Rockets rally late again, win 121-118
3-pointers from Rockets versus Heat
Mar 1, 2019, 8:06 am
Tim Warren/Getty Images
The Houston Rockets put their resiliency on display Thursday night as they rallied for the second night in a row to spoil Dwyane Wade's final trip to the Toyota Center with the Miami Heat. Trailing by as much as 21 points in the third, the shorthanded Rockets squad buckled down on defense and let James Harden once again do James Harden things. The result was a come from behind victory, improving their winning streak to four games. The Rockets are now 37-25, remain first in the Southwest Division and fifth in the Western Conference.
Bombs away
In most close games against teams with worse records than the Rockets, it's good practice to seek out their three point percentage as the likely culprit. Usually poor shooting nights from beyond the arc are what allow worse teams to remain competitive, but on Thursday night that was simply not the case. Houston shot 41.6% from behind the line, nailing 19-46. Harden removed doubt that his shooting struggles were anything beyond a stiff neck, burying 8-18 threes after shooting just 1-21 earlier in the week.
Harden goes off
With Eric Gordon, Kenneth Faried, and Iman Shumpert all out with injuries, Harden saw the need for extra offense and brought just that. In a game that featured seven of the nine Heat players that saw minutes reaching double digits scoring figures, the Rockets remained true to their season long tactic of letting Harden tear teams aparts all by himself. Austin Rivers added 17, and Chris Paul and Gary Clark each added 14, but it was Harden's 58 point, 10 assist barrage that carried Houston past Miami Thursday night. It was his sixth 50-point performance of the season, a feat no other player has matched more than once in 2018-2019.
Rough sledding ahead
The Rockets will need to build on the momentum their current four game winning streak has created heading into next week. After a week of near misses against non playoff opponents, Houston faces a slate of matchups against far less forgiving competition next week. Houston travels to Boston to take on the Celtics Sunday afternoon, followed by an away contest against the Toronto Raptors and a home game with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Rockets Player of the Game
James Harden: 58 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds, 4 steals
Heat Player of the Game
Dwyane Wade: It was his last game in Houston, c'mon.
Up next:
The Rockets take on the Celtics at Boston on Sunday at 2:30 pm central.
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Looking for an inspiring underdog or a glass slipper lying around in San Antonio? This year's version of the Final Four is not for you.
Fittingly for an NCAA Tournament in which big schools from big conferences took record numbers of spots in the first week, then hogged them all for the Sweet 16, the last week will bring a collection of all four teams seeded No. 1 to the sport's biggest stage to play for the title.
When Florida meets Auburn in an all-Southeastern Conference clash and Duke faces Houston in a meeting between the Atlantic Coast and Big 12 conferences, it will mark only the second time since seeding began in 1979 that all four No. 1s have made it to the final weekend.
The last time it happened, in 2008, one of the teams was Memphis, which hailed from Conference USA.
This time around, there are no mid-majors or small majors. Only the best teams from the best conferences — except the Big Ten, which will hasn't had a team win it all since 2000 — who also have the nation's best players.
Here's a look at the best player on each team (for Auburn, Duke and Florida, they are AP All-Americans ), along with another who might make an impact in San Antonio once the games start Saturday.
Johni Broome and Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn
Broome hit his elbow hard in the second half of the Tigers' 70-64 win over Michigan State. He left the court, but then came back, saying team doctors told him there was nothing wrong. He averages 18 points and nearly 11 rebounds and had 20-10 games in both wins this week. Clearly, his health will be a storyline.
If NBA scouts only look at backup guard Pettiford's tournament, where he has averaged 17.2 points and sparked Auburn on a huge run in the Sweet 16 win against Michigan, they'd pick him in the first round. If they look at his overall body of work, they might say he still needs work. Either way, he could be a difference-maker over two games.
Cooper Flagg and Khaman Maluach, Duke
There are times — see the 30-point, seven-rebound, six-assist skills clinic against BYU — when Flagg just looks like he's toying with everyone. There are other times — see Saturday's win over Alabama — when he looks human. Which is more than enough, considering all the talent surrounding him.
Maluach is 7-foot-2 and has a standing reach of 9-8. If any opponent overplays him, they can expect a lob for an alley-oop dunk. He shot 12 for 15 over Sweet 16 weekend, and pretty much all the shots were from 4 feet or closer.
Walter Clayton Jr. and Will Richard, Florida
Clayton made the tying and go-ahead 3s in Florida's ferocious comeback against Texas Tech. He finished with 30 points and his coach, Todd Golden, said, “There’s not another player in America you would rather have right now than Walter Clayton with the ball in his hands in a big-time moment.”
During one two-game stretch in February, Richard had two points in one contest and 21 the next. During another, he scored zero, then 30. Fill in the blanks here, but he could be a big factor for the Gators either way.
Joseph Tugler and L.J. Cryer, Houston
Fittingly for the team with the nation's best defense, a player who only averages 5.5 points could be the most valuable for the Cougars. Tugler is on everyone's all-defense list, and for Houston to have any chance at stopping Flagg, it'll have to figure out ways to use Tugler to do it.
Cryer is Houston's leading scorer at 15.2 points a game. If the Cougars end up as national champs, it will have to be because he played the two best games of his life.