Rockets Wallop Wizards

Posted: January 27, 2012 -- 11:22pm CST.

HOUSTON, TX – The Houston Rockets started sluggishly Friday night; but, the Rockets wound up walloping the woeful Washington Wizards 103-76 in front of an announced crowd of 13,894 fans.

The first quarter was dreadful; and it seemed clear the Rockets would miss Kevin Martin. Martin sat out the game with plantar fasciitis. The two teams missed a combined 35 field goal attempts. The Rockets shot 6 for 23 while the Wizards made 10 of 28. The Rockets trailed 21-17 at the end of the quarter.

The second quarter began much like the first; however, Chase Budinger and Patrick Patterson provided much needed hustle and energy as well as 14 points to help the Rockets outscore the Wizards 27-20 in the second stanza.

Budinger scored 11 points in the opening half; and, the Rockets led 44-41 at halftime.

The ball game stayed close midway through the third quarter before the Rockets (11-8) raced past the Wizards (3-16) like a jet breaking the sound barrier. Boom!

Leading by two points, 57-55, the Rockets exploded with a 36 to 7 run that spanned the final five minutes of the third quarter and the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.

Garbage time came with 6:18 remaining in the ball game as Rockets' reserves Jonny Flynn, Jeff Adrien and Terence Williams checked into the game.

Chase Budinger was the star of the game with 21 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Budinger's 21 points led a 52 point night from the Rockets' bench. Budinger didn't dwell on his recent DNP-CD (didn not play- - coach's decision) status.

"He played well," said head coach Kevin McHale of Budinger's game Friday night. "I told him in our league a lot of times things just happen and he stayed ready and he's a professional man, I tell you what. I thought it was very impressive of this young man. He busted his hump."

Budinger said, "I was very patient, especially when you've been playing for a couple of years and been getting some decent minutes but you have to be professional in the circumstances and be ready."

Wizards' head coach Randy Wittman summarized what happened to his team in the second half.

"It was a combination of things, we have to get in better shape," Wittman said. "We get tired and we lose our concentration. We throw the ball away. We got them to call the first time out in the third quarter. Then the score was 57-55, a two-point game. I don’t know how many turnovers we had. it seemed like a turnover almost every possession. There are some discipline problems in running, for thirty minutes, we played hard, smart and for the most part we got after it. The bad thing about it is that it’s a 48 minute game. We have to value the ball better."

The Rockets forced the Wizards into 24 turnovers and scored 41 points off the miscues.

Luis Scola scored 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Jordan Hill produced a double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds) off the bench.

The Rockets host the New York Knicks Saturday night at 7pm.

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