Poor shooting equals another blowout
New York makes it look easy while home team can’t find any rhythm
The Rockets cut an 18-point Knicks lead in half. It was not entirely clear how since they were still missing 3s and free throws. But they slowed New York long enough to get back in the game.
That’s all the Knicks needed to see.
Julius Randle finished a drive to loosen up, perhaps indicating he had noticed the Rockets’ run, though that was not clear. Then, he did what the Rockets could not.
Randle hit a 3. And then another. He scored 12 of his 31 points in the five minutes after the Rockets had cut the lead to single digits, beginning the serenade of “MVP” from the Knicks fans scattered around Toyota Center. With New York knocking down 3s nearly as regularly as the Rockets made free throws, the Knicks rolled to a 122-97 blowout win Sunday night.
A night after they had been run off the floor by
Stephen Curry and the Warriors, the Rockets saw the Knicks sink 3s at a Currian level as New York finished with 18 on 35 attempts. That was made more conspicuous by Houston’s familiar inability to put the ball in the basket, with the Knicks following the usual strategy of permitting the Rockets to shoot loads of 3s.
When the Knicks cleared their bench with 4:44 remaining, their lead having reached 35, the Rockets had made 17 of 28 free throws while the Knicks had hit 17 of 32 3-pointers.
The Rockets’ shooting was predicably worse from deep. They made just five of 30 from the 3-point line with the reserves in. The starters made just two of 18 3s.
Randle, as with Curry on Sunday, did not need to play in the fourth quarter. The Knicks’ bench was nearly as dominant, with Derrick Rose making four of five 3s en route to 24 points and Immanuel Quickly adding 13 points.
Christian Wood led the Rockets with 19 points and eight rebounds, but he missed all five of his 3s and could not begin to slow Randle when he took his turn on the Knicks All-Star. Kevin Porter Jr. had 14 points with six rebounds and six assists, but missed all four of his 3s.
As much as the Rockets struggled through the first half, misfiring their way to an 18-point deficit and a 59-44 hole going into the second half, things could have gone worse in the usual way.
Jae’Sean Tate, who is not just the only Rockets player to have played every game this season but is the only Rockets player who faced the Knicks Feb. 13 and is still on the roster and available, limped off three minutes into the game. Wood took a Nerlens Noel knee to the left thigh and limped away minutes later.
The Rockets were already without eight players for the fourth time in five games, with D.J. Wilson unavailable because of health and safety protocols. But after Tate and Wood took turns in the treatment corner of Toyota Center and then on the stationary bicycle, both returned, playing most of their usual shift in the first half.
Both also struggled, unable to finish inside against the physical New York frontcourt or knock down the 3s they got from the perimeter. Tate made just one of six shots in the half, Wood two of eight. They missed their four 3-pointers.
There was a lot of that going around.
With the Knicks defending on a level that even New York coach Tom Thibodeau would have difficulty finding fault with, the Rockets were often left to rely on their shooting, never a good sign, and often raced the clock just to get shots off at all.
They made more 2pointers in the half, scoring more points in the paint, on the break and off offensive rebounds. But while the Knicks made eight of 20 3-pointers, including six of eight to start the game, the Rockets connected on just three of 18 3s in the first half.
Against the team allowing the fewest points in the NBA with the best shooting percentage defense and best 3-point shooting defense, missing open shots, including free throws, was not going to work.
But at least everyone who began the game walking still was. The Rockets’ shooting remained broken.