They played a good defensive team on the road and Gordon had zero points, Anderson struggled, Harden had an off night, the refs made some bad calls against the Rockets, etc... And they STILL found a way to win.
Basically defense won us this game. Harden & Gordon both were off offensively, but they were pretty solid on defense
Eh. Sometimes the ball just bounces your way. I wouldn't take much out of this win. A win is a win, but Detroit played hard as well. Give credit where credit is due.
let's not get carried away. the rockets have been catching middling teams not at their best. morey still needs to make a move or two.
We won't have any rim protection without Dwight, Dekker is a scrub with no lateral quickness or shot, he has no nba level traits, what was Morey thinking, he should have taken Portis, da gawd is wrong with him!!!
Jeez, is no one allowed to enjoy a win anymore? The OP is not saying that we are better than the Cavs/Warriors but simply that a win like tonight was a good persevering win. I'm pretty sure we all know we need upgrades but can't we just enjoy a win for a single night?
So all the 9 teams we've beaten were not at their best? considering 5 of those 9 wins were actually on the road they are doing well.W've played 5 home games and 9 road freaking games. After the Lakers opening night fiasco this team has bounced back pretty well.
It's good that we are beating middling teams. It's better than last year we would randomly lose to these teams. These games really show that our system works, not like last year where every game is a toss up no matter what.
With a good coach, all of a sudden Morey's draft picks look good. I can't remember McHale/JBB making a draft pick look good other than for Chandler Parsons. And Parsons was a 4 year rookie ready to contribute.
Rox gutted out a win on a road against a tough team...tall,lengthy, athletic similar to Atlanta. This is the kinda game we would've gotten BLOWN OUT last year
We lost like 5 games last year to the Nets/Nuggets at the start of the season. So yes, am excite. Even if we have bad wins against bad teams, its better then not.
That was an ugly win, and that makes me even more satisfied. Good teams need to know how to win games when they're not at their best. This is why San Antonio is so successful. They win those games. Still many problems, surprisingly offensively. Too many plays, too much use of the full 24 sec clock, lack of movement. I hope Dantoni is not giving up on his system for Harden ball cause that not gonna take us far. Defensively, solid play, and that is what going to bring us those ugly hard wins when the offence isn't flowing, and this is why I'm happy to see those kind of wins. It shows about effort and character
I don't exactly agree with the wording of the title of this thread, but I understand where the poster is going with this. Yes, Gordon and Harden didn't have a good game offensively. Last year, this game would have been a laugher of a win by Detroit. This year.. other players are stepping up when certain key players are having off nights, and that's what you look for at the beginning of the season. You try and find the guys off the bench or non big name players that can make a difference in ball games when things aren't going right. Capela and Sam did that and then some. First Capela. I was extremely worried over a week ago about our 5 spot. It was as if no one was going to take that spot, and it was just going to be a black hole for us, but boy was I ever wrong to ignore the fact that the kid is still 22, and has a huge amount of potential in him, and it's starting to really show. As for Sam, box score watchers may look at things afterwards and say "Why on Earth are you getting excited about 12 points?" Well, it's not so much that it was twelve points, it's "When" those points are scored, and what all he brings to this team. This kid has that I don't give a **** attitude, and seems to come up big in the biggest part of ball games. He has no fear when attacking the rim, and he's becoming more confident by the day in his jumper. He hustles his tail off for what he may lack in other certain areas, and I couldn't be happier. If these two continue to grow, this will be HUGE for this team.
Even Lakers game isn't that bad looking back. Right NOW theyre a decent playoff team, and they blew out the Warriors by 20 while ending Curry's games steak with a made 3. They're not a guaranteed W as previously thought. Agree this rough road win was still a good sign. The top scorers didn't have it and they still kept at it. And other "scrub" players contributed to pick up the slack
Looking forward, a tricky stretch coming up - Toronto, then @Sac and @Utah. Would be great if we can win all these, coz then we go to Golden State!
Pistons were really good defensively at different points of the game, it was really good to see our offense tested. I'm glad we got the win, but I'm more interested in lessons the players and coaches pick up from facing a great defense that can slow them down. Yes our defense should be up to par, but with this personnel we have to be able to figure out how to get the offense going when obstacles come up. I saw signs that the role players now instinctively know where they should be but more importantly where everyone else should be. Bev didn't play great but glad to have him back. Was good to be able to choose between Bev and Gordon. Also, Harden and Gordon played some good defense. Even Ryan Anderson wasn't terrible.
