The Houston Roundball Review Media Group covers sports by: Kris Gardner. Credentialed media member since 1997. USBWA approved online journalist. Voter of Naismith, USBWA, WBHOF, and Wooden awards.
Rockets shoot 26 percent in second half in 5 point loss to the Grizzlies
Posted: January 13, 2017 -- 11:03 pm CST.
HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Houston Rockets got plenty of wide open shots and good looks in the second half Friday night; but, the ball simply did not go through the hoop in the Rockets' 110-105 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Rockets have now lost consecutive games for the first time this season.
Thanks to 58.3% field goal shooting (21 for 36, 7 for 17 threes), the Rockets (31-11) led the Grizzlies (25-17) 64-51 at halftime; however, the basket shrunk in the second half. The Rockets made just 12 field goals (out of 46 attempts) in the second 24 minutes -- including an arctic 3 for 24 from three-point range.
Head coach Mike D'Antoni, "I thought we got good looks. Just one of those nights."
D'Antoni refuted the notion the Rockets are tired.
"Oh, nah, I don't think so," D'Antoni said. "We can look into that and say, 'Oh, yeah, our guys are a little tired.' Everybody's tired. Everybody's hurt; so, it's not really and excuse.
"We can't put our hat on that. If that's a problem, then we're going to have a serious problem the next two or three weeks because it gets worse."
The Rockets play 7 of 10 games on the road to finish the month of January.
Defensive stopper, Tony Allen, led the Grizzlies with 22 points. Allen made his first 8 field goals tonight and finished the game 9 for 10 from the floor.
The Rockets were outrebounded 45-31 tonight after being outrebounded 49-32 at Minnesota Wednesday night. In the 14 games without big man Clint Capela, Houston is being outrebounded 2.6 rebounds per game after outrebounding opponents by 4 boards per game the first 28 games of the season with Capela.
In the third quarter, Montrezl Harrell caught an alley-oop pass from James Harden for a slam dunk to give the Rockets a 70-55 lead with 9:01 remaining in the quarter. The Rockets did not make a field goal for more than three minutes until Harrell knocked down a jump shot at the 5:19 mark. During that drought, the Rockets were outscored by the Grizzlies 9 to 1.
Eric Gordon drained consecutive three-point shots to boost the Rockets' lead to 79-68 with 4:03 on the clock; however, Marc Gasol, former Rockets guard Troy Daniels, and Zach Randolph each sank a three-point spot during a 12-2 run which sliced the Rockets' lead to 81-80 at the 1:47 mark of the third period.
The Rockets led 85-83 after three quarters.
The Grizzlies scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter (7 from Zach Randolph) before Nene made a 5-foot jump shot to end the Rockets' drought.
Corey Brewer made a three-point shot to tie the game at 92; but, Randolph scored a layup to put the Grizzlies back on top. Tony Allen made two free throws for a 96-92 Grizzlies' lead; but, Harden made three free throws after he was fouled while attempting a three-point shot.
Ariza committed a turnover which led to fastbreak dunk by tony Allen. Mike Conley followed with a three-point shot.
The Rockets trailed 101-95 with 4:56 on the game clock. The Rockets did not get closer than 4 points the next two minutes.
Harden passed to a cutting to the hoop Nene for two points; then, after the Grizzlies turned the ball over two times, Patrick Beverley delivered a bounce pass to Nene as he rolled to the hoop and Nene scored to reduce the Rockets' deficit to just two points (105-103) with 90 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, Conley dished to Marc Gasol for a 4 foot layup. Gasol set a pick for Conley and rolled to the hoop. Gasol beat Nene's defensive rotation for deep position for the short bucket.
Trevor Ariza and Ryan Anderson each missed three-point shots; then, with 26.1 seconds remaining in the game, Daniels swished a three to put the game away for the Grizzlies.
Daniels scored 13 points for the Grizzlies (3 for 6 from three).
James Harden finished the game with 27 points and 9 assists which ended his consecutive streak of double-doubles at 19.
"We didn't make shots. Trevor had a really good look. Ryan had a really good look. Simple," Harden said after the game. "We just missed shots that's all."
Pat Beverley added, "It's just all the shots we took we normally make; and, we just didn't tonight."
The Rockets hit the road for a two-game trip: Sunday at Brooklyn followed by Tuesday night at the Miami Heat.
