PrintRockets Come Through in Crunch Time for 87-85 Win Over Spurs
Rockets Surpass San Antonio for First Place in Southwest Division
Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer
San Antonio-
The Rockets came into Sunday’s showdown in San Antonio preaching the virtue of fourth quarter execution, knowing full well what awaited them in the Alamo City. Like seemingly every other meeting between these two rivals, the game promised to be tight and hard-fought, with the winner being determined by whichever club could conjure enough big plays to prevail down the stretch.
Having experienced some struggles in that area this year – and having fallen to the Spurs just eight days ago as a result - the Rockets were eager to prove they had made progress and that, given a second chance, they could come through in enemy territory and deliver a huge road win. Two hours and 18 minutes of thrilling, tooth and nail basketball later, Houston had done exactly that, storming past the Spurs in come from behind fashion 87-85. As a result, the Rockets now stand alone at the top of the Southwest Division – the latest they’ve held a division lead since claiming the Midwest title in 1994.
“It shows that we’ve come a long way,” said Shane Battier after the game. “There were still four or five plays we could have executed much better and we know that, but to come in here to San Antonio, a place where few teams can eek out a win, speaks volumes to how far this team has come and hopefully this can give us a lot of confidence going forward.”
As Battier noted, any win in San Antonio is a confidence booster, but part of the reason the Rockets were so sky-high afterward was due to the way in which they won. Trailing by six with just 3:36 to play, Houston began its comeback thanks to an offensive rebound courtesy of Luis Scola, which led to a Battier trey cutting San Antonio’s lead in half.
Then the Rockets got it done on the defensive end as well when Battier knocked the ball away from Roger Mason Jr. and forced a jump ball with Tim Duncan. Despite giving up about five inches, Battier won the tip and Yao Ming subsequently brought Houston within one after following an Aaron Brooks miss with a put-back slam.
“First of all, very few people beat Tim Duncan in a jump ball,” said Battier. “That’s a pretty cool accomplishment. I’m more proud of that then hitting the threes. He’s one of the best all time and if they keep stats on jump balls won, Tim Duncan is up there. I probably did steal it a little bit, but there was a great amount of fight in our team at the end, we didn’t give up and we made some pretty big plays.
Few were bigger than the ones authored by Scola and Yao during the game’s final 30 seconds. Twice in that stretch the Rockets found themselves trailing by a single point and both times the Rockets ran a high screen and roll with Yao and Brooks. The results were eerily similar. On each play, the Spurs forced the ball from Brooks’ hands and he fed the ball to his big man. But instead of shooting himself, Yao dished to a cutting Scola, who finished with layups on both occasions, the final one coming with 11 seconds left to put the Rockets back in front 86-85.
"Both times, the team went with Yao and I was wide open," said Scola who turned in a monster performance with 19 points and 17 rebounds. "When I saw the team going with him, I knew I had to go to the basket because it is a pass or offensive rebound. I wasn’t expecting Yao to throw it. Fortunately, he passed it, I made it, we won."
Before the Rockets could celebrate, however, they still had to stop the Spurs – no easy task given their big game experience and clutch crunch time performers like Duncan and Tony Parker. But Kyle Lowry forced Parker into a difficult shot in the lane which was off the mark, allowing Houston to bask in one of this season’s signature wins.
“I just can’t give our guys enough credit,” said Coach Rick Adelman. “They just keep coming and they compete every game, and that’s what we’re going to have to do in the last ten games.”
Added Battier: “It’s been a surprising climb to first place because we’ve had so much drama, injuries, lineup shuffles and trades. I don’t think too many people thought that we’d be here today, but this is it. This hasn’t been our goal. Our goal has been to play good defense, play good basketball and improve so that we’re playing our best basketball come playoff time.”
With 16 wins in their last 20 games, the Rockets appear to be well on their way to peaking for the postseason. And if games like this are any indication, they’re going to be an extremely tough out once they get there.
QUOTES
RICK ADELMAN
"Just a great win. We’ve played these guys pretty much the same way for three games and it comes down to the end. In the fourth quarter we struggled again, but we found a way in the last two to three minutes where we got some things going, got a couple stops and won the game."
"We’ve got a long ways to go with the execution. I thought they picked the pressure up and fronted Yao and tried to put pressure on the wings, and we didn’t respond very well to that. That’s what you’re going to face if and when you get to the playoffs. We have to get better at that. But we did recover when they got up five or six. Yao made two great passes to Luis for two baskets we had to have. I just can’t give our guys enough credit. They just keep coming and they compete every game, and that’s what we’re going to have to do in the last ten games."
(were those read and react plays by Yao?): "Yeah, there’s no doubt. He made the right play. He got the ball, saw Luis cutting. You have to give Luis credit for being open and cutting to the open area."
(guarding Tony Parker on final possession): "He’s such a handful. If you make a mistake he’s going to hurt you. When he put them up by one, Yao made a mistake instead of staying at the basket, he came out one step, and [Tony] is by you. But our point guards did a better job tonight defensively. In the last game he got four or five back-cuts on us and tonight he got one early in the game but he didn’t get any after that. Our guys are going to have to learn, but that’s a great team over there and we’re just happy with the win."
(executing down the stretch): "It’s a learning thing. Again, I have to get a feel for what’s going to work and what’s not. I think our players have to understand that they can’t put it all on their own shoulders in the fourth quarter. That’s what San Antonio does so well. Tony makes plays and Tim will make plays, but the other guys will wait. You don’t have to score a basket to be a playmaker. Sometimes we put ourselves in that position where we’ve got to execute and if they take something away, then something else should be open."
RON ARTEST
"I just think tonight we played better [than the last time the two teams met]. We knew it was going to be a tough game. I told the points guards today, they got us this victory. Aaron didn’t score a lot or get a lot of assists, but he led us today. He made a big shot at the end and he made big passes, big hockey assist passes that show our point guards are growing up."
LUIS SCOLA
"It wasn’t part of the play. Both times the team went with Yao and I was wide open.
I just saw the ball coming. When I saw their two guys go to [Yao], I knew I had to go to the basket, because it’s either a pass or offensive rebound."
(what does this win mean?): "It means a lot for us. It’s a huge game. We need these types of games to get ready for the playoffs. We’ve got first (place) in the division, which is huge, and we need to keep looking forward because there’s a couple more huge games coming in the next week, so we have to be ready."
YAO MING
(what did you see on the last two baskets?): "I saw both bigs running to me and I was going to take the shot because time was running out, but I also saw Luis cut to the basket and a small behind him, so I passed the ball."
(what does this win mean?): "I think we made some improvements and adjustments. Actually we didn’t start well; we gave up 17 points in the first seven minutes as a starting group. Then the second unit came in and really drove the play and made us stay in the game. Then in the second half we played much better, and the last couple possessions we really executed very well using the high pick and roll to search for shots, and we found them. We have ten games until the playoffs and those games can be won with one possession, just like tonight. That’s basketball, particularly against the Spurs."
SHANE BATTIER
"It’s been a surprising climb to first place because we’ve had so much drama, injuries, lineup shuffles and trades. I don’t think too many people thought that we’d be here today, but this is it. This hasn’t been our goal. Our goal has been to play good defense, play good basketball and improve so that we’re playing our best basketball come playoff time. It’s a nice bonus now that we’re here but, as we all know, the standings change hour by hour so it doesn’t really mean anything to us right now."
(beating Tim Duncan on the jump ball late in the game): "First of all, very few people beat Tim Duncan in a jump ball. That’s a pretty cool accomplishment. I’m more proud of that then hitting the threes. He’s one of the best all time and if they keep stats on jump balls won, Tim Duncan is up there. I probably did steal it a little bit, but there was a great amount of fight in our team at the end, we didn’t give up and we made some pretty big plays. They made some big plays, too. They deserved to win the game as much as we did, it was just a fantastic basketball game."
(what it means to win a game like this): "It shows that we’ve come a long way. There were still four or five plays we could have executed much better and we know that, but to come in here to San Antonio, a place where few teams can eek out a win, speaks volumes to how far this team has come and hopefully this can give us a lot of confidence going forward."
KYLE LOWRY
(defending Tony Parker on the final possession): "Tony Parker might be the best driving point guard in the NBA. He’s difficult to stop. I just wanted to keep in front of me and try to shoot over me. That’s what I did and he missed the shot."
GREGG POPOVICH
“It was a tough loss. We played a great game. We made three defensive errors down the stretch and that cost us. The effort was great. It was a good game in a lot of ways.”
(On Ime Udoka) “He didn’t see much time at the beginning of the year. He’s in good shape and he’s been working hard before and after practice. He’s a pro and he had a great game tonight.”
ROGER MASON JR.
On the loss: “Tough loss. Like coach said, we’re getting better, getting close, but this one hurts.”
On the defensive plays at the end of the game: “We had some defensive breakdowns at the end of the game and that’s where the game is won. Those are the things that you have to correct before the playoffs. Unfortunately, we got a loss but hopefully we learned and the next time we’re in this situation we come out on top.
On the Rockets jumping the Spurs in the standings: “We’re concerned with playing well and closing out games. We’re concerned about being ready for the playoffs. At the end of the day we want to put ourselves in the best position but I don’t think guys on this team pay attention to the standings day-in and day-out. If we take care of what we’re supposed to do I think we’ll be okay.”
On the play of Ime Udoka: “Ime was huge. He’s the spark we need. Obviously without Manu (Ginobili) we need more scoring and I think Ime, his energy and just his all out effort, was great tonight.”
KURT THOMAS
On the loss: “Defense wasn’t great down the stretch but we just have to find a way to make those corrections so we don’t come up on the short end of the stick.”
On the group effort of the Spurs: “We’ve had an overall good group effort. Everyone’s been stepping up. Tim’s (Duncan) been playing outstanding, Matty (Bonner), myself, Drew (Gooden) and Fabricio (Oberto), who had a great game last game. You just have to be ready when your number is called.”
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