Beverley to play against Pacers
The Rockets held guard Pat Beverley and center Nene out of Sunday’s practice, but that was more as a precaution as Beverley treats tightness in a groin muscle and Nene rests.
Asked if he would play against Indiana on Monday night, Beverley said, “Yeah, hell yeah.”
Beverley was ruled out of Saturday night’s game against Minnesota but warmed up before tipoff and declared himself ready to go.
“I don’t know what coach (Mike D’Antoni) was on,” Beverley said. “I don’t know if he wanted me to play.”
Beverley played 29 minutes, totaling 15 points, seven assists and three steals, while battling soreness during the game and tightness afterward.
“He was awesome,” D’Antoni said. “He’s a catalyst, a big-time catalyst for us. We need him healthy. It scares me a little bit because he couldn’t go, then he did. I just try him.”
Beverley admitted he did have to overcome issues with his groin that could have kept him out.
“It felt kind of tight at shootaround,” Beverley, 28, said. “I didn’t know if I wanted to push it. Soaked in some Epsom salts when I got home, and my girl took care of me. It felt pretty good. Got with the trainers, felt pretty good. I was able to play, play well. We won.
“It’s still a little tight, but that time of the season. Your body is not going to be 100 percent. Tried to be cautious with it, push through it and try to keep this thing going. I’m mentally tough. I know I’m not going to be 100 percent; I’m not going to be 90 percent. But if I feel good, I’m going to try to give it a go no matter what.”
D’Antoni: 58 3s are not enough
The Rockets attempted 58 3-pointers against Minnesota on Saturday night — the second most in NBA history behind the 61 they put up against New Orleans on Thursday.
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said they should have taken more.
“I thought we passed up all kinds of 3s and passed up open shots,” D’Antoni said. “We weren’t particularly sharp. But 142 points, that’s a lot of points. I’m pretty happy with it. We have unbelievable scorers on this team. Adding Lou Williams, he’s a 20-, 30-point scorer easy and quick. He’s given us another dimension.”
As for taking 58 longrange shots while passing up some open looks, D’Antoni said: “I guess it all averages out. We probably took five we shouldn’t, so the average is about right.”
D’Antoni pointed out that since he said the Rockets should take 50 per game, they have taken 51 and 58. Of the 10 games in NBA history in which a team has taken 50 or more 3-pointers — all this season — the Rockets have eight of them.
“I actually saw it on the big screen that we shot 58 3s,” forward Trevor Ariza said. “That’s kind of crazy. It’s the norm now.
“I don’t think throughout the game we’re looking at how many points we’re scoring. We’re just playing. At the end of the game or with five minutes left in the game, we look and it’s 100-whatever, then it’s kind of weird. But throughout the game, you’re not really focused on how many points you’re scoring. You’re just trying to win.”
Both teams attempted 94 shots Saturday with the Timberwolves making five more than the Rockets.
But the Rockets led by as much as 20 before winning 142-130.
“That shows you, no matter how many 2s they shoot, 3s are always (worth) more than 2s,” guard Pat Beverley said. “We shot the same attempts. We hit 22 3s. They hit 10.
“We shot the ball all right and still were able to put up 142 points. We’re just trying to make all of them. We just go out there and hoop. We hear about it the next day from Twitter. We’re just out there playing ball.”