Houston handles slower tempo

Heat control pace, but Rockets emerge with gritty victory.

during this run of opposing point guards that includes Damian Lillard (twice), Chris Paul on Wednesday and Wall on Monday.

Matching up well with those players is import- ant — maybe even moreso than wins and losses at this point in a season that is about growth, not the playoffs.

e in the midst of an NBA rebuild here,” Carlisle said. “From the standpoint of wins and losses, it is pain- ful. And often times the progress is not seen in terms of wins and losses.”

It was clear that Smith’s improvement over the year was on full display against Wall, which was something he wanted from the start.

Wall has been in Smith’s corner since the Maverick was in high school, and Wall and John Calipari went to a tournament in Atlanta to watch Smith.

And Smith has always been a fan of Wall’s.

“He’s got a lot of charisma,” Smith said. “The fans love him, and he does a good job of getting his teammates involved, and he’s dynamic defensively. There’s a lot I can learn from John.”

At some point, the Rockets knew there was no escape.

They were caught in a Miami Heat kind of game.

From the late-arriving crowd to the slowdown pace, they were not going to change that.

The Rockets don’t win games like that, only partially because they don’t play games like that.

But Monday at Toyota Center, there would be no other way.

The Rockets could not string together made baskets, could not run, only occasionally splashed their way through a string of 3s.

Given their choice, they would prefer to roll up their kind of numbers as they did two nights earlier to beat the Golden State Warriors.

It might have meant more, or something different, in a 99-90 victory.

felt the game was in our wheelhouse,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I liked the tempo and everything about the game.”

didn’t. to by Paul a