Defense saves day in 4th straight win
When the Rockets began the game as if their masks had moved over their eyes, they might have gotten the idea that they would have to win with defense.
Defense turned the game around. Defense repelled a fourth-quarter Trail Blazers run. Defense came up large enough down the stretch on Thursday for the Rockets to escape with a 104-101 win, giving the Rockets a season-high four-game winning streak and by far their biggest comeback of the season.
The Rockets rallied from
down 20, having not come back from a double-digit lead to win in the eight previous games they had trailed by 10 or more.
“The guys have grit and they’re determined,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “The adversity is something we’ve been talking a lot about. Early in the season, adversity would hit and we would succumb to that. Tonight, we did a great job of taking that adversity, putting forth the correct energy to fight back.”
Victor Oladipo led the Rockets with 25 points with Christian Wood adding 22, John Wall 20, the seventh time this season the Rockets have had three players score at least 20 points. But it was the defense that saved them.
“They obviously all scored over 20 points but it was the defensive end that I was really satisfied with,” Silas said. “That’s going to be something I continue to talk about with this group. We’re finding we can be a really good defensive team. Our offense has to come along. In order for us to win, like we have the last four games, it really is a
defensive mindset that all three of those guys (have.)
“The WOW Factor has to be on the defensive end and that’ll take care of the offensive end if we’re doing it correctly.”
Besides being happy with a “WOW Factor” nickname for Wood, Oladipo and Wall, they were playing together for the first time this season. But more than get scoring from the Rockets’ new nucleus, the Rockets trotted out a wide variety of defenses to slow Damian Lillard just enough to turn the game around after his 13-point first quarter.
The Blazers rushed to a 30-10 lead with the Rockets missing their first seven shots and most of the attempts that followed in the first quarter. But the Rockets rallied by turning defense to offense, holding the Blazers to 39.4 percent shooting while forcing 12 turnovers after the opening
quarter.
“We did a little bit of everything tonight,” Silas said. “We were in drop, blitzing, we switched. They’re so hard to guard. Lillard is one of the hardest guys to prepare for in the league.
“We had to be versatile for us to get stops. Mixing, matching, switching with
blitzing, with standard coverage was good for us and we have to continue to do that if we’re going to be a good defensive team.”
The Rockets had more than recovered from a disastrous start. They held a 13-point lead heading into the final minute of the third quarter.
Portland rallied against the Rockets’ reserves, tearing through a 15-0 run to the lead. But the Rockets got the stop they needed to go back in front before coming up with big plays in the final minute to win.
They had missed 9 of 11 shots in a seven-minute stretch, but when they finally turned a miss into a break, Wall was fouled and made both free throws for a one-point lead with 2:17 remaining. Tucker followed that with a putback, but Lillard quickly answered.
Wall missed a jumper, but Tucker again grabbed the offensive board, this time with Oladipo finishing a drive over Kanter for a three-point lead at 101-98 lead with 26 seconds remaining.
Rather than go for the 3, the Blazers looked for the quick drive, but Trent who had hit seven 3-pointers, came up empty. The Blazers fouled Wood, a 67.3 percent shooter from the line, and he made one of two free throws with 17.4 seconds left. The Blazers, however, needed all but the final three seconds to get off a 3-pointer.
Simons hit it, bringing the Blazers to within one. Eric Gordon, who had made 2 of 11 shots and had not gone to the line, made both attempts for a threepoint lead, leaving Portland 2.1 seconds to try to force overtime.
Simons got his shot off, an off-balance 3 from 31 feet. But he missed everything, with the Rockets getting the final stop of a game they took with defense.