BLAZERS CRUSH ROCKETS
Rockets slide continues to 1-5 as Blazers dominate
Oct 31, 2018, 6:45 am
Chris Paul and the Rockets continue to slide. Rockets.com
The Houston Rockets kicked off Tuesday night’s contest against the Portland Trail Blazers hoping to salvage a win from their three game homestand before hitting the road for a simultaneously inopportune and season-long five-game road trip. Intensity on the defensive end kept the first quarter competitive, but Houston’s cracks would soon show and the Trail Blazers would go on to rout the Rockets in a brutally efficient outing.
First quarter ended with an abysmal 19-15 Trail Blazers advantage. The highest scoring player on either side of the ball was the league’s leading scorer Damian Lillard, with 6 points. Eric Gordon led the Rockets with 4. Youngsters Isaiah Hartenstein and Gary Clark factored more heavily into the rotation than previous contests, however the Rockets poor three-point shooting continued as Houston connected on only 1-10 from three.
Stiff defense to lead off the second perpetuated more ugly basketball, as turnovers, blocks, and steals ground the pace to a crawl. One of the lone bright spots came in the form of center Clint Capela’s hustle, grinding out out 5 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks halfway through the the second quarter. The Rockets somehow managed to tie the game at one point, before the Lillard and guard C.J. McCollum sparked a Trail Blazers sparked a run to push the lead to a more recognizable gap Houston fans have become accustomed to this early in the season. The Rockets combined for a collective field goal percentage of 27.1%, with Gerald Green, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony--essentially three of the team’s four primary scorers at the moment--shooting 3-21. The Trail Blazers would head to the locker room leading 51-36.
Quarter three provided zero relief to fans beleaguered by the first half as abysmal shooting, from both the field and the line extended Portland’s lead even further. The Trail Blazers, meanwhile, exploited Houston’s interior to maintain a team field goal percentage of 52.5% to the Rockets’ 29.7%.
The fourth quarter opened with the Trail Blazers leading 85-62, as Lillard and company exerted their will on Rockets. Lillard and Nurkic would finish the contest as points leaders, having scored 22 each. None of the Rockets broke the 20-point plateau, with Paul leading the team behind a 19 point performance.
Takeaways
Switchless: Head coach Mike D’Antoni declared over the weekend that the Rockets would alter their defense somewhat, in an effort to lean less on the defensive switching that--while proving quite effective last season--had become a detriment. The league’s new freedom of movement rules have seemingly rendered the Rockets’ previous defensive philosophy staple obsolete, as the scheme has led to more trips to the foul line than turnovers. The result was more of the same, however, and while they were sent to the line an equal amount as the Rockets, the converted far more bludgeoned them from inside.
Carmelo Anthony is not a starter: It’s disheartening to see good players in their twilight, but that is exactly what we’re seeing in Anthony. After his necessary insertion into the starting lineup and an encouragingly efficient 24-point return on Friday, Anthony followed with a 2-12 performance in 31 minutes for 8 points. Those expecting a replacement of Trevor Ariza or Luc Mbah a Moute should continue looking, because not only is Anthony not that, he wasn’t brought in to be that. He was meant to come in and replace Ryan Anderson’s production, not either of the aforementioned, and expectations should be tempered accordingly.
Reinforcements are slowly returning: The Rockets are hemorrhaging at the moment, that much is clear. Tonight however brought two glimmers of hope in the return of forwards Marquese Chriss and Zhou Qi. Scheme familiarity and game-ready conditioning factored into their limited rotational minutes, but their return signified another step towards fielding the Rockets squad that had been assembled in the offseason to make another run at dethroning the Golden State Warriors. James Harden remains sidelined, but could possibly return sometime this weekend. Harden’s return alone should be enough to break the current losing streak, as mutually floundering Brooklyn and Chicago teams await.
Next Up:
Houston at Brooklyn, Friday, November 2, 6:30 pm central.
How latest reports abruptly shift Houston Astros rotation x-factors
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Bruce Bochy doesn’t ever want the Texas Rangers to let go of those memories of their first World Series title.
“We just don’t want to lean on them,” said Bochy, whose first season with the Rangers ended with the first World Series championship for the 63-year-old franchise, and his fourth as a big league manager.
While Texas has the opportunity to be the first team in a quarter-century to win back-to-back world championships — the New York Yankees were the last, with three in a row from 1998-2000 — the Rangers aren’t even defending champs in their own division.
And they aren’t favored to win the AL West this season.
Houston is again the odds-on favorite in the division it has won each of the last six full MLB seasons since the Rangers finished on top in 2016. The Astros won their regular season finale last Oct. 1, matched Texas at 90-72 and won the AL West since they were 9-4 head-to-head.
The Astros have made the AL Championship Series the past seven seasons, even when not division champs in the 2020 season shortened to 60 games because of the pandemic. They made four trips to the Fall Classic and won two titles in that span.
Dusty Baker retired days after Houston lost ALCS Game 7 at home to the Rangers last fall, finishing with 2,183 wins over 26 seasons as a big league manager with five teams.
New Astros manager Joe Espada, their bench coach for six seasons, is certainly familiar with a lineup that has big hitters Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker, and a loaded starting rotation.
Espada isn't the division's only new manager. Ron Washington, who took the Rangers to their previous World Series in 2010 and 2011, was hired by the Angels, who still have Mike Trout but not two-way star Shohei Ohtani, now with the other team in Los Angeles.
Seattle again revamped its roster without big spending in free agency and hopes for a quicker return to the playoffs. The Mariners missed by one game last season, a year after its first postseason appearance since 2001.
And just like last year, the Athletics go into another season not knowing if it will be their last in Oakland.
HOW THEY PROJECT1. Houston Astros. Three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander, reacquired in a deadline trade last July, will start this season on the injured list. But the 41-year-old’s IL stint is expected to be a short one. The Astros still have lefty Framber Valdez (12-11, 2.45 ERA, 200 strikeouts and a no-hitter) and right-hander Cristian Javier. Eight-time All-Star second baseman Altuve signed a new $125 million, five-year contract that goes through 2029. But two-time All-Star third baseman Bregman, the only other position player to make all seven ALCS trips, is at the end of a $100 million deal.
2. Texas Rangers. After going from six losing seasons in a row to a World Series title, the Rangers should be playoff contenders again. They return ALCS MVP Adolis García and most of the lineup that hit 233 homers and scored an AL-high 5.4 runs per game. But World Series MVP and AL MVP runner-up shortstop Corey Seager (sports hernia), Gold Glove first baseman Nathaniel Lowe (oblique strain) and All-Star third baseman Josh Jung (calf) missed significant time in the spring. All-Star right-hander Nathan Eovaldi tops a rotation still missing injured multiple Cy Young Award winners Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom.
3. Seattle Mariners. The front office put together a roster that might be better than last year, but everybody has to stay healthy. Seattle should be better offensively with the additions of Mitch Garver, Mitch Haniger, Jorge Polanco and Luke Raley to go with young superstar Julio Rodriguez. If J.P. Crawford can replicate last season at the plate and Ty France returns to his 2021-22 form, the lineup will be deeper. Couple a better offense with one of the best rotations in baseball led by Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert, the Mariners should once again contend in the division.
4. Los Angeles Angels. They feel like they’re starting over yet again and still haven't been to the playoffs since 2014. Ohtani left after six seasons for a record $700 million with the perennially contending Dodgers. The Halos added almost nothing in free agency, only revamping their bullpen again and taking low-cost flyers on Aaron Hicks and Miguel Sano. Trout and Anthony Rendon are back, and an open DH spot will allow them to rest their injury-prone bodies more regularly. Their rotation is last year’s group minus Ohtani. The 71-year-old Washington brings a unique blend of expertise and enthusiasm, which should benefit an exciting crop of young talent ready to break through in the majors.
5. Oakland Athletics. This could be the final season playing at the Coliseum with a lease set to expire. So the A's are still trying to figure out where they will play beyond this year with a new ballpark and move to Las Vegas scheduled for 2028. Manager Mark Kotsay has been committed to keeping his team focused on what it can do to be better on the field after two years with a combined 214 losses (112 last season). The A’s acquired Ross Stripling from the San Francisco Giants and added Alex Wood to the rotation.
OLD SKIPPERSWhen the 74-year-old Baker retired, Bochy became the oldest manager in the majors. That lasted only a few weeks until the Angels hired Washington. Bochy will turn 69 on April 16, just 13 days before Washington turns 72. Bochy, with 2,093 wins going into his 27th season, is one of six managers with four World Series titles, his first three coming in San Francisco (2010, 2012 and 2014). Washington won a franchise-record 664 games in eight seasons with Texas from 2007-14. He was on Atlanta's staff the past seven years, and part of the Braves' 2021 World Series title.
RELIEF HELPSeveral new relievers are in the AL West, including hard-throwing lefty Josh Hader with the Astros, veteran right-hander David Robertson and former All-Star closer Kirby Yates in Texas, Gregory Santos and Ryne Stanek in Seattle and Robert Stephenson with the Angels.
Hader's $95 million, five-year deal was the biggest after becoming a first-time free agent. The 29-year-old, once in the Astros' minor league system, turned down a $20,325,000 qualifying offer from San Diego.