Houston Rockets Weekly: Bold Statements About Rockets Defense Lack Context
By Phil Watson
New York Knicks: Friday, Jan. 3 (Toyota Center, Houston)
While the Rockets came in off consecutive losses, the Knicks arrived having stunned San Antonio the previous night. New York played without Kenyon Martin and Metta World Peace due to injuries, while the Rockets were without Omer Asik, but had Greg Smith available for the first time since Dec. 21 after he sat out six games with a sprained knee.
New York led 24-20 after a period, getting six points from Tyson Chandler. Jeremy Lin scored seven points for Houston.
The Rockets recovered to take a 48-47 halftime lead. Lin had seven points and James Harden scored six in the second period, while Carmelo Anthony had six points for the Knicks.
New York came back strong out of intermission, surging to an 81-73 lead at the quarter break. Iman Shumpert scored 13 points for the Knicks in the period, Anthony added 11 and Beno Udrih tossed in six. Harden kept the Rockets close by scoring 16 in the quarter, while Dwight Howard blocked two shots and Terrence Jones had five rebounds.
Houston rallied to take the lead on two Harden free throws with 3:32 to go and opened a five-point lead, 100-95, when Harden drilled a step-back jumper. Chandler tied it for the Knicks with 1:02 to go with a pair of free throws, 100-100, before Aaron Brooks put the Rockets on top 102-100 with two free throws with 17 seconds to go. Shumpert misfired on an 18-footer with 10.9 seconds to go, but Andrea Bargnani got the offensive rebound. Udrih’s game-tying runner missed with 0.3 seconds left and the Rockets escaped with a come-from-behind 102-100 win.
Harden led Houston with 11 points in the fourth quarter, while Chandler Parsons scored six points and had five rebounds. The Knicks, who shot just 5-for-20 in the period, got four points each from Anthony, Chandler and J.R. Smith.
Harden led the Rockets with 37 points and six assists, Parsons finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and three steals and Howard had 15 points and three blocks. Lin tossed in 14 points. Shumpert led New York with 26 points, Anthony scored 25, Chandler had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Udrih logged 10 points and seven assists. Bargnani finished with two blocks.
New York was 37-for-89 (41.6 percent) overall, 9-for-24 (37.5 percent) from deep and 17-for-24 (70.8 percent) from the line; Houston was 34-for-74 (45.9 percent), 10-for-26 (38.5 percent) and 24-for-28 (85.7 percent).
The teams each had 44 rebounds and 14 second-chance points; the Rockets outscored the Knicks in the paint 40-28 and on the fast break 14-2. Houston’s 15 turnovers created 19 New York points; the Knicks had just nine turnovers that led to 10 Rockets’ points.