Rockets Coast Past Knicks, 123-112, Win Fourth Straight
Open Highway. Splash of Trouble. Ready Reserves.
Houston continued in the direction of owning the Knicks, beating New York 123-112 on Monday night. The victory gives the Rockets their 8th straight over the Knicks, and wins in 26 of their last 28 matchups with New York. James Harden, Russell Westbrook and P.J. Tucker, returned from Kobe’s memorial service in Los Angeles about an hour prior to tip-off. Westbrook was a late scratch with a sore thumb, but Harden still managed to lead the Rockets with 37 points, in a game the squad controlled from start to finish. Houston’s 25-point lead was trimmed to 11 points, but that’s the closest New York would get after the Rockets blasted off for 72 points in the first half. This game was nowhere near as close as the final score indicates. The Toyota Center court was an open highway for Houston, with lanes to the basket wide open all night for the Rockets.
Eric Gordon got the starting nod in place of Russ. EG finished with 16 points, but left the game with an apparent knee/shin injury and didn’t return. Splash Gordon has suffered the most injuries this season for Houston, and it hasn’t been close. The Rockets need EG healthy for the playoffs to get the most firepower out of their small-ball style. Houston isn’t going all the way without Splash Gordon. EG is too important on both ends of the floor. No timetable or severity of his injury has been revealed at this point. Against the lowly-Knicks, the Rockets had plenty of players step up, eager to prove they deserve more playing time.
Ben McLemore continues to be on fire from distance. On Monday, he finished with 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting to lead the bench. Since the All-Star break, Benny Mac is 11-for-17 from beyond the arc. His ability to catch and shoot, without needing a dribble to gather his shooting motion, allows McLemore to be the perfect fit in a Rockets offense that rewards the quickest catch-and-release shooters. Austin Rivers chipped in with 14 points, as AR’s been sensationally consistent all season. And Robert Covington continues to be a defensive force. RoCo scored 11 points, and had another 4-block night. Covington’s length and switching ability on defense gives Houston’s opponent nightly nightmares. The other two newest Rockets, Jeff Green and DeMarre Carroll, continue to work their way into Houston’s offense. Green went 3-for-3 from the field for 9 points. Carroll had 7 points and 4 boards in 14 minutes of action.
The Rockets have now won four consecutive games, and lie only two games beyond Denver for the second spot out West. Houston’s a mere one game behind the Clippers for the third seed. If Harden and company and continue to approach these final 25 games of the regular season with an aggressive mentality, there’s no reason the Rockets shouldn’t get the second seed in the West. The Lakers still sit comfortably eight games ahead, and will likely finish first. The Clippers have a chance of falling to fourth if the Nuggets can claim the third spot and Houston moves up to second, as I predict. That would be allow the Rockets to avoid playing the Lakers and Clippers in the playoffs. The first seed isn’t as important as avoiding the treacherous task of marching through both teams from Los Angeles in the playoffs. Houston doesn’t have complete control over where the Clippers will fall in the West, the Rockets just need to keep playing their best ball, and focus on themselves.
Up next, Ja Morant and Memphis comes to town on Wednesday night. The Grizzlies are fighting to hold onto the final playoff spot in the West. Houston’s split the season series so far with Memphis, and despite their losing record, the Rockets haven’t exactly owned the Grizz like they have the Knicks. Wednesday’s game will be tougher, but expect the return of Russ to allow Houston to keep rolling in the right direction.