ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Cavaliers 3/29/2016

He's an Azzhole even in person

 

He's an Azzhole even in person not just on the court

 

Jonathan Feigen ‏@Jonathan_Feigen 1h1 hour ago
Rockets on comeback from down 20. “We kind of knew," Brewer said. "Once the second half started, we made a run and felt like we could win.”

 

Houston Rockets 106, Cleveland Cavaliers 100: This time it worked
by FORREST WALKER | MARCH 29, 2016 at 10:16 PM
We’ve seen this movie before. The Houston Rockets falter in the first half, get in a big hole, then make a furious comeback in the second half. They do it just about every other game, it seems like. Often, the story ends with an unhappy ending for the Rockets, as it did against the Indiana Pacers. Tonight, however, they tried the same thing and got a better result. The Rockets rallied back from a 20-point deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers. Oh, and by the way? LeBron James didn’t play. Maybe it’s not really that impressive. Either way, the Rockets get a much-needed tick in the wins tally.
Who was the hero against the Cavaliers? It was, as always, James Harden. After a grim first half in which he attempted only 6 shots, he poured it on in the second half. At one point he got tripped up on a shoe which fell off Iman Shumpert’s foot, and was called for a travel. Whether that call was the tipping point or not, he went berserk in the second half, playing 44 minutes so that the team could eke out another win against a lesser opponent. He scored 27 points on 8-16 shooting, and ended with 6 rebounds, 8 assists, a steal and 4 turnovers. Harden might be a part of the Rockets’ problems, but it’s also clear he’s part of the solution, whenever they find one. He played some excellent individual defense at times, and it’s clear that when he’s locked in he’s a force to be reckoned with. Don’t let anyone tell you different.
Michael Beasley remains the unexpected hero. He played 27 badly-needed minutes and scored 17 points on 8-15 shooting. This is pretty okay. 8 rebounds 2 assists and a block round out a nice night for B-easy, a man who is helping to make smallball viable in Houston. He can play a nice, active power forward role, and he fits very well with what’s left of that bench crew, including K.J. McDaniels, who will be a very nice player if he can develop a halfway decent shot.
Dwight Howard was a confusing specimen. He ended up with 11 points on 2-3 shooting because of how often he was fouled. He shot 7-22, and not all of those were hack-a fouls. Much of the time, the Cavaliers simply knew to foul him hard whenever he gets near the rim. Dwight Howard has been a difficult proposition lately, since the team has fared better with Clint Capela on the court instead. This will continue to be a hard question for the team unless Howard really turns it on in the playoffs, should they make it.
The overall thrust of the game was one in which the Rockets were the better team for three quarters. If you removed that abysmal second quarter, Houston dominated that game. You can’t, however, remove just part of a game. That’s Houston’s problem in a nutshell. They’re capable of playing extremely well, but can’t do it for a whole game. A collapse so bad that you let a team get on a 22 point swing in a mere 12 minutes is intolerable, and continues to be worrisome. If they can somehow exorcise these demons and give consistent effort and play in the playoffs, nobody can predict what happens. If they keep giving up quarters where they hit 5 field goals and give up 7 turnovers, it’s easy to predict their playoff fate. This won’t work in the playoffs. The Rockets should feel lucky it worked tonight.

 

K.J. McDaniels' role expanding to defending point guards
By Jonathan Feigen Published 12:14 pm, Tuesday, March 29, 2016

CLEVELAND -- After using K.J. McDaniels to defend at point guard in the Rockets' small lineup, Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he evisions his second-year forward playing a similar role more regularly down the stretch this season, likely starting tonight against the Cavaliers.
"He's a versatile defender," Bickerstaff said. "His speed, his quickness, his athleticism -- and he's gotten better at it. He understands now keeping guys in front of him, the positioning and not just relying on his athleticism to make plays at the basket because guys are such good finishers.
"Now, he does a phenomenal job of stopping guys, closing them out and keeping them in front of him. Now, he's challenging pull-up jumpers, which are shots you want to force."
McDaniels has played in 30 games this season, mostly to finish games with the outcome already decided, averaging 5.5 minutes per game. McDaniels made the only shot he took on Sunday, but the Rockets outscored the Pacers by 18 points in McDaniels' 13 minutes on the floor.

 

Yup..Finally

K.J. McDaniels' role expanding to defending point guards
By Jonathan Feigen Published 12:14 pm, Tuesday, March 29, 2016

CLEVELAND -- After using K.J. McDaniels to defend at point guard in the Rockets' small lineup, Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he evisions his second-year forward playing a similar role more regularly down the stretch this season, likely starting tonight against the Cavaliers.
"He's a versatile defender," Bickerstaff said. "His speed, his quickness, his athleticism -- and he's gotten better at it. He understands now keeping guys in front of him, the positioning and not just relying on his athleticism to make plays at the basket because guys are such good finishers.
"Now, he does a phenomenal job of stopping guys, closing them out and keeping them in front of him. Now, he's challenging pull-up jumpers, which are shots you want to force."
McDaniels has played in 30 games this season, mostly to finish games with the outcome already decided, averaging 5.5 minutes per game. McDaniels made the only shot he took on Sunday, but the Rockets outscored the Pacers by 18 points in McDaniels' 13 minutes on the floor.

 

Yeah and they get tired from catching up and winning that they likely will lose a few of the next games

 

What are you talking about? Nobody on here is saying Dwight should NOT touch the ball!! What most people don't want to see is Dwight posting up, because frankly, he is not very good at it --> PPP on post-ups not very high and he is TO-prone in the post (if you have Dmo out there, he is the better option in the post).

YES, Dwight should play a 'DJ role', only he isn't doing it. Playing a 'DJ role' doesn't mean you just stand there and see what happens. You have to set hard picks and roll even harder. Hit the boards hard for putbacks and fight for position to get easy lobs and most importantly, when you get the ball inside, go up STRONG and at least TRY to finish with authority.

Can't be bothered to look it all up, but here are a few plays - now you can't seriously tell me that a guy as strong as Dwight couldn't gather the ball quicker and go up stronger to attempt to get an AND1??! He used to do it in past seasons but not anymore. If he did this, his shot attempt #s would look different too, he'd score more and maybe be happier to be more involved in the game.

• http://on.nba.com/230Bxdk - You know what a guy playing the 'DJ role' would have done? Go up quickly for a dunk! Why take your time to gather the ball and move this close to the basket?

• http://on.nba.com/230CPoL - Someone playing the 'DJ-role' would have just kept the ball up, maybe fake right, turn left and attempt to dunk

There were easily another 1-2 instances in the CLE game, where Dwight could have attempted to make something happen. Feel free to look at more game footage and you will see that plays like these happen on a regular basis. This is what is frustrating to me, and I'm guessing a lot of other posters on here feel the same. There is no reason really, why Dwight can't go up stronger for the finish.

Oh yeah and then the usual mind-boggling goal tend (those really bug me too): http://on.nba.com/230CimE

 

KJ FINALLY MADE THE JB-BREWER CONNECTION ROTATION! HE DID IT!

Spoiler

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and it only took jb just 64 games to realize his value to the team!


good job jb! cant wait to see you leave in the offseason. GET THE **** OUTTA HERE!

 

Agree with every single word of this post. We should save the money for somebody that contributes. I always feel we play better without him on the floor.

 

Where is the post game interview?

 

Andrew Gouldlock is now the final piece to get in the rotation and the rockets team will be complete for the playoff run. But smh Jbb

 

goudelock will be lucky if he gets to lick the dirt off of jb's shoes. someone has to warm up that skinny ass mofo brewer's spot on the bench. goudelock is perfect for that role.

 

JB actually really legit made some intellectual basketball moves this game....

- Inserting McDaniels in the rotation
- Letting Beas finish the game and rewarding him with trust without doing that late-game situational subs he likes to do

Baby steps, I know.....but I guess better than nothing

 

Im glad lebron didn't play. Cleveland's offense looked unorganized at the end of quarters without him handling the ball.

 

Let's hope we can continue to make gains. Go Houston Rockets!

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">James Harden is playing some defense. Defensive rating last 5 games is 103. Russell Westbrook, if u want someone to compare has a DRtg 102.</p>&mdash; Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/calvinwatkins/status/715161811855785984">March 30, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Before going 7-22 from the line last night, Dwight Howard had made 36 percent of his foul shots over 10 game span.</p>&mdash; Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/calvinwatkins/status/715166299396116480">March 30, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Not a lot of faith in home team. <a href="https://t.co/09ru4zzckL">pic.twitter.com/09ru4zzckL</a></p>&mdash; Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/calvinwatkins/status/715007660861616129">March 30, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rockets on comeback from down 20. “We kind of knew,&quot; Brewer said. &quot;Once the second half started, we made a run and felt like we could win.”</p>&mdash; Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/715031266018594823">March 30, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Harden had 18 of his 27p in 4th. &quot;That’s what the first 3 quarters were for. Figure out what they were doing and trusting my instincts.”</p>&mdash; Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/715031886989508608">March 30, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rockets 106-100 win in Cleveland their largest comeback (from down 20) to a win, and their 12th double-digit comeback of the season.</p>&mdash; Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/715009548151554049">March 30, 2016</a></blockquote>
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7-22 from the FT line is an abomination...even for Dwight. You should be suspended for one game with those kinds of FT line stats...and you should have to spend that suspended day shooting FTs.

 

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