Rockets’ offense returns for first home win.
Offense returns for a lead large enough to foil Indiana surge
Good times often don’t last, but the Rockets finally, if relatively briefly, got to remember the way they were.
After all the offensive struggles, they at last got to revisit last season’s offense like a friend who had left town and come in for a visit to remind of the good times.
That did not last, but it was enough for the Rockets to build a cushion and hold on down the stretch to top the Indiana Pacers 115-103 on Sunday. Rocky as the finish was, any win would do, especially with at least a reminder they can score so well again.
“It just feels that this is us,” center Clint Capela said. “It feels good to be like, ‘Oh, there we go. This is what we do.
“Everybody, CP (Chris Paul), James (Harden), got back our rhythm, making a lot of shots
“They did a great job. We just have to remember, this is our DNA. This is how we play. We can’t lose that.”
With Harden scoring a season-high 40 points, the Rockets hit 20 3-pointers Sunday, four more than any game this season and did it a night after knocking down a season-low nine 3s.
After scoring 80 and 85 points in their previous two
games, falling short of 90 more this season (four times) than in all of last season, the Rockets scored 76 in the first half when they made 65.8 percent of their shots, 63.6 percent of their 3s.
Their 24-point lead in the first half was their largest of the season. And they needed nearly all of it.
“It felt great,” Harden said. “I think over these last few games, our defense has been exceptional. Offensively, we got opportunities. We got shots we like. They didn’t fall (Saturday) night. Tonight, they fell.
“As long as we keep shooting, having that confidence, they’ll start falling.”
But the win was not enough to escape all the issues that have filled the season and might have brought a new one.
Carmelo Anthony missed a second consecutive game with an illness and coach Mike D’Antoni said he did not know if Anthony would be in Denver to play the Nuggets on Tuesday.
Though Rockets general manager Daryl Morey refuted a report that Anthony had been told he would not remain with the team, a person with knowledge of the team’s thinking said the Rockets “are definitely looking at everything.”
So uncertain was Anthony’s return that when D’Antoni spoke of being short-handed, he cited Gerald Green’s sprained ankle, but not Anthony’s absence.
The Rockets became even more short-handed down the stretch when Capela could not return because of a bruised right knee. He had gone down in pain in the first minute when Pacers guard Darren Collison collided with the inside of the knee.
Capela was helped off the floor, but returned quickly and was effective, going 8-of-9 from the field for his 18 points.
Capela said it was “too soon” to know if he will play Tuesday after the knee tightened in the fourth quarter, leaving the Rockets to use a small lineup with P.J. Tucker at center, with Tucker competing through a stomach virus.
By then, the Rockets’ offense that had rolled so easily early, returning to last season’s form without warning, disappeared again.
For the first 8½ minutes of the fourth quarter, the Rockets made two of 11 shots with six turnovers. After trailing by 23 in the final minute of the third quarter, the Pacers closed to within 10.
The Rockets held off the run there. They made just 18.8 percent of their shots in the fourth quarter, indicating they were not all the way back. But they did have that roll through the first half, scoring as they did when they owned the NBA’s top offense and showing no signs of the fall toward the bottom.
Harden and Paul ombined for 66 points, and for a stretch, brought reminders there might be a way out of the struggles that had gripped them.
“It’s real nice,” Paul said. “We struggled for a while so it’s always nice to see the ball go through the net and get out in transition.
“Usually, when shots start falling, you win. The food tastes better. You sleep better. Everything is a little bit better.”
Like old times.