Rockets rally to defeat Portland in overtime.
There was a new coach, a new starting lineup, a renewed interest in actually trying. But the real change came when things seemed most familiar.
The Rockets seemed as hopeless as they had been through the 11 games that cost Kevin McHale his job and elevated J.B. Bickerstaff to interim head coach, tasked with raising the sinking ship and turning it into a luxury liner.
They trailed by 17 points in the second half, by 15 in the fourth quarter and by nine with less than three minutes remaining — all the sort of deficits that had them happy to roll over in the collapse to a 4-7 record. On Wednesday, however, when things were their worst, the Rockets were their best, rallying through a late-game rush to force overtime and then surging past the Portland Trail Blazers 108-103 to end their four-game losing streak.
James Harden dominated from the fourth quarter on, and Corey Brewer hit a running 30-footer to send the game to overtime. The Rockets then gave Bickerstaff his first win as an NBA head coach with hugs, handshakes and a game ball to mark the occasion. More fight than normal
To Bickerstaff, the significance was a starting point to turning the season around by displaying the resilience the Rockets had failed to muster before.
“It’s what we needed and the way it happened … is the way it needed to happen,” Bickerstaff said. “Our guys were down. We’ve been down before. Ten-point leads stretch to 20-point leads. Five-point leads to 12. So for us to be down in the fourth quarter and show perseverance, show fight, show the grit, the toughness, the togetherness, shows volumes for our guys, speaks volumes to the commitment to what we’re trying to do here.”
Even when in a deep hole, the Rockets had showed progress. They defended better, especially in transition. The Blazers made 39.8 percent of their shots, the first Rockets opponent to shoot under 43 percent. The Rockets were better on the defensive boards. The ball moved well, setting up open shots.
Through three quarters, the Rockets were hitting just 29 percent of their shots, but with that, they might have had the most significant improvement. Harden began to attack, finishing inside and drawing fouls. With his 26 points after the third quarter, Harden finished with 45, adding 11 assists, eight rebounds and five steals, the first player with numbers so high in those categories since steals became an official statistic in 1973-74.
“There was a concentration,” Bickerstaff said of Harden’s fourth quarter. “There was a focus. There was a commitment to it. Hard, difficult, no matter what the situation was, he fought through it. He lifted his guys. He prepared his guys. He talked to his guys.” Split-second decision
He might have saved his best for last. With the Blazers leading by three in the final seconds, Harden looked as if he intended to heave a halfcourt shot as the Blazers fouled him. But when they backed off, he found Brewer just in time.
Brewer had made just one 3-pointer in his previous nine games, but drained his runner with nine-tenths of a second remaining in regulation for his third 3 of the night.
“A lot of things happen during a season that can turn a season around,” Brewer said. “If that shot changes it around, I’m happy to make it. But it’s all about the team, and it’s time to keep winning.”
Portland has needed just nine-tenths of a second to stun the Rockets and, as with the clinching basket of their 2014 playoff series, the Blazers went to Damian Lillard. But Harden blocked Lillard’s long 3, sending the game to overtime.
Once there, the Rockets finally seemed to escape the disappointment and dreariness of their stunning start to the season.
“Today was a tough day all the way around,” forward Trevor Ariza said. “We lost our coach. I don’t think anybody is happy about that. It is definitely a relief we won today.”