PrintRockets Bounce Back With Win Over Grizz
Strong second half powers Houston to 113-103 victory over Memphis
Jason Friedman
Rockets.com
Memphis - Sitting aboard the bus waiting to take him and his teammates to the arena prior to Tuesday night’s game against the Grizzlies, Luis Scola pondered an important question: When, he wondered, was the last time a Rockets team had finished with a losing record?
The answer of course was the 2005-06 campaign – a season which saw the Rockets absolutely decimated by injury – but of far more importance was the meaning behind the question itself. Scola wasn’t simply brushing up on his Rockets’ history; his query had far more to do with the fact that he was letting everyone know he was ready to do anything necessary to ensure this year’s group avoids a similar fate.
Mere hours later, Scola and his teammates took a significant step in the right direction, coming through in the clutch to deliver a 113-103 win over Memphis. Houston’s victory put the finishing touches on a season sweep of the Grizzlies – the Rockets’ first since the ’06-’07 campaign – and pushed the club’s record back above the .500 mark (39-38) with just 5 games remaining in the regular season.
“It was a solid win,” said Rockets’ Head Coach Rick Adelman after the game. “We had a lot of contributions from a lot of people and that’s what we’re going to have to have. Kevin (Martin) got going tonight and it was good to see him after the last game. He looked like he was comfortable tonight. For us to win that’s always been the story: we have to have contributions from everybody.”
Indeed, Tuesday’s contest saw the Rockets respond in positive fashion after their disappointing performance in Indianapolis two nights before. As Adelman mentioned, Kevin Martin looked much improved, showing off an aggressive mindset right from the opening tip. And that attacking demeanor delivered significant dividends on the offensive end, as Martin racked up 29 points due in no small part to his uncanny ability to draw fouls and convert from the charity stripe, where he finished a perfect 12-for-12.
But for all of his offensive fireworks, Martin didn’t even finish as the biggest story to come out of this game. That honor would have to go to none other than Jared Jeffries, the Rockets’ surprise fourth quarter hero who delivered in just about every way imaginable during the final frame.
Jeffries entered the period with 3 points, 7 rebounds and two blocks; respectable numbers off the bench for sure, but nothing mind-blowing. The final 12 minutes, however, changed everything.
The quarter actually began poorly for Jeffries and the Rockets, as Memphis rallied back from a double-digit deficit with a 14-2 run to start the frame while Jeffries saw his first three shots miss the mark – two of them errant because they’d been swatted by the Grizzlies’ DeMarre Carroll. Then at the 6:51 mark, Jeffries stunned many at the FedEx Forum by knocking down a 20-footer just as the shot clock was set to expire. On Houston’s next possession, he drained another. Jeffries then capped the eye-opening run with a pair of free throws earned after getting fouled while expertly trailing Trevor Ariza on the break.
By the time all was said and done, the 8th year forward out of Indiana had finished the game with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots, augmenting his surprising offensive outburst with his typically savvy defense; all of which allowed the Rockets to put Memphis away for the fourth time this season.
“It just worked out that I ended up getting some easy shots tonight,” Jeffries said. “I just want to do whatever helps the team and tonight making shots helped. I think my defense really helped us because we weren’t scoring the ball at a real high rate late in the game. We were able to get some stops and then when we did score the ball we were able to get the lead.”
And they were also able to keep it thanks to the sterling play of Aaron Brooks during the game’s final two minutes. After Memphis had trimmed Houston’s advantage to a mere two points following a pair of Mike Conley free throws, Brooks took over, scoring on consecutive possessions before icing the game on an exquisitely designed play out of a timeout which saw him thread a picture perfect bounce pass to Trevor Ariza for a dunk, giving Houston a comfortable 109-101 lead with just over a minute to go.
“We’ve had a bunch of years where we’ve been over .500,” Brooks said, “and we don’t want to drop under that. It’s all about pride.”
And 1s: With his three 3-pointers in the third quarter, Aaron Brooks moved into a tie with Rafer Alston for the franchise record for made 3s in a single season with 192… The Rockets held Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo to just 4 points Tuesday night, matching his career-low which had been set March 17 of this year – against the Houston Rockets.
QUOTES
RICK ADELMAN
It was a solid win. In the second half I thought we played very well. It was the same old problems early in the game but in the second half I thought we did a nice job. In the fourth quarter they cut it but we got shots at the rim, we just couldn’t get anything to go down. But we responded. We responded, executed and got some stops down the stretch.
I thought that group that we had out there (down the stretch) was active. I was concerned about Jared; he was playing so well but he had his fifth foul, that’s why I put Chuck in to take (Jeffries) off Randolph and let him guard someone else.
Again, it’s the energy that you need to bring and it’s finishing the possession. Maybe you defend well but you have to go get the ball, too. So I was just pleased with the way we responded in the fourth quarter.
(Jeffries) made his open shots. He was going to the basket. I thought he played a terrific game tonight. He was good defensively and he was very active. I thought Jordan played good, too. A game like this, I was going to go with our veterans to try and stabilize it a bit and make sure we got a win. That’s a good team we played and we beat them four times (this season). We’ve tied them now and let’s see if we can win two in a row. We like to get stuck at one over .500, so maybe we can build off this.
We had a lot of contributions from a lot of people and that’s what we’re going to have to have. Kevin got going tonight and it was good to see him after the last game. He looked like he was comfortable tonight. For us to win that’s always been the story: we have to have contributions from everybody.
AARON BROOKS
We put a full game together. We all want to finish above .500, so we went out there and battled the whole game.
We protected the paint a lot better. Chuck and Jared and Jordan did a good job on Randolph today. The good thing is we protected the paint and rebounded.
“We are a defensive team. We’re going to continue to grow in that department. Our defensive identity is growing every game, except for that last one. I think we moved the ball from side-to-side. We took advantage when they got their backs down. We got some easy buckets. Kevin Martin came in and played great.”
JARED JEFFRIES
(on his big fourth quarter scoring): It just worked out like that. One time with a late clock I just made one and then AB drove again and my man pulled all the way in and I just popped out for a short corner shot. I got an easy layup from Luis and another good play from Trevor, so it just worked out that I ended up getting some easy shots tonight.
(on his defense): I just want to do whatever helps the team and tonight making shots helped. I think my defense really helped us because we weren’t scoring the ball at a real high rate late in the game. We were able to get some stops and then when we did score the ball we were able to get the lead.
One thing I’ve learned in this league is everything comes around. You can’t panic and you can never get too high or too low. You just continue to work hard. The players here are great guys, the coaching staff is very good, so I’ll find my way.
We’ve got to protect the rim. We can’t give up easy layups. Even tonight, we gave up too many points in the paint. We’ve got to keep guys in front of us, take charges – we can’t give up so many easy baskets. That’s just effort level and understanding of what they want to do offensively.
KEVIN MARTIN
(looks more aggressive tonight): It’s just about rhythm. It was my second game back and I felt comfortable and felt like myself today.
(more at ease with shoulder sleeve off): I think I (took it off) because I’m a little superstitious. It wasn’t helping me anyways, so I took it off.
TREVOR ARIZA
On tonight’s win: “Right now, for both teams, it’s tough on us. We fought so hard during the early part of the season hoping to get into the playoffs. Now, to know that you have no chance is kind of tough to get motivated. That part caught up with us in the first half. Then, we realized we were playing for pride. We’re playing for our team, our franchise, our families and we started picking it up. We knew they were a game ahead of us going into tonight’s game. We were just playing for pride. We were trying to finish the season out with a sweep at least.”
MEMPHIS COACH LIONEL HOLLINS
On the loss:
“It came down that we couldn’t get stops. That was the key the whole game. It was actually the third quarter that killed us. The group that we had in there did a nice job of getting us back in the game and as we filtered the starters back into the game, we just couldn’t get stops and couldn’t execute.”
On Luis Scola:
“We had Hasheem (Thabeet) on him. We’ve played them four times and nobody has been able to guard him. With that being said, he only had 17 points.”
On free throws:
“They had 33 free throws; we had 16. We didn’t get to the free throw line and they did, that happens on occasion. Zach (Randolph) got to the free throw line eight times. I can’t blame the referees. I wouldn’t even begin to think about it being the refereeing.
On Kevin Martin:
“If you go back and check the past, he had 47 on us when he was with Sacramento. He’s a tough cover. As I said before the game, they have a lot of tough matchups for us. Aaron Brooks, one game gets 7-of-7 from threes and torches us. Then, Luis Scola goes and gets 30 points and torches us; tonight it’s Kevin Martin. They just have a lot of guys we don’t match up well with. That’s a weakness of our team in having that kind of versatility.”
MIKE CONLEY
On the loss:
“They played very hard. They played together. They did a good job of sharing the basketball. They are tough to defend and they shoot the three’s very well. We were getting the defensive rebounds. They were getting the offensive rebounds and had second chances. I think that was the story of the night.”
On the Rockets:
“They have a lot of guys that can handle the ball and a lot of guys that are undersized at the different positions, but can definitely make plays. It’s very tough to match up with a team that has so many different options.”
RUDY GAY
On how to get better:
“I think we need to take care of the ball a little bit better; I know personally I could.”
On the Rockets:
“They have really quick guards. They are scrappy. They score. They played great against us. (Aaron) Brooks played great against us. It was tough. They had different methods out there. We had to go through some different lineups. It was a different situation for us.”
DARRELL ARTHUR
On the loss:
“They came out and fought hard. They had good defense. They have great players and great shooters. They are a great scoring team. It seems like this game was a lot closer than a lot of our other games. I thought we fought hard. I think we are still trying to win as many games as we can.”
On playing against the Rockets:
“They are a great defensive team; They rotate; They switch. They do what they have to do. They rebound the ball. They play hard. It was real tough to score on them. We couldn’t make a play at the end. They rebound the ball very well. I thought we fought hard during the stretch and we made a comeback and then they made a couple of three pointers.”
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