Slow start. Strong finish.
The Rockets report, brought to you by APG&E: Rockets beat Suns in Houston 115-109
Dec 7, 2019, 11:19 pm
This wasn't one of Houston's best wins nor was it necessarily an ugly victory.
"We weren't really sharp tonight," said head coach Mike D'Antoni after the game. "For whatever reason, we weren't real sharp."
This starts with Harden, who started the game really rough the first nine minutes. Harden had 4 points on 1 of 7 shooting from the field and 0 of 4 shooting from the three-point line. Where Harden slacked, however, Russell Westbrook shined, having one of his better games of the season after playing poorly coming into tonight (Westbrook was 7 for 27 from the field in Toronto and had 8 turnovers).
Russell Westbrook says he's "Slowly but surely" integrating his game with the Rockets: "I help us win games and th… https://t.co/dmmgBy9Gkt— Salman Ali (@Salman Ali) 1575778010.0
"He'll continue to get better," said Harden after the game. "Think about it - this is his first time away from Oklahoma City, so he's still trying to get adjusted. It's not going to take 20-25 games. It may take the course of the whole year."
With the win tonight, Houston extends their winning streak against Phoenix to 12 games and even the all-time series at 107. The Rockets have won four of its' past five games after losing three straight games prior.
The Rockets' reserves outscored the Suns' reserves 38 to 28. Houston's bench has outscored their opponents' bench two out of the last four games after doing so once over the first 18 games of the season. The team is undefeated (3-0) when their bench does this.
James Harden on the Rockets' ability to win despite him struggling: "That's how deep we are. We have a really good… https://t.co/TYDQfGMmaj— Salman Ali (@Salman Ali) 1575778704.0
Star of the game: Russell Westbrook was due for a big game as he was struggling mightily coming into tonight. James Harden came out of the gates slow so Westbrook picked up the slack and had 12 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks by halftime alone. He ended the game with 24 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks on 10 of 18 shooting from the field and 3 of 4 shooting from the free throw line. Westbrook really shined tonight as a facilitator finding guys like Clint Capela and Ben McLemore for easy looks at the basket and in transition.
Brodie Vision https://t.co/1BR7fRFhNS— Houston Rockets (@Houston Rockets) 1575769549.0
Honorable mention: Ben McLemore was terrific tonight and is really finding his rhythm with Houston these few games. This was McLemore's 2nd straight game with 27 or more points as he continued his hot shooting despite his new position in Houston's rotation off the bench. McLemore finished the game with 27 points on 10 of 15 shooting from the field and 5 of 9 shooting from three-point range. There were questions as to whether McLemore could thrive as a bench player and while there's still plenty of time for him to prove that, tonight was a good start.
"It was only you guys who thought he had to start," laughed D'Antoni after the game. "He's fine. He might go back (to having bad games). He might start and not have a good game. He said it doesn't matter."
Key moment: The Suns had tied it up at 85-85 with 9:01 remaining in the 4th quarter and it looked like Houston was about to cough up this game up. However, James Harden came out of his slump and proceeded to score the Rockets' next 17 straight points, giving the Rockets a 7-point lead with 3:59 remaining. Harden got the the free throw line relentlessly in transition and gave Houston the extra jolt they needed to put the Suns away.
Up next: The Rockets play the Sacramento Kings in at 7:00 p.m. Houston on Monday.
How 3 major x-factors could tip the scales in Texans-Colts: Week 1
Sep 5, 2024, 7:27 pm
Each football game of a season carries much more weight than one game in a 162 Major League Baseball schedule. That reality, combined with the National Football League campaign opening and with it the most anticipated season in Texans’ history, the Astros are relegated to second banana this weekend. Just the way it goes despite the Astros’ phenomenal extended run from 10 games out of first place in mid-June to now having control of the American League West race and a likely (though definitely not yet certain) eighth consecutive year of postseason play.
It is reality that getting swept out of Cincinnati cost the Astros two games in the standings to Seattle the last two days and trimmed their division lead to four and a half games going into this weekend. There was nothing shameful about getting swept. It’s not as if they choked. They got outplayed and beaten in all three games. Stuff happens within a 162-game season. The 2019 Astros were vastly better than the 2024 Astros. The 2019 ‘Stros posted the best record in franchise history at 107-55. In Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole they had the two best pitchers in the AL. The Reds finished 75-87 in ’19. In the lone Astros-Reds series five years ago, Verlander and Cole started two of the three games. The Reds swept the Astros out of Cincy by scores of 3-2, 4-3, and 3-2. Stuff happens. The following week the Astros called up Yordan Alvarez. There is no Yordan coming to fortify the offense now, but wait! Is that Kyle Tucker's music?
The Astros host the NL champs this weekend
It’s highly unlikely but it’s still a possible World Series preview at Minute Maid Park this weekend with the Astros home for three games versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. The reigning National League Champions woke up under .500 July 11, but since then have been sizzling with 33 wins against just 15 losses. Over the same time frame the Astros are 27-21. The Diamondbacks by a large margin have scored the most runs in MLB this season, and that’s while playing the last nearly three weeks without Ketel Marte because of a high ankle sprain. Marte has been far and away the best second baseman in the game this year. He may return this weekend in a designated hitter role. The Arizona offense overall has been sensational, however it has vulnerability against left-handed pitching, in significant part because it typically takes lefty-hitting platoon beast Joc Pederson out of the lineup. The D’Backs are 55-35 in games facing right-handed starters, just 24-27 in games started by opposing southpaws. The Astros have lefties Framber Valdez and Yusei Kikuchi set to go in the first two games this weekend. While the Astros deal with the Diamondbacks the Mariners are in St. Louis for three against the Cardinals.
Eleven Diamondbacks have had at least 200 plate appearances this season. Only one of them has an OPS below .725. The Astros also have 11 guys with at least 200 PAs. Five of them lug around sub-.715 OPSes: Jeremy Pena (.714), Jake Meyers (.664), Mauricio Dubon (.645), Jon Singleton (.697), and Chas McCormick (.566).
Maximizing Tucker's return
Speaking of returns, Tucker fiiiiiiinally should see action for the first time since his June 3 bone bruise. Oh wait, broken leg. Shame on the Astros for their BSing over this and other injuries. Yeah, Alex Bregman slept funny. Whatever. To boost the lineup Tucker doesn’t have to be the .979 OPS MVP candidate he was when felled. Ben Gamel has done some good work, but over time he’s Ben Gamel. Same for Jason Heyward. If Tucker's legs are under him his power is a B-12 shot and only Yordan is in his league in on-base percentage. Joe Espada has decisions to make as to how slot the batting order. Against a right-handed starter Jose Altuve, Tucker, Alvarez, Yainer Diaz, Bregman one through five makes sense with Tucker dropping down below Yainer against a left-handed starter. No question those are the top five in some order. How much of a workload Tucker is ready for bears watching. Presumably he doesn’t initially play the outfield day in day out. When Tucker DHs obviously Bregman (and Yordan) can’t so Alex’s ailing elbow holding up is key. One might say hopefully the bone chips don’t fall where they may. Tuesday the Astros start a stretch playing 16 days in a row.
Keep hope alive!
If you’re an Astros fan holding out hope of chasing down the second seed to avoid having to play the best-of-three Wild Card series, say it with me, whatever nausea it may induce: “Go Dodgers Go!” Hurt as it might, business is business. The Dodgers play host to the Guardians. The Astros trail Cleveland by five games with just 22 to play, but do finish the regular season with three games at Cleveland. It's pretty much over for the Astros to catch both the Orioles and Yankees.
Season-long trends mean nothing once the playoffs start, and that’s a good thing for the Astros provided they are in the playoffs. They continue to flat out stink in close games. Thursday’s 1-0 loss to the Reds has the Astros record in one-run games at 15-24. In two-run games they are 10-14. Correlatively, the Astros also continue to routinely fail late in close games. The Astros have played 14 games that were tied after seven innings. They have lost 11 of the 14. In games tied after eight innings they are 7-13. Every team loses an extremely high percentage of games when trailing after eight innings, but the Astros haven’t pulled out a single game they’ve trailed going to the ninth. 0-50. Oh and fifty. But hey, the White Sox are 0-92!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.