On Volatility

By Forrest Walker | March 18, 2013 at 8:00 pm

The Houston Rockets average 107.1 points per 100 possessions, a number that’s good for fifth in the league. The Denver Nuggets sit at third with 107.5, and the San Antonio Spurs are just a touch behind them with 107.3. The Rockets are undoubtedly one of the most proficient teams in the league right now. Yet in the last two games the Rockets put up first half scores below 40. In fact, the Rockets’ totals against the Golden State Warriors alone have run the gamut from 140 points in regulation to a paltry 78. How can one team exhibit such inconsistency?

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Why is Houston’s defense still bad?

By michael pina | March 18, 2013 at 10:00 am

Since Donatas Motiejunas entered Houston’s starting lineup, that particular five-man unit has allowed just 95.6 points per 100 possessions. It’s an elite figure, but the sample size is far too small to attribute it any meaning.

Motiejunas has played only 11 games with Jeremy Lin, James Harden, Chandler Parsons and Omer Asik beside him on the court. Here are the teams they’ve gone against: Nets, Wizards, Bucks, Magic, Mavericks, Warriors, Suns, and Timberwolves. Two of those teams boast top 10 offenses (barely), two are average, and the remaining four all find themselves ranked at or near the bottom. Read More »

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The Daily Blast – March 18, 2013

By John Eby | March 18, 2013 at 6:16 am

Neck and Neck – Since Saturday, the Lakers, Jazz and Warriors have won, and the Rockets have lost a game that gave them the chance to catapult into 6th place. That’s bad for the Rockets’ playoff chances any way you slice it. Monday feels a little more like Monday than usual.

How Good? – Hardwood Paroxysm dissects the statistical anomaly that was the Rockets’ win over the Timberwolves on Friday. The team erased a 20-point deficit for the first time ever in the Toyota Center. The gem from this article was the revelation that no one hits more threes and free throws combined than James Harden:

For the second time in three games, James Harden attempted 10+ three pointers and 10+ free throws, something he hadn’t done once in his career prior to this stretch. Is it possible that Harden is the most complete (not the best but the most complete) scorer in the NBA? He’s more consistent from distance than LeBron and he attacks the basket better than Durant. At 23 years old, Kobe Bryant averaged a similar number of points (25.2 as compared to Harden’s 26.2), but he shot 25% from distance. Harden’s ability to get to the rim is highlighted by his 10 FTA per game and the fact that no player averages more FTM+3PM (11.0).

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Golden State Warriors 108, Houston Rockets 78: Ten Points Aren’t Enough

By Forrest Walker | March 17, 2013 at 9:02 pm

Midway through the third quarter, the Houston Rockets had closed a 23 point gap to a mere 5 point deficit. Houston was making yet another late game run to recover from yet another anemic start, and the crowd was on its feet in the Toyota center. Then Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry drilled threes, and the comeback was over as quickly as it had begun. Out of energy, out of accuracy and out of sorts, the Rockets eventually fell by 30 points to a Warriors team desperate to hold onto the 6th seed, and just as desperate to prove they can defeat a new rival in the Houston Rockets.

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Golden State Warriors @ Houston Rockets on 3/17/2013

By Rob Dover | March 17, 2013 at 12:03 pm

Form:

Gone is the warm fuzzy glow that accompanied the Warriors in the early part of the season. Back in those days (the grind of the regular season has meant they are fast fading from the memory), their better-than-expected play catapulted them comfortably into the playoff places and earned them a lot of column inches as early season surprises. But somewhere along the line, probably about the time the Rockets delivered a historic beatdown on them in the two teams’ first meeting, the story began to fall off the rails. Unable to keep up the improved defensive effort they started the season with, the team has collapsed from 30-17 to 37-30 and now has to keep one eye on the battle for the 8th seed behind them.

The Rockets have been struggling for consistency in recent weeks, with excellent wins sandwiching disappointing losses. The dichotomy between the two halves of Friday’s tilt with the Timberwolves illustrates that frustrating inconsistency best – you would be hard-pressed to find a worse half of basketball from them this season than the first half, but the potency of their attack in the second was an exhibition of how deadly they can be when everything clicks. A win here leapfrogs Houston over Golden State in the race for the  6th spot, a particularly coveted piece of standings real-estate given the way the tiers of power in the upper echelons of the conference break down. Given that, the entertaining mini-feud they had with the Warriors earlier in the year and a desire to make hay while the sun shines during the current seven game homestand, there should be no problem for the team getting the motivation together for tonight’s game.

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