By Kyle Soppe
The Houston Rockets lost the first quarter, then went on to win the next three quarters and overtime, as they beat the Kings 113-106.
Houston has won three of four games, and the mini-run is being led by some lesser known commodities. Chandler Parsons from Florida is averaging 15.3 points and 9.3 rebounds over the streak, while Luis Scola has recorded double-digit rebounds in all four games. Patrick Patterson is also finding his niche, and hasn’t turned the ball over during the recent strong play of the Rockets.
Patterson displayed maturity well beyond his years last night, as he poured in a team high 24 points. Two of those points came with eight seconds remaining in regulation, giving the Rockets a chance to go on and win this ball game. The confidence to take that shot is one thing, but to do so after two of his worst shooting games of the season is another. Patterson had gone 2/15 over the past two games, but responded with a 10/16 effort on Monday night. Patterson’s plus/minus ratio was +18 last night, while the rest of the front court was only +8 combined.
Consider this my pitch for more than a 10 day deal for Earl Boykins. He walked in to Houston and made a big difference in 21+ minutes of action, recording 10 points and five assists.
DeMarcus Cousins had a huge night, a career high 38 points and 14 rebounds, but couldn’t stop the Rockets from shooting 56.5% inside the arc. Houston refused to settle for outside looks (for the most part) and continually passed up OK shots for better shots.
Speaking of DCuz … he will be the best pro from his Kentucky team. The ex-Wildcat is smoking hot of late, averaging 29.3 points per game and 16.7 rebounds per game over his last three. The constant concern for Cousins is his short temper and inability to stay out of foul trouble, and those concerns have not disappeared. He has picked up at least four fouls in each of his past seven games, and was T’d up last night. Is he perfect? No. But he’s got the tolls to be a dominate big man in today’s NBA.
The Kings are 1-5 when Donte Greene takes at least 9 shots. More high percentage shots like this would change this statistic, but Greene is willing to launch deep jumpers far to often. Ask SU fans … this isn’t a new complaint.
The Kings have now scored 100+ points in each of their last seven games, but they have only won three of them.
Teams that don’t have superior starters need a strong contribution from their bench, and last night, the Kings had neither. Their bench was relatively useless, as only 2/3 of the bench was held scoreless, and they shot 33.3% as a whole.
Tyreke Evans recorded a career best six steals, but his 12 points in nearly 40 minutes isn’t enough for this years version of the Kings,
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