Last home game against a top-seeded (#1) NBA team, that we will (hopefully) meet soon enough... Would be great to finish with a W. I'm optimistic.
This would be a good game to sit the starters. This team will beat the Pelicans on Wednesday. Pull a pop on the Spurs.
I don't buy into that strategery after what I witnessed Saturday night. If the Rockets needed a comeback like that to beat the Pelicans' D-League team in Houston, what's gonna happen when they have to go on the road where they've lost 4 out of their last 5(the lone win being against the Lakers who are neck-and-neck with Utah for worst in the West)? Especially with the pressure of that game being a must-win. If I felt confident in the Rockets' ability to show up and dominate a crappy opponent, then sure, go ahead and rest the starters, give them 3 days of rest(or 4 in Parsons' case), and then go out and destroy New Orleans Wednesday night. But I can't say I'm feeling that way right about now.
No way, Beverly and Howard need more playing time to be ready for the playoffs. This will be playoff atmosphere and the team needs that right before the playoffs. Get the win and then rest guys. Pop can play those mind games because his team are full of veterans, they have been there done that. They know how to win in the playoffs. Then the Pelicans we can experiment. Rest Harden, Jones and Lin. Try the Twin towers for a bit, give the bench most of the second half minutes.
If we come out strong and get a big lead Pop will certainly rest his guys. Then we have best of both worlds and can rest our guys.
this. is the actually this. not the other this that some other poster proclaimed as the this a couple posts ago.
I see no reasons for Spurs to play the starters. 1. If they lose, they'll lose their confidence in playing against us in 2nd around. 2. If they win with their bench, this will hurt our confidence instead.
Real Plus/Minus for 2013-2014 NBA Season http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/sort/DRPM interesting Rockets stats -confirms how bad Harden is on defense -confirms that Lin isnt as bad on defense as generally thought -confirms Lin has struggled on offense, probably his turnovers affecting this negative offensive plus minus -confirms how valuable Beverley is to the Rockets -shows that Garcia/Casspi are better defenders than Parsons -Rockets have the best defensive point guard rotation with Lin and Bev -TJ is terrible on defense besides blocking shots, confirming he needs to get stronger -DMo's number...surprising -Howard and Asik really do defend as advertised
"Confidence" is so overrated. The team won't expect to lose in the playoffs because of a week or so of poor play with key players missing, and surely won't remember it once playoffs start, anyway.
Would be great, especially since we're at home and Pop knows that too. WE JUST NEED ONE MORE WIN FOR FOURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH had to let that out.
I'm not optimistic about tonight. If they play like they did against NO and MIN, they will get blown out by the Spurs bench, forget about the starters.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Francisco Garcia, who was out Saturday with stiff lower back, says he will play tonight.</p>— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/statuses/455738400985714688">April 14, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Chandler Parsons, who was out Saturday, says he will "try to give it a go" tonight.</p>— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/statuses/455738680498331648">April 14, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Not surprised. The team can't afford to forfeit this game and assume they'll win on Wednesday. The good news is if they do win tonight, Parsons gets almost a week off before Game 1 against Portland.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Howard said priority is for Rockets to be their best by playoffs. Hou staggering to finish line, edging Den, NO at home. Portland has ...</p>— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/statuses/455747159174836224">April 14, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>... won eight of its past nine games, looked terrific last night in overtime win vs. Golden State. Started run with wins vs. Atl, Chi, Mem.</p>— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/statuses/455747407804780544">April 14, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
