Grizzlies too much for Rockets

Posted: November 25, 2015 -- 11:15 pm.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Houston Rockets did not make a single field goal for nearly 10 minutes of the fourth quarter Wednesday night; and, the drought cost the Rockets dearly as they suffered a 102-93 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

"We’ve got to take shots because we believe we're going to knock them down," Rockets interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said.

James Harden scored a game-high 40 points; however, scored only 4 points in the fourth quarter (1 for 2 field goals). Plus, indicative of the awful field goal shooting, Harden had zero assists in the final 12 minutes.

"I’ve got to trust and I have faith in my guys to make the right play every single time; and, I will continue to do the right things because I know eventually, things will turn around," Harden said after the game.

Tonight's loss was the first time this season the Rockets lost when Harden scored 30 or more points in a game.

The Rockets trailed 28-24 after the first quarter; but, the Grizzlies took advantage of Patrick Beverley and Ty Lawson in the backcourt together to erupt for a 10-2 spurt the first three minutes of the second quarter. Interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff returned his starters to the game; and, the starters responded with a 22-9 run to lead 48-47.

"He (Ty) got caught with a bad group when he went in the first three minutes," said J.B. Bickerstaff. "They went on a run. I felt we needed to bring back our first group to see if we could kind of slow the tide there."

Lawson did not play in the second half. His stat line for the game: all zeros in 2 minutes and 41 seconds.

"We need to get Ty to be Ty Lawson. Point blank," Bickerstaff acknowledged. "He's a helluva player. He can do all the things that we need him to do.

"We've got to get him the confidence. We've got to set him loose."

The Rockets (5-10) trailed the Grizzlies 56-53 at halftime.

The Rockets trailed by as much as 9 points in the third quarter; before a lay-up by Beverley; followed by a dunk by Clint Capela; and 2 free throws by Harden cut the Rockets' deficit to 3 (80-77). After three quarters, the Rockets trailed 82-77.

The Rockets missed their first 8 field goals of the fourth quarter; and, the Grizzlies increased their lead to 98-85 with 2:26 remaining in the game. By the time Jason Terry sank a three-point shot to end the field goal drought, many of the fans had left the building.

"I just think we need to trust ourselves," said Dwight Howard. "I think all of us, we get shots, we don’t take them or we don’t put ourselves in position to score and we’ve got to trust what we practice every day. Myself, Brewer, all the guys coming in, we will have shots that we won’t see after going to get shots because we don’t trust ourselves, so we’ve got to have more faith in our skills."

At 5-10, Harden knows the Rockets have to begin turning things around soon.

"Yeah, we do. We’ve had meetings and we’ve talked too much, now things have to turn around," Harden said candidly. "We have to make it turn around."

CLICK HERE for The HRR's Rockets' write-ups.