Rockets pull away from Bobcats in 4th to win season opener, 96-93

Posted: October 30, 2013 -- 10:50 pm CST.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- A win is a win. The Rockets' offense was "sticky" with the ball for much of the ball game; but, thanks to a career-high tying 26 rebounds from Dwight Howard and a combined 35 points from Francisco Garcia (19) and Jeremy Lin (16) off the bench, the Rockets found a way to defeat the Charlotte Bobcats 96-83 Wednesday night in front of an announced sell-out crowd  of 18,083 fans.

After playing 10 minutes of action, Patrick Beverly left the game with an injury (got hit in the ribs). Jeremy Lin took a blow to the chin and left the ball game; as a result, Aaron Brooks ran the offense for 5:33 minutes in the second quarter.

Neither team shot the ball well in the first quarter. The Bobcats led 19-17 at the end of the first quarter.

Garcia played the entire second quarter and scored 11 of the Rockets 28 second-half points which put the Rockets up 45-39 at halftime.

"Francisco kind of kept us running," Kevin McHale said after the game. "Thank goodness for him."

James Harden's back bothered for much of the ball game; and, he struggled in the first half with 2 for 8 field goal shooting; six points and four turnovers.

The Rockets turned the ball over six times in the third quarter to negate 50% (8 for 16 field goals) shooting in the quarter. Parsons (1) and Lin (10 accounted for the Rockets grand total two assists in the third period.

Harden missed all three of his field goals in the third quarter; but, after stretching out his tight back, he responded with 13 points (5 for 5 field goals and 2 for 2 free throws) in nine fourth quarter minutes which helped the Rockets (1-0) pull away from the Bobcats (0-1) in the fourth quarter and earn victory number one in the 2013-'14 season.

Stiff back and all, Harden scored a game-high 21 points and dished out five assists.

Garcia finished the game with 19 points (7 for 13 field goals including 5 for 9 threes) in 30 minutes off the bench.

"We got the win; but, we've got to play better though," Garcia said. "I felt good out there. The guys were looking for me; and, I was able to make some open shots."

Jeremy Lin added 16 points (5 for 7 field goals, 2 for 2 threes) in nearly 31 minutes.

"I think Aaron came in and really steadied the ship," Lin said after the game. "When I came back, we had a pretty good lead. Everybody just has to be ready. That's just the way it is in this game."

The Rockets shot 47.4% (36 for 76 from the field) and outrebounded the Bobcats 54-37 to overcome 18 turnovers.

"We were very stagnant offensively,"  McHale said. "Very unlike how we played all exhibition games and all the days in practice.

"We did not play the way we normally play. We had three-on-ones where we didn't pass the ball. We played very unlike ourselves. The ball was sticky. We've got a lot of stuff we have to clean up. If we had played this way for a month, I would be really concerned. This is the first time we've played like this since the first practice."

Howard finished the game with 17 points (8 for 14 field goals, 1 for 4 free throws) and 26 rebounds.

"I thought we could have been a lot better on the offensive end. We kind of stagnant. It was something we didn't do in the preseason. We've just got to get better at moving the ball and trusting each other. Everybody has to make plays; and, we've just got to do it together."

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