Rockets Comeback Falls Short, 116-111, Lose to Pistons in OT
Houston trailed by as many as 14 in the 3rd quarter and stormed all the way back to even take the lead. Questionable calls were abound, including a mysterious pardon by the refs to give Andre Drummond free roam to do whatever he wanted on and/or with the rim. On Friday night, the refs allowed Drummond to touch the ball when it was in the cylinder, and even two egregious offensive interference calls that would have resulted in four more points for the Rockets were dismissed in preference of letting Drummond coax on the rim all night (literally, at one point after a free throw, the Pistons center just hung on the rim until the ball dropped in, a motion that has been against the rules since they were invented). Nevertheless the Rockets trailed by two with 2.6 to go in regulation. EG made a splendid layup with 0.01 left to tie the game and send it into overtime. However, the OT session proved to be too much for Houston as they were thoroughly outplayed by the Pistons in the extra period. Nevertheless, The Clint Capela Emergence continued and the Rockets Swiss stud had another monstrous game with a career-high 29 points to go along with 21 rebounds. He held his own against Detroit’s All-Star big men, but his contributions weren’t quite enough as the Rockets fell just short, a bad call or three away from winning the game in regulation. Harden failed to score in overtime, and the Rockets were just plain outplayed in the final 5 minutes. It’s too bad one of the best games of the season resulted in a loss, but the Rockets are showing that they are back to the team they were last year. The loss in Detroit isn’t as catastrophic as earlier season losses. Houston has historically struggled in the Motor City, now with an all-time record of 18-49 when playing the Pistons in Detroit. Despite this and the terrible officiating, the Rockets still were in position to win the game but didn’t have enough gas left in their motor. The squad will try to begin a new streak in Cleveland tonight as they take on a Post-LeBron Cavaliers team who is arguably the worst team in the entire NBA. The Cavs are in full rebuilding mode, and the Rockets are even resting Chris Paul tonight on the second half of this back-to-back. There’s no such thing as a “good” loss in my opinion, but Capela and the Rockets battled hard in Detroit. Hopefully, they’ll build from this tough loss and start an even longer streak, one that begins in the ‘Land, on Saturday night.