Rockets drop fourth straight
Only Dallas proves it has enough punch in reserve to prevail
After trailing by as many as 20, a late rally falls short as the Rockets lose 128-108 to the Dallas Mavericks.
The Rockets had made their run. They avoided the knockout and got to their feet, but their legs were wobbly. The collapse was coming.
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle countered by starting the fourth quarter entirely with reserves, finishing off the Rockets with a depth the hosts could not match at Toyota Center.
Though they had similarly disastrous stretches before, the Rockets were teetering, ready to fall when one more Mavericks blast took care of the rest, finally forcing the Rockets to go to their threadbare bench, this time to sit their starters
for the rest of Wednesday night’s game as Dallas rolled to a 128-108 romp. It was the Rockets’ fourth consecutive loss.
“We got (a 21-point Dallas lead) down to five and obviously spent a lot of energy doing that,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Then, we lose our legs a little bit.
“Most of it, we’re not guarding real well. I don’t know if that’s fatigue or having some guys out, but we’ve got to find out real quick.”
The Rockets, playing without Chris Paul and Gerald Green, counted on a bench of rookies and a G Leaguer turned bright spot, but with starters playing far too long and the defense suffering.
During their latest skid, the Rockets have ranked last in the NBA in defensive rating, points allowed (124) and opposing shooting percentage (51.1), dropping them to one spot removed from the worst record in the Western Conference at 9-11.
“It’s mostly on defense because James (Harden) and Eric (Gordon) and those guys are going to figure out some offense,” D’Antoni said. “We’re going to score something.”
For the second straight game, Harden entered the record books. After scoring 54 points with 13 assists on Monday, his second consecutive game with at least 40 and double-digit assists, Harden had 25 points, 17 assists, 11 rebounds and six steals against the Mavs, joining Magic Johnson as the only player to post those numbers since steals became an official statistic in 1973-74.
Harden matched his career high for assists and became the first player since Paul in 2009 with 25 points 15 assists, 10 rebounds and five steals in a game.
The Rockets got 18 points apiece from James Ennis III, Clint Capela and Danuel House Jr., Monday’s call-up from the G League. But with the exception of their third-quarter run, they could not get the stops to make a run last.
Though the fatigue from the three-game trip with starters carrying far more minutes than ever before might have caught up with them, they also knew the defense was far from sufficient even before the final collapse.
“We definitely have guys injured, this and that, but there’s really no excuses,” Gordon said. “We just got to play better and play smarter. Once we do that, we’ll take our chances. This is the first time we’re playing a bunch of young guys, and they’re playing a big role. Everybody, I mean everybody, we just have to play smarter and play better.”
The Rockets got a lift from House, with his 18 points the most for any Rockets reserve other than Gordon since Carmelo Anthony had 28 on Nov. 2. But by the start of the fourth quarter, D’Antoni had to keep four starters on the floor.
The Mavs went entirely to their bench and J.J. Barea (13 points) and Devin Harris (20) lit them up.
“That’s a part of it,” Harden said of fatigue. “We’re playing a lot of minutes, myself, P.J. (Tucker), Eric. We’ll figure it out. We don’t have a full roster so it’s kind of tough. You put a lot of minutes on four or five guys and it’s tough. We have really good stretches when we’re great. We just got to keep pushing, keep figuring it out.”
D’Antoni was optimistic Paul and Green could return on Friday in San Antonio, though that is the first half of a back-to-back, potentially making it difficult for them to play in both games, with the Rockets looking shorthanded even if help is on the way.
“Obviously, it’s a problem,” D’Antoni said. “It’s something I know the front office, they’ll do the best they can. It’s just the way it is.
“Hopefully, we can get a day off tomorrow and get two guys back. That’ll help. We’ll regroup and get the right guys on the court and do a better job.”