Rockets Still On The Rise

Balanced effort helps Houston rout Utah 113-96

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Houston - About an hour before the Rockets and Jazz tipped things off in Salt Lake City, ESPN.com’s brilliant basketball writer John Hollinger sent out a word of warning for Twitter nation: “If Rockets beat nemesis Jazz,” he began, “then we have to take them seriously.”

Alright then. Consider the country on Red Alert.

How else to describe the current state of affairs after Houston’s tour de force performance Monday night? Treating their house of horrors as if it were their own personal playground instead, the red-hot Rockets (3-1) ran the Jazz off the floor 113-96.

Houston used a nearly flawless second half to run away from its rival, outscoring Utah 59-39 during that stretch to cruise to victory in a city that had proved most inhospitable to them over the years. Houston had been 25-58 all-time in Utah heading into Monday night’s contest but a total team effort which featured eight players in double-figure scoring allowed the Rockets to spend the game’s final few minutes savoring their most impressive win of the young season.

“All I’ve heard is how tough it is to win here, how every game is going to be close,” said Rockets’ rookie and fourth quarter hero (10 points in the frame, 17 overall) Chase Budinger. “And just talking after the game, people are amazed at how bad we beat them because that just doesn’t happen here. But we did a good job in the second half defending and getting out in transition.”

Indeed, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better, and more aesthetically pleasing, brand of basketball than the type employed by the Rockets in the second half. It was the sort of stuff which spawns big dreams, fawning prose and a host of admirers. Think that’s hyperbole? Consider this: yet another NBA scribe, ESPN’s Ric Bucher, called Houston’s fourth quarter “small ball at its finest” and described the Rockets as a “5-man symphony.”

And if glowing words don’t do it for you, allow the numbers to demonstrate the sweet music Houston brought to life Monday night. The Rockets racked up 29 assists and scored a whopping 47 points in transition. They continued to rain in threes at a prodigious rate (10-19, 52.6%) and forced 19 Jazz turnovers. But perhaps most impressive of all: Houston bested Utah’s physical frontline, outrebounding the Jazz 46-38 overall and 15-8 on the offensive glass.

“It’s huge,” said Luis Scola, who led Houston’s assault on the boards with 15 rebounds. “We know we’ve got challenges with rebounds. We’ve got challenges against pretty much every team in the league. But if we can fight the way we did today, we’re going to end up victorious many times.”

Yes, it was just one game. Yes, the season is only one week old. And, yes, the Rockets still face a brutal beginning to their schedule which features a visit from the defending champion Lakers Wednesday night at Toyota Center. But something special is happening in Houston. This young, athletic and talented team has taken to head coach Rick Adelman’s system in a way which is forcing the league to sit up and start paying attention to the transformation taking place in Space City: Aaron Brooks and Trevor Ariza seem to be staging an early battle for the league’s Most Improved Player award. Chuck Hayes is defending like a maniac – and scoring, too (12 points Monday night; Hayes’ highest total since scoring 16 March 14, 2007 against the Clippers). Budinger, Kyle Lowry and Carl Landry have turned into a tremendous trio off the bench.

And then there are the old reliables: Scola, with his hard work and hustle, and Shane Battier knocking down corner treys, quarterbacking the defense and doing all the little things it takes to win (as shown by his jaw-dropping plus/minus of +36 Monday night).

Add it all up and you have a team which won’t be able to lurk in the shadows much longer; not with this sort of pace, ball movement and teamwork, and certainly not with results like the one attained during an attention-grabbing performance Monday night.

The nation has taken notice and the word is starting to spread: A Red Rising may be on the way.

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