PrintA Night To Remember
Scola puts on spectacular show as Rockets outlast Nets 116-108
Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer
Houston - Steady. Mr. Consistent. Double-double machine. And, oh yes, that hair.
When fans think of Luis Scola, chances are those are the characteristics and adjectives which first leap to mind. But given his play of late, perhaps it’s time to add to another word to the list:
Spectacular.
That’s the best way to describe the show Scola put on Saturday night during a scintillating performance which saw him demolish his previous career-high for scoring (which had been 30), by pouring in 44 points on an absurd 20-of-25 shooting from the field. Layups, jumpers, jump hooks, you name it – Scola had the complete arsenal working during Houston’s 116-108 win over the New Jersey Nets.
And the term spectacular is just as appropriate when describing the incredible tear the Rockets’ power forward has been on of late: during Houston’s past four games, Scola is putting up 28 points and 14.5 rebounds per contest. Just to be clear: his season averages of 15.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game are nothing to sneeze at. But the monster numbers he's been producing of late are something altogether otherworldly. They're not just All-Star stats – they’re the sort of totals reserved for MVPs.
Scola has shown off this sort of dominating potential on the international stage before while representing his native Argentina but has never done so at the NBA level. So what’s gotten into him lately? Is it the increased playing time after Houston’s blockbuster trade deadline deal? The signed U2 guitar he bought at Tux & Tennies? His brand new Twitter account? The perpetually team-first Scola says it’s just a matter of doing everything in his power to help his team’s fight for a playoff spot.
“This is it. We’ve got the last couple weeks of the season and we need to make a final push. We can’t hold back anything, we have to give everything we have right now. If we lose a couple games we’ll be on vacation in 3 weeks, so we have to focus, give it all, try to make a last run, try to get back in a playoff push and hopefully we get a little lucky and we’ll be right there and fighting for the last spot in the playoffs.”
To that end, Saturday night’s game was clearly a must-win for Houston and the Rockets did well to outlast a scrappy Nets team which has been playing much better ball of late despite their woeful record. After struggling early, the Rockets began to find some rhythm toward the end of the first quarter and even though New Jersey hung tough due to their talented trio of Brook Lopez, Devin Harris and Courtney Lee, Houston managed to pull away from the Nets during the final 6 minutes of the fourth quarter.
The keys to the Rockets’ success: Houston pounded New Jersey inside, scoring 60 points in the paint; the Rockets also got their transition game off and running, rolling up 23 fastbreak points; and Houston absolutely obliterated the Nets with a 27-4 edge in second-chance points.
Take one guess as to the player most involved in all three of those facets.
“Luis was terrific,” said Rockets Head Coach Rick Adelman. “He was so active and he made big shot after shot. He’s just been unbelievable. I didn’t plan to play him 40 minutes but I wasn’t taking him out the way he was playing. He just seems to have really found another gear.”
Make no mistake, this was not a one-man show. Trevor Ariza returned to the starting lineup and stuffed the stat sheet, scoring 12 points to go along with 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Kevin Martin quietly tallied 20 points, while Aaron Brooks added 18 and 7 assists. Meanwhile, the Rockets’ bench continues to thrive now that the team is back to full strength.
But in the end, the night belonged to Luis, which is as it should be whenever a player finds himself being mentioned in the same breath as Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon – the last Houston player to have made at least 20 field goals in a single game (Dream had 21 during an OT contest against Denver in April of 1990).
“Man, Luis was awesome,” said Shane Battier. “They’re erecting status in Buenos Aires as we speak. He was just in a zone and he’s been great for us ever since the trade. He’s been a steady low-post scorer for us and we’re going to lean on him."
And from the looks of things, the spectacular Scola will be up to the task.
And-1s: Aaron Brooks’ second quarter 3-pointer gave him 37-consecutive games with a 3, the league's longest streak, tying Luther Head for the all-time Rockets record. It speaks to the sort of night Scola had that Brooks even jokingly gave credit to Luis for the shot that tied the franchise mark. “Luis found me open. He guided my hand and helped me make that 3. I just want to say thank you to him and hopefully we will keep the win streak going and see what happens.”
QUOTES
RICK ADELMAN
It’s a game we obviously really needed to get. Luis was terrific, so active and he made big shot after shot. He’s just been unbelievable. He’s just been so active. I didn’t plan to play him 40 minutes but I wasn’t taking him out the way he was playing. He just seemed to have really found another gear. Tonight he wasn’t missing shots at all. In fact, the one shot he missed in the second half he tried to pass it to himself – that’s when you know you’re hot: when you’re passing it back to yourself for a layup. He was just terrific. You can’t say enough about him.
I say it all the time: with the guys we have now, if we move the ball and execute the way we’re capable of and not go one-on-one and make teams guard us, he’s going to get shots because his guy has to help. When we’re cutting, moving and running pick-and-rolls he’s going to get shots if we’re active.
At any level of basketball, you get shots and you put yourself in position and other people have to make plays. Even in “Hoosiers” where Jimmy had to make the shot or Gene Hackman wouldn’t have looked so smart (laughs). But that’s really true. Players have to respond and players have to make plays and, Luis, you can’t say enough about the way he played tonight.
(on starting Trevor): Shane has told me from forever that he’ll come off the bench. I told him I’d try it but I don’t know if that’s better for our team. It changes Trevor’s role somewhat because now he’s got to guard the toughest guy out there at the start of the game.
But the other thing with Shane is he gives me a lot of flexibility. We knew they were going to play small tonight and I was going to counter with it in the second half. Shane gives me a lot of options and I want to see what Trevor and Aaron and Kevin do when they’re on the court. That’s something we’re going to keep looking at and in the second half I changed it around. I didn’t play Chase until the end but I wanted to see Kyle and Aaron together and I’m just going to keep trying things and it worked out; that small group played really well and was active playing with Aaron and Kyle.
LUIS SCOLA
(On his explanation of his big game) “I felt pretty good. As some people know, I play the summer too and sometimes I start off a little bit worse at the beginning of the season and then by this time of year, I always feel a little bit better and maybe it was that or maybe just a little bit of everything. Today was one of those nights that everything you try works and I really don't have an explanation. I'm as surprised as you are, probably.”
When I’m in the game you can see it. When I’m running all over the place and trying to touch all the loose balls, that’s when I feel better and, from then on, everything works better; the shooting, the post up, everything works better if I can get easy shots. That’s just the way I play. Today I got a lot of those early in the game and that helps.
There was just a moment when I looked up and saw I had 32 points and thought, ‘Whoa, that looks good.’ As soon as the game started in the second half I got 8 points right away, so it was kind of surprising.
(on his run of late): This is it. We’ve got the last couple weeks of the season and we need to make a final push. We can’t hold back anything, we have to give everything we have right now. If we lose a couple games we’ll be on vacation in 3 weeks, so we have to focus, give it all, try to make a last run, try to get back in a playoff push and hopefully we get a little lucky and we’ll be right there and fighting for the last spot in the playoffs.
KEVIN MARTIN
(On Luis Scola's performance) “Man, that's like the best performance I have seen since Carmelo Anthony did something like that against us in Sacramento. You know, it was unbelievable. He was the catalyst of our team tonight. We saw he was hot and we kept going to him and he delivered.”
(On the 4 game homestretch) “We've got some pretty good teams (coming up in schedule), we just have to keep on improving and I think things are looking better around here and just play together and see what happens.”
AARON BROOKS
(On Luis Scola's performance) “He did a great job. He stepped up. He's been stepping up ever since the trade and he has been a dominant guy in this league. I'm not surprised by it (his performance). He played for Argentina and we've got the Argentina Luis now so it was pretty good.”
(On him tying the franchise record for the most consecutive games with 3 point field goal made) “You know Luis found me open. He guided my hand and helped me make that 3 (pointer). I just want to say thank you to him and hopefully we will keep the win streak going and see what happens.”
TREVOR ARIZA
(On his first game starting after the injury) “I felt real good, just trying to figure out how to play with our new guys and try to find where I fit in and try to make some plays. Today it was our first game (starting) so the next game should be better.”
(On what his role is on the team currently) “I don't know, honestly. I can't tell you. I feel like I can do a little bit of everything so whatever is needed at the time, that's what I will go and do.”
SHANE BATTIER
Man, Luis was awesome. They’re erecting status in Buenos Aires as we speak. He was just in a zone and he’s been great for us ever since the trade. He’s been a steady low-post scorer for us and we’re going to lean on him.
NETS COACH KIKI VANDEWEGHE
(on Scola’s performance) “You could say that he was awfully good. It’s not very often when you see a guy hit 20 of 25 shots. He played a really great game but we helped him along. He got it going on rebound follows, inside the paint and on kick outs on the perimeter. He just worked harder than us.”
(on his team’s play) “I thought we had some guys that played well. Brook (Lopez) got some ticky-tack fouls that got him in foul trouble and it was downhill from there. We were a little tired and it was tough in the fourth quarter. They pulled away at the end and offensive rebounding killed us. The second chance points really hurt.”
BROOK LOPEZ
(on his play) “I got into good position and the guys were getting me the ball and my shot was going in. Some of the fouls I got were dumb and that really hurt us.”
(on Scola’s play) “It was impressive. He crashed the basket and got a lot of easy points. It was tough because when we doubled to help on him, it left other guys, like Ariza and Brooks for open shots.”
(on the game) “It was a combination of their effort and our lack of effort. They moved the ball real well on us and that was the difference.”
DEVIN HARRIS
(on how hot was Scola?) “Hot? We gave him way too many lay ups inside. He hit some perimeter jump shots but he killed us on lay ups.”
(on the game) “We stayed with them through the Scola offensive night but we ran out of juice at the end. We thought we had a size advantage and could get it done inside. We really struggled when Brook (Lopez) went to the bench in foul trouble. We really need to work on our weak side defense as it wasn’t very good.”
NOTES
Houston registered a 116-108 victory over New Jersey tonight. The Rockets have now captured the last eight meetings with the Nets.
The Rockets posted 60 points in the paint tonight, which marks the third time in 2009-10 Houston has scored at least 60 in the paint. To put that in perspective, Houston recorded a total of just five 60-point performances in the paint over the previous four seasons (2005-09).
Houston took a 27-4 edge in second chance points tonight. The Rockets also outscored the Wizards by a 24-8 count in second-chance points in the prior game at Washington (3/9/10).
The Rockets scored 23 fast-break points tonight, including 15 off the break in the first half alone. It marked the 12th time Houston has reached the 20-point mark in that category this season.
Houston was 46-of-88 (.523) from the field, running its record to 11-0 when shooting .500 or better this season. The Rockets also tied their season high of 46 field goals made, which they originally set with 46 makes from the floor at Minnesota (3/6/10).
Luis Scola recorded a career-high 44 points (20-25 FG, 4-6 FT) and 12 rebounds tonight, scoring the most points by a Rockets player since Tracy McGrady’s 47 points at Utah (11/1/07). Scola is also the first Houston player to make at least 20 field goals in a game since Hakeem Olajuwon hit 21 field goals in an OT game vs. Denver (4/19/90). His previous career best in scoring was 30 points (8-17 FG, 14-14 FT) vs. San Antonio (2/26/10). Scola also has a double-double in a career-high-tying five straight games (2/11/09-2/24/09 and 3/3/10-3/13/10). He has also notched a double-double in four of his last six home games.
Kevin Martin scored 20 points (6-15 FG, 7-7 FT) tonight, giving him at least 20 points in each of his last four outings.
Aaron Brooks had 18 points (7-16 FG, 2-5 3FG) and seven assists tonight. Brooks has also made at least one 3-pointer in a career-best 37 consecutive games (12/22/09-3/13/10), which matches Luther Head’s team record of 37 straight (11/4/06-1/13/07).
Trevor Ariza posted 12 points (5-11 FG, 2-6 3FG), 10 rebounds and six assists tonight, marking his fifth double-double of the season.
Courtney Lee finished with 24 points (10-14 FG, 3-4 3FG) tonight. Lee, who ranks 11th among all sophomores in scoring average at 12.6 points, recorded a career-high 30 points (13-20 FG) at Memphis (3/8/10).
Brook Lopez notched 22 points (8-16 FG) and 10 rebounds tonight, marking his 28th double-double of the season and his 20th 20 point, 10 rebound double-double of 2009-10.
Devin Harris had 19 points (7-15 FG) and seven assists tonight. His steal in the first half marked 500th of his career.
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