Behold! The 3-shooting monsters awaken
2-game skid comes to emphatic end; Harden registers 12th triple-double
NEW YORK — The Rockets knew their shooting touch would return and had a pretty good idea they could take care of the Nets — or at least the members of the NBA’s worst team who played Sunday.
But knowing what can be done is no substitute for doing it.
The Rockets had for the first time this season misfired their way to consecutive losses. The Nets paid for it Sunday, as if the Rockets needed
to shoot down the blip of a losing streak to truly leave it behind.
With the offense back at full speed and 3-pointers falling again, the Rockets romped to a 137-112 blowout of Brooklyn, leading by as much as 31 and coming within a 3-pointer of their top-scoring game of the season.
Though the Nets — who were minus Jeremy Lin (hamstring) and Brook Lopez (resting between off days) — stayed in the game, there never was much mystery about what was coming.
“We just could never
stop them,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I don’t think we stopped them the whole night. I think we tried a lot of different things, tried changing coverages, and couldn’t find a solution. Potent, powerful offensive team. There was really no point in the game where I felt like we have them under control.”
The Rockets’ 74 firsthalf points matched their most this season. The rout was officially on when they hit five consecutive 3-pointers during a 2½-minute stretch of the fourth quarter, going from up 16 to a 29-point lead.
A game after the Rockets made 10 of 41 3-pointers, and just three of 24 in the second half, they connected on 21 of 44, even with a 1-of-5 finish after they cleared the bench. They have made at least 20 3s six times this season, three times as often as in the rest of franchise history.
“It’s been that way all year,” said James Harden, who totaled 22 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds. “Guys are ready to shoot. They know that I’m unselfish, just going to get (them) the ball when they’re open. And we just play for each other. It’s pretty simple. We don’t overthink the game too much. If you got an open shot, shoot it. No matter if it’s one, two or five times in a row. Guys can basically have the green light whenever they’re open.”
That was evident Sunday, but the Rockets might have demonstrated something more significant for when the schedule turns grueling this week.
Pat Beverley and Eric Gordon had been playing in pain and struggling. Beverley had made just 25 percent of his shots in the previous four games, his right wrist heavily and tightly wrapped in tape. Gordon had come back Friday from a sprained big toe and made just three of nine 3-pointers.
By Sunday, Beverley had for the first time since the injury begun shooting at practices, ditched the tape, and made four of seven 3-pointers, scoring 16 points (while adding seven rebounds and six assists and drawing four offensive fouls). Gordon, though still in pain but improving, made four of eight 3s and scored 24 points.
While Trevor Ariza scored 23 points and Harden had his 12th tripledouble of the season, the performances of the guards who play next to Harden might have been more meaningful than scoring 137 points while putting an end to the season’s first losing streak.
For a half, the Rockets were happy to trade baskets, understandably confident the Nets could not keep up that pace. But when the Rockets began defending with greater energy, the offense rolled, too, as they looked more like the team that collected more blowouts last month than they have since.
“It started really on the defensive end,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “To me, it’s an energy thing. Shooting is energy. Playing good offense is energy, and defense is energy. It can start on either end, but usually it starts on the defensive end. If you’re going to be engaged defensively, then you’re going to be engaged offensively.”
Still, the Rockets got those shots Friday against Memphis.
On Sunday against the Nets, they made them as they knew they would, then kept pouring it on to make sure.