4 boards in 31 minutes from your starting power forward won’t cut it, but I’m used to it now, so I won’t complain. His efficient scoring, as usual, helped keep the team out in front. It helps his grade that he wasn’t in the game in crunch time to screw something up defensively. Am I too hard on Scola? Maybe. You tell me.

Wow. Parsons won this game for the Rockets, shutting down Durant in the final two minutes. What more can be said about this rookie? He went out on an island with perhaps the game’s most dangerous scorer, looked him in the eye, and denied him from getting anything. Simply incredible. You can’t say enough about how great a luxury it was for Kevin McHale to be able to trust Parsons without sending a double team. I know the Rudy Gay matchup went poorly, but I’m really looking forward to seeing if McHale puts Parsons on Kobe for any stints when the Lakers and Rockets square off again.

An inspired effort from the ‘Haitian Sensation.’ He outplayed his counterpart and provided some vital interior defense down the stretch.

Now that’s more like it. Martin exploded for 30 points through three quarters, bouncing back from a bewildering slump that saw him average just 8ppg in his last 5. Most importantly, K-Mart scored the winning points in this one, getting Kendrick Perkins to leave his feet with a patented shot-fake. When it mattered most tonight, Martin got the call he hadn’t been getting all season.

9 assists, but he was getting burned by Russell Westbrook at times tonight. Still, he was able to keep his counterpart in check late when it mattered and that’s all that’s important.

3-10 from the floor but I have to give him an A because he saved the game. With the Rockets protecting a lead, Patterson found himself guarding Russell Westbrook out on the perimeter. The point guard blew past PPatt, but the latter had the awareness of mind to foul, knowing his team was not yet in the penalty. That alertness saved the game as there was no line of defense at the basket. Kevin McHale showered Patterson with praise in the postgame presser, citing his smarts and toughness.

Just kidding. You can tell I’m in a good mood, right?

Coming off “The Stomp”, Scola was stupendous. With the Nuggets sporting a thin front line including no Nene, the Rockets’ big mismatch came with their veteran power forward taking advantage. He delivered his best game in about a month.

Parsons didn’t see the court for much of the contest and was a non-factor when he was out there.

Beginning the game as a turnstile, Dalembert was never given the opportunity to turn things around, as McHale chose to go deep into his bench’s front line and effectively give the ineffective Sammy a night off.

If Martin’s not scoring, there’s really nothing else he can bring to the table. Down the stretch, McHale chose to take the normally consistent Martin’s minutes and give them to Courtney Lee. Because he’s so one dimensional, anytime Martin finds himself in a slump it’s cause for concern.

Underrated game for Lowry. The stats aren’t teetering on a triple double, but don’t frown! Lowry did it all: knocking down five timely threes to snuff out any hopeful Nuggets run, and smothering Ty Lawson (one of the three fastest players in the league) to the tune of a meager 13 points when Denver looked to him as their No. 1 option. A few heady flops down the stretch didn’t hurt either.

As was previously mentioned, Lee found himself on the court down the stretch of a tight ball game. It’s clear that Houston’s coaching staff trusts him in big spots; it’s huge for his confidence, and even bigger for the Rockets versatility.

This came out of nowhere. With Sammy on the sidelines, Adrien was busy regulating the boards like a young Warren G. These are the type of performances he’ll have to have when he’s gift wrapped playing time if he wants to stay in the league.

With several MONSTER three-pointers in the fourth quarter, Budinger made his weekly cameo count tonight.

His second matchup with Kevin Love in a single week was a nightmare. The two are so blatantly headed in different directions, it’s a sad sight to see.

The normally active Parsons was a shell of himself tonight. Possibly due to his task of defending Beasley on an island for extended stretches of time. Also, he can’t make free-throws.

However Sammy Dalembert plays defense dictates ultimately dictates how the Houston Rockets play defense, and tonight the barometer was tapped out. He IS the weak side help on most possessions, and tonight it simply never came.

29 points in 34 minutes is marvelous. Martin did his job yet again, and played some tough defense to boot.

The slump continues. I’m now at the point where I’ve got to ask if he’s seriously hurt because the combination of almost no fourth quarter minutes with a constant tentativeness to attack the basket is just so out of character. Judging it relative to this past week, Lowry went from the second best point guard in the Western Conference to the second best point guard on his own team.

Lee was a bit undersized in his matchup with Michael Beasley, but still, he allowed him to go left on several occasions. Left and straight to the basket.

With Lowry struggling to make plays, Dragic continues to thrive as a consistent spark plug. He penetrated at will, and had several drop off passes leading to simple layups for teammates.

Another game by the Houston Rockets, another rock hard performance by their starting power forward.

Chandler Parsons assisted on three of Houston’s first four baskets. He also did the near impossible by swatting a John Wall-in-transition shot into the stands. Solid game from the rookie, who continues to play unafraid, difference-making basketball.

Monster game from Sammy. He was awesome on the defensive end, very active and fear inducing. On the other end, he nearly finished the game perfect from the field. The Rockets are a MUCH different team when he plays like this.

A throwback Kevin Martin performance. He was a quiet assassin, tip-toeing to the free-throw line 10 times and making all his attempts. Martin also finished with 8 assists—I watched the game and can’t remember a single one. It’s the type of invisible impact he has on basketball games.

Lowry started slower than slow, but still managed to put up a solid, albeit subpar to the bar he’s set for himself, performance. His decision making on the fast break is one positive I’ll take away from this game, though. He always makes the easy pass with such lay-up abiding precision. His teammates must wake up loving the fact he’s on board.

Thank goodness for Dragic. While Lowry was playing inconsistent basketball, the Rockets’ backup point guard stepped in and was brilliant. He attacked the lane and created for his teammates better than we’ve seen in most of his appearances this season.

The normally consistent Scola finally had a down game, but I suppose that’s excusable. Boris Diaw is a BEAST.

After the Bobcats cut it to 5 with just under 3 minutes left, Parsons hit a huge three, then a fallaway two in the corner. After Kemba Walker came back with a jumper of his own, Parsons put it on the floor and finished with a nifty reverse lay-up. He was the team’s closer tonight, leading them in scoring and playing an all-around great game. It’s good to see Morey’s found yet another ruby searching through second round sewage.

Dalembert was solid on the defensive end, but saw a bit of trouble against Byron Mullens, who led the Bobcats in scoring.

Martin had a terrible shooting night, and managed 17 of the ugliest points you’ll ever see.

It was weird to watch Lowry not look for his shot tonight. He finished second on the team in rebounds and had a respectable number of assists, but the results didn’t feel like his triple double flirtations of the past.

Dragic just didn’t bring it tonight. From the start he looked wobbly, finishing with 3 turnovers and 1 assist in 12 minutes. With the Spurs coming to town tomorrow night, Dragic’s lack of sobriety forced McHale to play Lowry over 40 minutes.

Another solid outing by Scola went for naught. He was crafty and fearless going against L.A.’s giants by himself, but, understandably, came up short.

The definition of dominated; Jordan Hill was overmatched in every possible way in tonight’s game. He finished with 4 rebounds to Andrew Bynum’s 22.

Awful shooting performance from Kevin Martin. In a back and forth contest through 3.5 quarters, if a few of Martin’s missed threes went in, the outcome could’ve been a little more interesting. Instead we’re left to wonder as seven of eight deep balls didn’t come close.

Another stupefying performance from Kyle Lowry. The Western Conference’s best point guard (at the moment) barely missed on a triple double for what feels like the fourth time already this season. He was magnificent in his decision making and finished with one more rebound than his team’s two centers.

Patterson seems to still be recovering from an ankle injury, but if he’s that hurt he shouldn’t be playing at all. His offensive repertoire right now is popping off screens and missing wide open jumpers. For him to grab 1 rebound in a game where we needed all Houston’s front court players to crash the boards is pathetic.

Lowry followed up his sparkling performance against Orlando with another near triple-double. Is he the dark horse candidate for a trip to the All-Star game?

After a total dud against the Magic, Martin bounced back to true form, gunning from the opening tip.

Scola was near perfect tonight, making things look too easy against his former club. Did he add a left hand over the summer?