guys are getting a feel for trying to run and things we’re trying to do.

(Trevor): He’s another guy who just has to get used to things. He needs repetitions for trying to make plays and understanding the conditions in the game. I put him back in the fourth quarter and I only put him in because I was hoping he would handle the ball some. We were up big, the clock was a factor and I wanted him to make decisions based on that; just trying to get him and Kyle to have the ball in their hands. But those are things that they’re only going to get better at by having repetitions in game conditions.

(on the Rockets’ approach to the game): I think Oklahoma City is a pretty good team. Durant is a great player. They just have a lot of young guys who can really attack you. I thought the first half we didn’t get to their shooters quick enough, we gave up dribble penetration but in the second half we tightened that up. Our attitude was different. We were communicating as a group. We were in the right spots tonight. We were not in the right spots the two games before this and our concentration wasn’t nearly as good.

AARON BROOKS

We did good job of getting out and running and sustaining our energy throughout the game. We moved the ball really well today. We got good shots. I think mostly we just need work on defense and our defense picked up in the second half.

We’ve got to start gearing up for Portland. Everybody played good with the minutes we were given and with coach trying to get his rotation, it’s time to start putting everything together.

SHANE BATTIER

I was much more pleased with our second half effort. They only scored (52) points in the first half – we kept them under 60 today, so small victory (laughs). But tonight we showed each other the type of effort we’re capable of playing. It’s only the preseason but we have to find out what we’re capable of doing and when we’re flying around covering for each other, playing defense the way we know we should, that’s going to be the standard now.

Our offense was great all night. We started off aggressive and when we start off aggressive and guys are sharing the ball, it’s contagious. We had a very nice offensive night but tonight I was more proud of our defense. People have to understand this is who we have to be every night. We have to be a team that fights, attacks, plays loose and at the same time stays true to our principles. We don’t have the talent to just be Team Cool and turn it on in the fourth quarter and expect to win ball games. We have to come out and scrap for every loose ball, every rebound and be the aggressor every single night. And the sooner we figure that out on a nightly basis, the better this team will be.

KYLE LOWRY

(On the Rockets up tempo style) “We were out there running and when we run hard, we get good things. Even when Aaron (Brooks) is out there pushing the ball we get good things. It's a matter of us going out there and pushing the ball.”

(On the Rockets trying new plays) “When something works, the energy and the guys level of play goes up. When something works and we get a layup or dunk there is energy and enthusiasm and the crowd gets into the game, so of course the next possession guys are going to run even harder.”

CHASE BUDINGER

(On the comfort level in the 2nd half) “Of course, we were just clicking in the 2nd half. Getting out in transition. Our big men running the floor. We did a good job of finding them, getting them to the foul line and creating those opportunities.”

(On having fun) “Yes, it's always fun when you are playing well as a team and you get a pretty good lead during the 4th quarter and then that's when you start having some fun.”

(On the upcoming game against Dallas) “As far as the team, I'm not the right person to ask because I am not experienced with the NBA season. Personally, just keep on learning. Every day work hard and try to learn from the veterans out here and try to get better and be a contributor during the regular season.”

POPS MENSAH-BONSU

(On the chemistry of the team) “We try to emphasize pushing the ball and trying to get a lot of transition buckets. We have a lot of quick guards. A lot of guards that like to get up and down the floor and the wings like to get on the wings and finish plays. You have some big men that can run, like myself, and finish plays too. I justtry to make sure that I got out there and filled the lane for them.”

(On the upcoming game)“We try to build on every single game that we have. We try to make sure that we come out with the same intensity and put ourselves in a position to win. I know it is going to be without Yao and T-Mac right now and it is going to be a tough transition but if we keep taking care of business on defense and finishing plays on offense, we can put ourselves in the win every night. That's all I can ask for.”

(On the number of dunks he had)“Air miles, I've never heard that before but I like that. Definitely that's what I do. I try to do it to the best of my ability and whenever I have teammates like Kyle Lowery, Aaron Brooks and Chase Budinger who's going to keep finding me in the transition like that, I'm going to keep playing, keep running and make sure I fill the lanes. When they get out there like that it just caters to my game, caters to what I do best. So it is going to make me look good.”

COACH SCOTT BROOKS

(On the game) “In the second half I thought Houston did a great job of turning up the heat defensively. The Rockets played hard and competed and got us playing tentatively. We gave up too many effort points and we need to work on that. We have to compete defensively for forty-eight minutes and we didn’t do that. Houston turned it up defensively and we didn’t respond. We were solid in the first half and did a lot of good things but we didn’t do well in the second half.”

(On Chase Budinger’s play) “He was terrific! He does a lot of good things out on the court. I didn’t know he was as good a shooter. In college the three line is closer but it didn’t seem to bother him.”

KEVIN DURANT

(On the team’s three point shooting) “It’s going to give us another dimension if we can knock down the three. We need to perfect it. Houston does a great job of hitting the corner three and we can learn from what they do.”

(On the team’s play) “We’ve got to get back on making team’s miss on defense. We executed our plays in stretches and we played good defensively at times. We need to work on being more consistent the whole game.”

JEFF GREEN

(On the team’s play) “It was a good lesson. We weren’t ready and they got off to a lead in the second half and it was hard to get back into the game.”

(On his play) “This is my third year in the league and I feel better and I will continue to work hard every game. Coach Brooks puts our guys in great position and our shooters should get great looks at open shot.”

JAMES HARDEN

(On his play) “My role on this team is to learn to catch and shoot the ball. I didn’t do that at Arizona State and it is totally opposite of what I did there. I just need my reps and I will get more efficient with time.”

(On the game) “It was a combination of not making shot is the second half and our defense letting up. We have a lot more to learn and a ways to go.”

NOTES

The Rockets crossed the century mark for their fourth time this preseason with a 105-85 triumph over the Thunder. Houston’s 20-point win marked its largest margin of victory this preseason. The Rockets recorded five wins last season by at least 20 points.

Houston connected on 38-of-74 (.514) from the field and 11-of-20 (.550) from downtown tonight. It marked the second time this preseason that the Rockets have shot .500 from both the field and 3-point range in the same game (.560 FG and .565 3FG on 10/15/09 at Toronto).

The Rockets, who also had a preseason-best 30 assists at Toronto (10/15/09), dished out 29 assists in tonight’s game. Houston’s season high in 2008-09 was 27 assists vs. New Jersey (2/17/09).

Chase Budinger topped the Rockets with 17 points (6-10 FG, 3-4 3FG) in tonight’s contest. It was the second time this preseason Budinger has led (or tied) for the team lead in points.

Trevor Ariza recorded 16 points (6-12 FG, 3-5 3FG), three assists and three steals tonight, including a 10-point third quarter (4-6 FG) to help the Rockets push their lead to as high as 14 points in that quarter.

Carl Landry posted 15 points (6-13 FG) and six rebounds tonight. Landry stands as the only Houston player to reach double digits in scoring in at least six games this preseason.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who blocked four shots at Indiana (10/16/09), added 13 points (5-6 FG) and four boards tonight. Mensah-Bonsu also posted 17 points (8-9 FG), seven rebounds and five blocked shots at Toronto (10/15/09).

Kyle Lowry handed out 10 assists tonight, becoming the first Houston player to reach double digits in assists this preseason. In 2008-09 regular season play, Aaron Brooks dished out a career-best 10 assists at Minnesota (3/1/09) to become just the fourth Rockets player to notch a double-digit assist game since 2005-06 (Rafer Alston-24, Tracy McGrady-18 and Luther Head-1).

Shane Battier had 12 points (4-6 FG) and four assists tonight, including a 3-of-5 night from beyond the arc. Battier is now shooting .632 (12-19 3FG) from 3-point range this preseason.

Chuck Hayes finished with eight points (4-7 FG), eight rebounds and four assists tonight. Hayes’ career best in assists during the regular season is five (12/31/07 vs. Golden State and 3/5/08 vs. Indiana).

Kevin Durant registered 20 points (7-12 FG, 2-3 3FG, 4-4 FT) in tonight’s game. Durant entered this contest off consecutive 30-point outings vs. Phoenix (10/12/09) and vs. Miami (10/14/09).

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