Man, there's still problems with the team and health issues, but let's shove that all out of the way. This is why this win was so good. -Let's get the obvious out first; Mac and Battier weren't there and that really shortened the rotation, to the point where it sometimes got near-absurd; we had Wafer playing something near his career-high in minutes and Brooks guarding Paul Pierce...and we still friggin won. -We snapped Boston's 13-game home winning streak, some revenge for them snapping 22 at our house. We also beat probably the best team in the league; nevermind the Celtics and their road woes; before this loss, they were 16-1 at home, with their only loss coming to Denver. They've blown teams out left and right at home; if I were to guess, their win differential is somewhere near +12. -The Rockets closed the deal, even though they were down at the minute mark; this usually never happens, especially without T-Mac in the roster. It seems like we're the one that always gives up leads and then just slips right under. This time we reversed that. -The DEFENSE reappeared! The Celtics shot 42.9% in the game...which is respectable, but 22% in the fourth quarter; when it really counted, the Rockets zeroed in. -Unlikely heroes stepped up. Von Wafer. Brooks taking a charge on Pierce. Hell, Yao FINALLY grabbed a rebound, established himself, and rolled it back up soft WITHOUT getting the sh** blocked out of the ball. -The Rockets are becoming road warriors, which is VERY good if they get a low seed and also very useful if they manage to pick up a high seed. They've faced three elite EC teams at home (Cavs, Hawks and now Celts) and have managed to come off with maybe not three wins, but three very respectable games that with a bounce here and there, could have easily become Rockets wins. Of course, you could argue that losses to Toronto and Philly annul that point but...that actually leads to my final point. -The Rockets play down or up according to the level of competition. This isn't ideal, but it sure as hell beats playing up on bad teams and bad on good teams, which we had a tendency to do in the JVG years (imo). It's a good bench mark for at least a competitive playoff run. -...Actually, the real final point, for those that watched the online feed with the Celts announcers, hearing Tommy die a little inside during the final few seconds was priceless. Feel free to add your own reasons...this win was really good in so many ways.
One of the Celtics announcers, not Tommy but the other, unbiased guy said over and over "This is a good game". Even if the Rockets had lost they would have played a respectable game. Not the crap we've been seeing. That matters. Losing still sucks, but if you're going to lose don't go out like a bunch of b****es.
I'm not as high after this win as many. I've watched most of the recent Celtics losses and they are a shadow of themselves right now. Still, it was a great win without Tracy & Shane and to be able to close it out in Boston was terrific. I hope the Rockets can use this as a launching pad to playing more team basketball with more energy on both ends of the floor. I'll be satisfied with effort, intelligence and teamwork no matter what the outcome of the games. The key is for the full roster to get healthy soon so a foundation for playoff success can be built. That and a trade to get another PG.
True, but that's been on the road. There's only three teams you have in the discussion for best home team in the league and that's Cleveland, Boston and LA. A team can be totally different at home and on the road; look at the Jazz pummeling NO at home and wracking up loss streaks to scrub teams on the road.
I watched on League Pass Broadband (which is awesome btw) and only started watching in the 4th quarter. I was convinced this team was just going to fold and crumble, especially once Artest was fouled out. Very impressed, however those Celtics announcers...man were they biased. Not very nice words for Artest (complained about him complaining to the refs after foul #6) and went on to question Brooks' drawn charge on Pierce. Of course once they showed the replay that had both of his feet well outside the semi-circle, those guys were speechless. You could almost feel their breaths of incredulity through the speakers, trying to find something to crap on. Either way, much-needed win. Maybe a turning point, maybe not. But certainly a milestone for this season to remind the team how they need to play to win.
One funny thing about the commentary of the game is how we were short handed with TSlack in street clothes. We won partly because TSlack was in street clothes! If TSlack played, we would have had almost no chance of winning.
