Suns Sneak Past Rockets 111-105

Fourth quarter execution keys Phoenix victory

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Houston - In so many ways, the Rockets did exactly what they needed to do in order to knock off the best-in-the-West Phoenix Suns. They moved the ball. They limited turnovers. They even outscored the run-and-gun Suns in transition.

What they did not do, however, was match Phoenix’s near-perfect execution down the stretch. Blame it on inexperience. Or simply give credit to yet another masterful performance from Steve Nash. Either way, a night filled with immense promise ended in disappointment for Houston as the Suns pulled away late for a 111-105 victory Tuesday night at Toyota Center.

“This is a youth loss,” admitted Shane Battier after the game. “We’re still in the emerging stage and trying to figure out what’s good for us, especially down the stretch and that’s something we’re going to have to go through. We need to look at this game, learn from our mistakes in the fourth quarter and grow.”

Sometimes it really is just that simple. With the game deadlocked at 98 and only three minutes remaining, Nash (16 assists) made sure his club got good looks while the Rockets’ offense grew stagnant, leading to six straight misses which effectively ended their chance to win.

Those breakdowns – coupled with the adverse effects of a sloppy second quarter – tarnished an otherwise solid effort from the home team. Houston raced out to an early 15-point lead, built largely on the strength of some red-hot shooting from beyond the arc. The Rockets started 5-7 from three-point land – and that was just in the first 5:11 of the game. Somewhat shockingly, however, Houston’s long-distance stroke deserted the club shortly thereafter, as the Rockets hit only 4-19 from downtown the rest of the way.

Still, Houston managed to hang tough thanks to career-high nights from Aaron Brooks (13 assists) and Carl Landry (27 points), in addition to the club’s overall effectiveness in several key areas. In fact, a quick glance at the box score could very well lead one to wonder how the Rockets let this game get away. Houston won the turnover battle, outrebounded Phoenix (including a 13-5 edge on the offensive glass) and shot a better percentage from three-point range, while scoring more points in the paint and in transition as well.

So how did the Suns prevail? For one thing, they got to the line 19 more times than did Houston, indicating their edge in aggression. Then there was the aforementioned execution down the stretch. Nash and Amaré Stoudemire looked as if they’ve played together for five years; which, of course, they have. And for all the strides the young Rockets have rapidly made in a short amount of time, there’s simply no substitute or fast-forward button for that sort of experience. When the game is on the line, the Suns know what they want to do. The Rockets, meanwhile, are still learning.

“I thought our guys played really hard,” said Rockets’ Head Coach Rick Adelman. “They executed better down the stretch than we did. Nash and Stoudemire were terrific. But our guys will learn as the season goes on. We didn’t shoot it well after the first quarter but we had our chance, we just didn’t convert.”

Eleven games into the season the Rockets are still learning about themselves, which comes as no surprise given all the new faces and the adjustment to a new style of play. One thing readily apparent, however, is that Houston has shown it can hang with the NBA’s elite. That’s not enough, of course - the Rockets long to be counted among the cream of the crop, not simply to play those teams tough – but the fact that Houston has navigated its way through a brutal early schedule and more than held its own offers a significant amount of hope for the immediate future; quite impressive given the vast array of questions attached to this club at the start of the season.

“I didn’t know what to expect to tell you the truth,” admits Battier, when asked what he anticipated from his team at the beginning of the year. “We’re going to get better and that’s the most important thing. We’re going to be a different team two months from now but we just need to continue to grow.”

That growth will come. Sometimes it arrives in the form of a big win over the defending champs and sometimes it manifests itself as a hard to swallow defeat. The important thing to realize is that there are lessons to be learned from both. And the sooner they are digested and applied, the sooner the Rockets can become the team they ultimately aspire to be.

QUOTES

RICK ADELMAN

I thought our guys played really hard. They executed better down the stretch than we did. Nash and Stoudemire were terrific. But our guys will learn as the season goes on. We didn’t shoot it well after the first quarter but we had our chance.

They’ve been playing together. They’ve got guys like Grant Hill and Stoudemire, Richardson and Nash – they’ve been in the league a long time and all been successful. We had our chance, we just didn’t convert. Second quarter we got a little stagnant but our guys competed and now we have to respond tomorrow night. We’ve got a tough game tomorrow night against a team that’s lost a lot of games in a row and have been off for a long time, so it’s another game we’ve got to respond.

(on Phoenix’s execution): It’s Nash. He makes the right play. They do a good job of spacing the court, putting people in the right spots and he and Stoudemire are a handful. They’ve got two guys that you’ve really got to worry about. But I thought we made some mistakes defensively and we talked about it at halftime: you can’t afford to make mistakes against that team defensively. You have to make them try to earn everything. The second quarter we gave up baskets we never should have given up but it’s a game of mistakes. You’re not going to be perfect every time, it’s just a matter of limiting them.

The effort’s there. We just have to learn from that. The next time we’re in that situation we’ve got to finish the plays. It’s as simple as that.

LUIS SCOLA

We did some good things in this game. We were right there. They closed a little bit better and they deserved the win. It’s a good game to learn and a good way to measure ourselves with games like this.

We need to close the games a little bit better. They hit a few shots at the end that were crucial. They went to the line a lot of times. We couldn’t execute our offense in the last minute so we just have to learn how to close the games a little bit better.

TREVOR ARIZA

It’s always frustrating to lose. It don’t matter what’s the situation, whether we’re playing bad or we’re playing good.

They’re definitely a veteran team and they run their offense to perfection. You can say that, at the end of the game, that’s what it came down to. They know each other really well and they play well together.

It’s something to learn from. They’re a good team and they have the best record in the league. We have to watch film of this game and learn a lot.

We’ve learned that we can compete with the elite teams in this league. We feel like we’re right there. One or two stops and we’re right there.

They’re a good team. They’re one of the teams out West that, I think, they’ll be competing for a championship and if we want to be one of those teams, we have to beat teams like that.

SHANE BATTIER

This is one of those games you really can’t look at the stat sheet and see where we lost it. The numbers are pretty comparable. We outrebounded them by four. It’s an execution game. We just didn’t get stops when we needed to in the fourth quarter and couldn’t find a bucket when we needed it.

This is a youth loss. We’re still in the emerging stage and trying to figure out what’s good for us, especially down the stretch and that’s something we’re going to have to go through. We need to look at this game, learn from our mistakes in the fourth quarter and grow.

They’ve got Steve Nash, who is the best point guard on the planet for my money. Amare Stoudemire is back to his domination and they’re a really good team. I think they’re for real.

Nash is going to get his teammates involved. You try to make him beat you himself but he’s going to find people. He’s one of the guys who’s really tough to gameplan because he’s just so savvy. He’s going to take whatever the defense gives him and try to work it against you.

I hope the guys in the locker room can look at our team and say that when we play hard and play together we can be competitive with anybody. I also hope that when they look at our team and our losses – and how we lost – that if we don’t bring that same energy and togetherness, we can be beaten by anybody, anywhere. That’s a lot of range of possibilities for this team but if we focus on the good and focus on staying together, I think we can be competitive.

(pleased with where this team is?): I would say so - for a team that had so many unknowns coming into the year. I didn’t know what to expect to tell you the truth. We’re going to get better and that’s the most important thing. We’re going to be a different team two months from now but we just need to continue to grow.

AARON BROOKS

(On the 4th quarter) “We started missing shots and they started making shots. They're a good team. One of the best teams in the NBA. That's the way our games go sometimes. We were in a position to win the game at the end. They made plays and we didn't.”

(On the Rockets missed shots) “I wish I would have shot to the right a little bit more. They're a good team, they made shots and that's all I can say. It's not like we weren't in a position to win the game most of the time.”

COACH ALVIN GENTRY

(on his team’s play) “We’ve been good in the fourth quarter so far this season. We seem to let teams out of the box early as we did tonight. We did a good job of taking away the driving lanes. We did a good job at the end with our execution and we made big plays down the stretch.”

(on the key to the game) “Jarron Collins was the MVP of the game for us. He did a great job defensively and then made some big baskets.”

(on the Rockets) “ Houston is a very good defensive team and you have to take advantages of mismatches and we felt we had a big one with Amar’e. The Rockets play extremely hard, as hard as any team in the NBA. They are so well coached.”

STEVE NASH

(on the game) “I didn’t shoot the ball well but it was a real good team effort. We settled down (after the first quarter) and got better shots as the game went on. We had real good contributions from a lot of different people. We weren’t getting our typical easy shots and we went to the iso game with Amare. Our second unit did really well. We have physical and mental toughness. We got a lot of stops and that was big for us.”

JARRON COLLINS

(on his play off the bench) “I’m very familiar with Houston and their personnel. I just went out and played hard. You have to be ready on the bench. It’s not easy but I pride myself on being ready. I will be physical and try and do the little things. I was able to score around the basket and get some rebounds.”

AMARÈ STOUDEMIRE

(on the game) “We tried to take advantage of the fact they were small inside. In the fourth quarter we maintained our focus and fought back. J.Rich (Jason Richardson) got us going in the third quarter…..he was on fire. The second unit did a great job with their contributions and gave us a big lift.”

NOTES

Houston saw a 15-point, first-half lead melt away to the Suns in a 111-105 loss tonight. The Suns, who actually trailed 82-78 entering the final 12 minutes of action, upped their record to an outstanding 5-2 this season when trailing after three quarters of play. Overall, it was just the second double-digit lead lost in a defeat for the Rockets, while the Suns recorded their fifth double-digit deficit overcome in a win.

The Rockets opened with a 34-point (14-25 FG) first quarter, which marked their best opening 12 minutes at home this season. Houston’s best overall first quarter stands at 37 points at Dallas (11/10/09).

Houston recorded a 19-8 advantage in fast-break points tonight. The Rockets have now reached double-digit scoring off the break in every game this season. Houston posted 10 or more fast-break points just five times over the first 11 games last season.

The Rockets dropped to 0-3 in the first game of a back-to-back set with tonight’s loss. On the other end, Houston is currently 2-0 in the second game of back-to-backs.

Carl Landry registered a career-high 27 points and nine rebounds tonight, while setting or tying career bests in field goals made (13), field goals attempted (18) and offensive rebounds (6, tied). His previous career high in points was 22 points (9-11 FG) at Indiana (2/1/08) and 22 points (7-9 FG, 8-8 FT) vs. Toronto (3/3/09). Landry now has four 20-point outings on the season. He entered this season with four career 20-point performances over his first two seasons.

Trevor Ariza had 19 points (8-21 FG, 3-5 3FG), a season-high-tying nine rebounds, four assists and three steals tonight. Ariza has now reached double-digit scoring in nine of his 11 games this season.

Aaron Brooks finished with 16 points (5-18 FG) and a career-high 13 assists tonight, which marked his second double-digit assist game of the season. Brooks also dished out his previous career best of 12 assists at Golden State (10/28/09).

Amaré Stoudemire posted 23 points (8-14 FG, 7-10 FT) and six rebounds tonight. Stoudemire has now posted 15 or more points in all but one game this season, including a season-high 30 vs. Toronto (11/15/09).

Jason Richardson registered 20 points (8-14 FG) tonight, which marked his fifth 20-point game of the season.

Steve Nash, who had 32 points (14-27 FG, 4-6 3FG) and 13 assists last season at Houston (3/6/09), had 12 points (2-10 FG, 8-9 FT) and 16 assists tonight. Nash tied the opponent assist record at Toyota Center, equaling a 16-assist performance by Toronto’s Jose Calderon last season at Houston (3/3/09).

Grant Hill notched 11 points (5-6 FG) and seven rebounds through three quarters. Hill entered this game with four double-doubles on the season, which is just one shy of his total from 2008-09.

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