I still don't know which Rockets team will show up, but now we do know that there is a lot on the line in this game. And no, the Rockets do not have the luxury of resting anyone tomorrow night under the assumption that they can easily clinch home court with a win Wednesday in New Orleans considering they needed a huge rally last night to beat that same short-handed Pelicans team. Simply put, they have to play everyone and they have to beat the Spurs.
Rockets will sweep 11/30 @ SAS by 6 Harden 31 Parson 25 vs Parker 27 Duncan 20 12/25 @ SAS by 3 Harden 28 Parson 21 Jones 21 vs Gnobili 22 Leonard 13 Duncan 11 01/28 @ Hou by 7 Howard 23 Jones 21 Lin 18 (Harden DNP) vs Diaw 22 Parker 17 I do respect the Spurs as they are the #1 team by record, but I sincerely believe the Rockets have their number. And with home court wrapped up, why would Pop risk any injuries? Expect to see our Viper boys early after the Rockets build a big lead. Sweep San Antonio, go Rockets!!!!
All I know is the doom-and-gloom crowd is in full force right now for some reason, so hopefully we get this win. Hilarious how many people are letting 1 down week dictate the entire season.
Leonard will be a good fit to this team. Conley also. Two low-key team players with well balanced offensive and defensive impact. Off topic sorry.
It's not one down week. The Rockets have been playing poorly for the last 2 weeks. Aside from the home win against OKC(who BTW were very short-handed and on the 2nd night of a B2B), what has this team done to instill any confidence in us with the playoffs less than a week away? The home win against Denver went from a blowout Rockets win to a near blowout loss before that miracle comeback. They were getting smoked by a D-League Pelicans team last night before they finally woke up in the last 5 minutes. They lost to a D-League T'Wolves team after letting Corey Brewer drop 51 on them without even making any jumpshots(other than that halfcourt heave). They got destroyed by a short-handed Nuggets team in Denver. They lost to the short-handed Nets and Raptors. And while they did beat up on the Lakers, they allowed 130 points in that game. All that being said, a win over the red-hot Spurs would make me feel a lot better about this team. At the very least, they better take this game seriously and not assume that Wednesday night is an easy win over the Pelicans. Cuz the T'Wolves loss proved that the Rockets can lose to anyone on the road no matter how short-handed.
If you're going to excuse OKC for being short-handed and on the 2nd of a back to back, why don't you hold that same standard to the Rockets who played 4 games in 5 nights, with the game at Denver on the 2nd night of a back to back, as well as the New Orleans game? Beverley and Dwight, AKA our 2 best defenders and 2 of our most important players, have been out. The team is going to struggle. Without them, how are they any different from the 8 seeded Rockets from last year? If that's not obvious then I don't really know what else to say. Not to mention Parsons was out against New Orleans. If the team is healthy going into the playoffs, which they should be, then the team will perform much better. So much doom and gloom lately...just comical...
New Orleans was playing their 3rd game in 4 nights on Saturday, so the fatigue factor is practically a wash. And Dwight and Bev were back in the lineup, so missing Parsons and Garcia is nothing compared to who the Pelicans were playing without. Denver was a tough B2B, no argument there. I even said before the game that I predicted a loss. What I didn't like was how the team never even competed from the opening tip. It was the Viper squad who made it a game in the 4th quarter. The injuries have been a problem, but what concerns me lately is the effort isn't there. Particularly on defense. Lots of teams are playing shorthanded at this stage of the season. The Spurs are constantly rotating key guys in and out of the lineup, yet they keep winning. OKC had been without Thabo and Perkins for weeks and Westbrook every other game, yet they've played well. If the Rockets ever hope to be in their class, they better commit themselves to trying hard every night at the defensive end. That's how you give yourself a chance to win games where you're struggling on offense or don't have your usual starting 5.
You incorporated three new players in to the starting lineup in that game. You also managed to win the second half by 19 points. Please stop being so negative.
You're not wrong at all. I just wouldn't overreact to a bad stretch when the team was obviously not at 100%, dealing with fatigue, on the road, and playing against teams where, frankly, they just weren't that motivated. There's not a doubt in my mind that when the playoffs come, the sense of urgency will be there and they'll play much better. Being healthy for a change won't hurt either.
But why were they not motivated against the T'Wolves? Did none of the players realize their magic number was down to 2? That Minnesota was resting so many key guys, that the game was a layup if they just went out and played hard? That clinching home court as soon as possible would mean the ability to rest in the final week of the season? You're right. They weren't motivated Friday night. Frankly, they didn't even seem motivated Saturday when they actually needed to win. I'd love to know why.
It's a lot easier to get up for a playoff game against a playoff opponent than a game against a bunch of backups. Not saying that's how it should be, but it is what it is. There's a reason we beat the Spurs 3 times but lose to the Love-less T'Wolves.
Win or lose... let's hope Harden doesn't play 46 minutes again. I truly believe we will squash NO in the last game anyway. We won the last game even though we played like total crap. If we play like we usually do, it should be an easy blowout.
Don't take any game for granted. At least the Rox respect the Spurs. Don't ever disrespect an NBA team ever... Come out strong Rocketeers...
Let's clinch that HCA tonight so James and Chandler can have 4 days of rest before the playoffs. Dwight and Bev we can play sparingly to get their timing back.
