PrintSixers Stymie Rockets, Rally For Win
Big fourth quarter allows Philly to claim 102-95 victory
Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer
Houston - His team struggling to find any sort of rhythm or flow, Kyle Lowry stepped on to the court in the first quarter and immediately changed the course of the game with his irrepressible energy and flair.
Suddenly, a double-digit deficit was transformed into a double-digit lead. The Rockets’ offense was clicking and the club seemed set to claim its fourth victory in five games while simultaneously exorcising its Philly demons once and for all.
Then Lowry landed awkwardly on a third quarter layup, sprained his left ankle and was forced to the sidelines. Just like that, the game turned once more and the Rockets never managed to recover, coughing up a second-half lead on their way to losing their third straight to the Sixers at Toyota Center, 102-95.
“Kyle is our sparkplug and he relieves a lot of pressure off me and the other guys,” said Aaron Brooks, who led all scorers Saturday night with 34 points. “When he went out, it put a lot of pressure on everybody to step up. There was definitely a little bit of a let down.”
That letdown resulted in a second-half which saw the Rockets score a mere 38 points after producing 35 in the second quarter alone. Houston hit just 33 percent of its shots after halftime and all too often seemed to find itself firing up field goal attempts as the shot clock crept toward zero.
Part of the problem stemmed from the fact Houston’s defense went M.I.A. in the final frame as well, since Philadelphia’s many makes forced Houston to walk the ball up the floor on nearly every single possession. But also not to be overlooked was the Sixers’ strategy of fronting Carl Landry on the low block, making it difficult for his teammates to get him the ball in position to score. Yes, Philly effectively gave the Rockets’ fourth quarter go-to guy the Yao Ming treatment and, as was often the case last year, Houston struggled to solve the puzzle that particular defense presented.
“We have to find a way to get Carl the ball,” insisted Head Coach Rick Adelman after the game. “It’s got to be a combination of him figuring out what they’re doing and us finding a way to get him the ball. That’s the one problem we have: if you’re going to front him in there, then we have to come back with a high-low game or something and for some of our guys that’s not a good situation.
“It’s things like that we have to figure out but it’s really a shame because we’ve always been a team that if you lose a player somebody else steps up. Sure we missed (Lowry) but that’s life. It’s going to happen. You can’t reply on just one person. Other people have to step up and we have to finish plays.”
Finishing plays, initiating plays – Lowry did it all in the first half. After seeing his team fall behind by as many as 13 points in the first quarter, the Philly-native was the Alpha and Omega of a spectacular 26-4 Rockets run which began at the end of the first period and lasted well into the second. Lowry bookended that splendid stretch with a pair of twisting, turning and-1 layups, before transitioning into the role of point man for the fireworks display Aaron Brooks proceeded to put on. AB went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc in the quarter, scoring 17 points in all, allowing Houston to take a 10-point lead into the half.
"He's been so great for us," said Shane Battier, when asked about the spark Lowry provides. "The starting lineup fell behind and the second unit came in and did a fantastic job, got the lead, got control of the game and Kyle is the center of that."
But once Lowry left the game with 7:03 remaining in the third quarter, the Rockets never quite recaptured their mojo. Philadelphia trimmed its deficit to 6 by the end of the period, before making its big push in the final frame.
Would a healthy Lowry have made the difference? It seems so easy to say that the answer would likely be yes. But just as certain is the reminder Adelman issued after the game: no quality team should be solely reliant on one player. Surely the Rockets know this as well as anyone, having earned a reputation as a team well-versed in the art of stepping up in the face of injury and adversity. So now, with Lowry expected out for this Tuesday’s game against Miami, it’s up to the club to dig deep and tap into that well of resiliency once more.
And-1s: After the game, the Rockets released a statement saying Lowry will be re-evaluated in approximately a week. Meanwhile, Trevor Ariza was forced to exit the game in the final moments of the fourth quarter with a left hip pointer. He is listed as day-to-day.
QUOTES
RICK ADELMAN
Tough loss. We didn’t play well at all on either end of the court in the second half. The fourth quarter you’ve got to make stops and we didn’t really stop them at all the whole fourth quarter. We just missed a lot of opportunities and you have to execute in the fourth quarter if you’re going to win; six-point lead going into it and we didn’t get it done.
(too simple to pin this loss on Kyle’s injury?): It could be true but it absolutely can’t be true. You can’t reply on just one person. Other people have to step up and we have to finish plays. We missed about four or five possessions where we had it at the basket and we didn’t finish plays. We can’t just rely on Aaron. We have to have other people stepping up and they have to make plays.
And some way we have to find a way to get Carl the ball; it’s got to be a combination of him figuring out what they’re doing and us finding a way to get him the ball. That’s the one problem we have: if you’re going to front him in there, then you come back with a high-low game or something and for some of our guys that’s not a good situation.
It’s things we have to figure out but it’s really a shame because we’ve always been a team that if you lose a player somebody else steps up. Sure we missed (Kyle) but that’s life. It’s going to happen.
(what bogged down the offense): We couldn’t get the ball to Carl and Aaron had the ball in his hands and we didn’t execute. We didn’t get into it early and then having an option afterwards. We walked the ball up the court every time because we didn’t make any stops. We never had any flow to the fourth quarter because we never made a stop. I really questioned myself because a couple times we had a 4 or 5 or 6 point lead and I was going to go to a zone just to see what they would do. But before I knew it they had caught us and went ahead. I just think it was a breakdown on our end at both ends of the court. You get outscored 32-19 in the fourth quarter at home then it’s both ends you have to look at.
LUIS SCOLA
I don’t think it was because Kyle went down. We should have been able to control the game anyway. We’re just making a lot of mistakes. They are a pretty dangerous team when they get it going and it’s been like that. We’ve played against them six times the last three years and every time - at least here – every game the same thing happens: they just get a run, they get it going and then you can’t stop them. I guess we didn’t learn from our mistakes and we keep going up and down in the game and in the season. For some reason we’re just not able to fix that.
We weren’t able to make stops and we didn’t play solid offense. If you combine those two, sooner or later they’re going to start making shots and they’re going to start feeling better and they’re going to start running more. We knew they run better when they get a rebound or steal versus off a made basket. We let them do what they feel comfortable doing and the game turned really difficult to us.
It’s a little frustrating. It is. But I believe everybody here is aware of that and everybody wants to fix it, it’s just for some reason we’re not able to really be solid and consistent. It is a little frustrating. I don’t think it’s about playing hard because we do play hard. I don’t know.
AARON BROOKS
It’s real tough. It was a game we pretty much controlled for three quarters. They got hot at the end. The difference between this game and last game is last game we got up 10 and we put Memphis away. This time we let them hang around the whole time and, when you do that, teams get hot, start hitting threes and start feeling good about themselves and kind of run away with it.
They picked it up and then picked up the defense. We had a hard time getting the post guys the ball. We missed a lot of open shots and that was pretty much the game. We couldn’t get Carl the ball in the post and we’ve got to work on that. It’s kind of like, when we had Yao last year, we had a tough time getting him the ball in the post, so it was kind of like that today. We have to work on finding a way to get him the ball and get him more touches.
It’s not surprise – Carl’s our go-to guy at the end of the game. We worked it and tried to get it into him. We gave them multiple looks. We had pick-and-roll looks. We had the shots we just didn’t knock them down. This game was full of momentum. They did a good job and got the momentum in the fourth quarter and ran away with it.
(let down when Kyle went out?): Definitely. Kyle is our sparkplug and he relieves a lot of pressure off me and the other guys. When he went out, it put a lot of pressure on everybody to step up. That was our energy guy who comes off the bench to lift us. When he went out there was a little bit of a let down.
CARL LANDRY
They defended us a little bit different and ways we’re not accustomed to seeing this season. We might see that for the rest of the season, especially down the stretch in the fourth quarter. So we’ve got to regroup and try to get some options and some ways to score when they defend us the way they did tonight.
They kept a guy in front of me and fronted me pretty much the whole game, especially down the stretch. There was a guy in front of me and a guy behind me, so we’ve got to come up with some type of scheme, not necessarily to get me the ball, but to keep the offense moving when they play that way.
Yeah, they basically gave me the Yao treatment so we’ve got to figure out some ways, so me options to keep the offense flowing when they play me that way.
JOEY DORSEY
(On the tough loss, after the win at Memphis) “It's tough, I'm really down on myself because when I got in the game we (Rockets) were up six (points). They went on a little run on us, I'm trying to earn minutes and build confidence in Coach (Adelman), so I want to play all my minutes and perfect all my minutes out there.
(On looking forward to the second half of the season) “I think we will be able to pick it up. A lot of guys are banged up right now, they need to get some rest and just try to come back with a lot of energy and continue the second half of the season with a good start.”
SHANE BATTIER
(On the Rockets fourth quarter struggles tonight) “It was disappointing, we didn't play very well in the fourth quarter. We played solidly for three quarters, fourth quarter just too many points. We didn't get enough stops to win this game.”
(On Kyle Lowry's injury) “Its tough. He's been so great for us. The starting lineup fell behind and the second unit came in and did a fantastic job, got the lead, got control of the game and Kyle (Lowry) is the center of that. We can't afford for him to be on the sidelines.”
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
COACH EDDIE JORDAN
(on the second half turnaround) “We wanted more energy and better team defense in the game. That’s why I went to Jason (Smith). He is a great help defender and I wanted his energy to give them some problems. We got a break when Lowery left the game. I thought we guarded the ball a lot better on the perimeter.”
(on Thaddeus Young’s play) “He has really be active these last two games. It seems like he’s figured it out. There were times it seemed he was trying too hard. You can’t try too hard and you can’t worry about mistakes when you are on the court.”
(on defending Brooks) “He is really something. He is really quick. We had to guard the ball but it is hard to trap him.”
ELTON BRAND
(on the team’s recent play) “I never doubt myself or the direction this team is headed. I have to stay confident and positive to show the young guys on this team. We have a lot of good talented players and whoever is open can shoot. We are in a good rhythm right now. It’s not a finished product but we have a bright future. There is a rotation developing and our guys have confidence in what we are doing.”
WILLIE GREEN
(on the game) “In the first half the Rockets were working harder than we were and were getting to the free throw line and we weren’t. Everybody contributed and it was a great team win. We are digging down, playing hard and making a playoff push.”
ANDRE IGUODALA
(on the first half) “We couldn’t score the ball. We seemed to get into lapses when that happens. It helped give Houston a lot of fast break baskets. When you have a guy like Brooks, scoring like he was, you have to put a lot of attention on him.”
(on his play) “I didn’t take many shots but I knew Houston was an excellent defensive team and I tried to stay in the flow and pass the ball around to my teammates. I got a few good looks in the fourth quarter and they went down. They (Houston) fell asleep a bit.”
LOU WILLIAMS
(on slowing Brooks down in the second half) “He was making a lot of shots and I was trying to keep the ball out of his hands to slow him down. It’s crunch time and you have to slow him down and make it difficult for him.”
NOTES
The Rockets dropped a 102-95 decision tonight to the Sixers, snapping Houston’s home winning streak in the month of Feb. at 17 straight games (8-0 in 2008, 8-0 in 2009 and 1-0 in 2010). Houston’s last loss at Toyota Center in the month of Feb. was a 106-90 defeat vs. Toronto (2/28/07).
Houston’s 35 second-quarter points tonight marked a season best for that stanza, topping the previous high of 32 points vs. Dallas (12/31/09).
Philadelphia matched Houston’s opponent season high for free throw percentage with a 22-of-23 (.957) performance from the stripe. The Mavericks also went 22-of-23 (.957) at the line at Dallas (11/10/09).
The Sixers have now won three straight outings in Houston for first time since 12/20/68-2/6/70.
Aaron Brooks totaled 34 points (11-25 FG, 6-7 FT) and four assists tonight, which marked his sixth 30-point outing of the season. He also tied his career high in 3-pointers made: 6-12 3FG vs. Dallas (12/31/09), 6-12 3FG at Phoenix (1/6/10), 6-9 3FG vs. Minnesota (1/13/10) and 6-11 3FG tonight. Brooks, who had a 15-point third quarter (6-11 FG) last night at Memphis (2/5/10), added a 17-point second quarter (4-4 3FG) tonight.
Carl Landry posted 13 points (5-10 FG), 10 rebounds and two blocked shots tonight. Landry marked his third double-double of the season and the sixth double-double of his career.
Kyle Lowry, who returned to lineup last night at Memphis (2/5/10) after missing two outings with a sprained left knee, left tonight’s game with a sprained left ankle. Lowry is expected to miss Tuesday’s game at Miami (2/9/10) and will be re-evaluated in approximately a week. He finished with 14 points (4-6 FG, 6-6 FT) and three assists.
Trevor Ariza also suffered a left hip pointer in the fourth quarter. He is being listed as day-to-day.
Joey Dorsey recorded four points (2-2 FG) and penned in another seven rebounds tonight. Dorsey set career bests with seven points (3-5 FG), 12 rebounds (6 offensive) and one blocked shot in 18:42 off the bench last night at Memphis (2/5/10). Dorsey entered that Memphis contest having played just 15 minutes in six career games, totaling two points and four rebounds.
Thaddeus Young led five Sixers in double-digit scoring with 17 points (7-10 FG) and six rebounds tonight.
Willie Green had 15 points (5-8 FG, 4-4 FT) and two assists tonight. Green also had 12 points (4-8 FG) last night at New Orleans (2/5/10).
Andre Iguodala finished with 14 points (3-8 FG, 2-5 3FG, 6-6 F), 10 rebounds, a game-high six assists and three steals tonight. Iguodala, who led the Sixers with 24 points (8-13 FG, 7-8 FT) earlier this season at Philadelphia (12/11/09), marked his sixth double-double of the season in tonight’s game.
Samuel Dalembert notched four points (2-2 FG) and 10 rebounds tonight. Dalembert has now posted double-figure rebounding totals in each of the last three meetings with the Rockets (13 on 1/28/09 and 14 on 12/11/09)
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