Bench leads way as skid ends at 3 Rockets update
Eric Gordon had been moved into the starting lineup. James Ennis III, who had come off the bench for the first time this season, limped off with a strained hamstring. The Rockets, struggling again, turned to their reserves, needing a jolt from a bench that had scored fewer points than any in the NBA.
With that, everything — from the way the Trail Blazers were rolling to the Rockets’ struggles Tuesday: Rockets 111, Trail Blazers 104. Record: 12-14.
Thursday: L.A. Lakers at Toyota Center, 7 p.m.
TV/radio: TNT; 740 AM, 790 AM, 850 AM (Sp.); 101.7 FM (Sp). along the way — changed. Gerald Green nailed 3-pointers. Danuel House Jr. finished slams. Nene was everywhere until he emptied everything from his tank.
With the kind of depth that they had rarely enjoyed this season, the Rockets on Tuesday night turned a 15-point deficit into a 17-point lead and held on to snap their three-game losing streak with a 111-104 win over the Trail Blazers.
James Harden led the Rockets with 29 points while Chris Paul had a triple-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. But in many ways, the Rockets were saved and then sparked by their bench as theys had three reserves score in double figures for the first time this season.
“They won the game for us,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “They turned it around when we were down 15. They came in and Nene, Danuel House, Gerald put out a lot of energy.”
Green made 5 of his 6 shots to score 13 points. House added another 12. But Nene’s play especially drove the Rockets’ turnaround in by far his most significant contribution in the five games since he returned from his preseason calf injury.
“He looked like the old Nene, not an old Nene,” D’Antoni said. “He was good. We wouldn’t have won this game without him. He was tough. ( Jusuf ) Nurkic is tough. And when you have a man in there like that, it really helped us a lot.”
Ugly at the start
The night had begun very differently. As if to demonstrate how the Rockets went winless through their last road trip, that the mostly empty lower bowl at tip did not reveal enough, the Rockets squeezed nearly all of their issues into the first eight minutes.
With that, Nene and Ennis joined Paul to bring game-changing defensive energy, Green and House provided a jolt of scoring, and the Rockets finished the first quarter with a 15-2 run.
“A major lift,” Gordon said of the bench help. “They changed the game. Danuel House and Gerald Green, they … came in, knocked down shots, made big plays defensively. They were the real game changers – and Nene. Those guys were terrific.”
They did it again late in the third quarter and to start the fourth when Harden headed to the bench with 25 points in 25 minutes but was forced to carry the Rockets’ offense just to stay within one.
Gordon’s two free throws put the Rockets in front and gave them a second scorer in double figures as the bench again took off.
“We just tried to do something,” Green said. “We’re trying to get this thing on a roll. We said defense and rebounding. That’s it. You could really tell the difference.”
Green finished a high-flying putback slam, Nene put in a finger role, and after a Paul fadeaway jumper, House had a free throw and a cut to a slam that seemed to get the starters, as they returned to the floor, going, too.
“Like I said when I first got here, my job is to always bring energy and play defense,” House said. “The offensive end will take care of itself.”
Hanging on via defense
The Blazers, with their starters back on the floor, made a move, closing to within five. But the Rockets defended far better than they had to start the game. Damian Lillard, who had 34 points, including 19 in the second half, shot 1 of 6 in the fourth quarter as Portland made just 38.1 percent of its attempts.
If there had been any concerns about a repeat of the late collapse against the Mavericks, they ended when Paul — who had missed a pair of free throws in the final minutes Saturday — made six straight to close out the win. But it was the stretches with the second unit that changed everything else.
“We just brought energy,” Paul said. “You can impact the game not with scoring, but with energy. That unit, I think we just brought a different energy.” That transformed everything else.