(63-19) First Round Wraps Up [4-0]

[Axel The Great]

Ouch, that sucks for Lee, that's happened to me twice irl, not fun at all.

Every game against Orlando is always a three-point shootout. Jason Richardson will stick threes any time. irl, his shots STOPPED falling when he was traded to ORL. lol K-Mart is terrorizing opponents! Keep it up and trade Brooks if he continues to be a dick!

Article on Lee's injury soon. Someone from the D-League will get an opportunity to shine!

Despite being rivals, AB still passes to K-Mart during games, probably cause he knows who's better.

You know you're team is gonna get killed when Dwight hits a three...

There's a trade Brooks bandwagon? I'm joining

Doesn't matter how many people are on that bandwagon, my mind is made up. AB is having such an excellent season, and the way he stopped D-Will just shows his defensive (!) capabilities. In Houston he stays!

K-Mart now a blogger in The Houston Chronicle?

Fuck the Blazers. I can't forgive them on what they did on the Yao-Ron-Tracy tandem a few years ago.

Nah, that's just the name of the chapters that'll be told from his point of view.

Well, it looks like I gave the Blazers exactly what they needed then. Is Lamrock gonna bitch about this blowout?

Jason Richardson is a gun! He's automatic!

Lol, yeah. But I think the real star was K-Mart. Dwight was patrolling the paint, yet he still dared attack it. Howard had 0 blocks for the game.

How did you feel when Dwight knocked down the three?

At least you got 2 important wins over conference rivals.

My jaw dropped, and I couldn't fucking believe it. It was just another WTF moment.

That's three in a row I've lost to the Magic (two others in my last story), I seem to have trouble against them. But yeah, as you said, the home wins/key games against the conference rivals matter the most.

NEW POLL ADDED: How much longer can Kevin Martin keep up his 30+ points streak?

[kibaxx7]

Thierry •, well, I guess we have different opinions. When I get blown out, it becomes a curse-fest from me, and seeing as how I have little patience with watching the Rockets get blown out IRL, it's worse when I'm actually playing as them. And I guess you're just another one riding the "Trade Brooks" bandwagon?

I actually curse more when I lose by a few points Yeah, I'd like to see Dragic in a Rockets uniform, please.

[Grandmama Johnson]

Sorry for stating the obvious, but can't believe how well K-Mart is playing. Just make sure he's healthy in May

[Stress Fracture]

My jaw dropped, and I couldn't fucking believe it. It was just another WTF moment.

Whose jaw wouldn't drop if he hits one in a regular-season game?

[Axel The Great]

Thierry •, well, I guess we have different opinions. When I get blown out, it becomes a curse-fest from me, and seeing as how I have little patience with watching the Rockets get blown out IRL, it's worse when I'm actually playing as them. And I guess you're just another one riding the "Trade Brooks" bandwagon?

I actually curse more when I lose by a few points Yeah, I'd like to see Dragic in a Rockets uniform, please.

It becomes frustrating, though, to keep going at the opponent, but nothing goes your way. It's like losing by 5+ goals in soccer.

Sorry for stating the obvious, but can't believe how well K-Mart is playing. Just make sure he's healthy in May

He's been excellent since returning from injury. The lower back strain he suffered earlier in the season is hopefully the last injury he'll get, ever.

My jaw dropped, and I couldn't fucking believe it. It was just another WTF moment.

Whose jaw wouldn't drop if he hits one in a regular-season game?

Dwight Howard himself?

[Axel The Great]

Lee Injured, Who Gets an Opportunity?

Posted by Axel Gomez, January 9, 2011
In the Houston Rockets' most recent game against the Utah Jazz, backup shooting guard Courtney Lee came down hard on his right ankle, and unfortunately, broke it. Rockets' head medical trainer Keith Jones has stated that he may miss 6-8 weeks of action.

The loss of Lee is a big one for the Rockets; he is depended upon to come off the bench and not only give a scoring boost to give Kevin Martin a breather, but also to defend opposing guards. He has been key to the shutting down of players like Monta Ellis, Dwyane Wade, and Manu Ginobili. Lee was averaging eight points per game, and shooting 46% from the field for Houston.

"It was pretty painful at first, when I landed on my ankle. I had never felt that much pain in my life. They say what goes up must come down, but what comes down doesn't always come down in one piece. Pretty painful, but it's even more painful to know that the team will have to move on without me, and that I won't be out there to contribute anymore," said the third-year guard out of Western Kentucky University, Courtney Lee.

So with Lee out of the conversation, head coach Rick Adelman has given someone a big opportunity to step up. That someone is Patrick Patterson, the rookie out of the University of Kentucky. He's been stuck in the NBA Developmental League the whole season, and is averaging a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds per game there. He's contributed well to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, whom currently sit fourth in the West at 11-7.

When asked about his opportunity, Patterson said, "I'm really looking forward to playing. From what Ish (Smith) has told me, it's very exciting to play at the NBA level."

Patterson was taken 14th overall in the 2010 NBA Draft, and is a versatile player who has an outside shot, but can score inside as well, and he's also an excellent rebounder. He'll have his hands full next game however, as the Rockets travel to Boston to take on the Celtics and their tough, physical frontcourt.

Kevin Martin also had a say in this situation. "A terrible loss here. I always felt safe when I was out of the game because I knew Lee would pick up where I left off out there while I took a breather. Now that a perennial defensive stopper is down, I'm gonna have to ramp up my defensive intensity, something I've been working on with Shane (Battier)."

So with Coach Adelman moving Patterson into the rotation, he has stated that Chase Budinger will play backup to Martin, and Patterson will play some minutes at the three or the four.

We hope Patterson will not disappoint, and that he continues his stellar play from the D-League to the NBA. Two months is a long time, so Patterson better make good use of his opportunity. We also hope Courtney Lee recovers as soon as possible, as he will be a crucial piece to making a run in the playoffs.

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[Houndy]

Nice article. In RL, Patterson is doing good

[kibaxx7]

Good decision. Patterson puts some good numbers in my association.

[hova-]

I like that article, nice writing and not too long. Let's hope Patterson can help you. When I played the Rockets in preseason and he was subbed in, I was kinda shocked - he looked like a 35-year old man, with his oldschool stache, kinda reminded me of some of those:

Click me

[Axel The Great]

Nice article. In RL, Patterson is doing good

Good decision. Patterson puts some good numbers in my association.

Thanks guys. Yeah, P-Pat's rating is a 74 in the game, I think he was the highest rated player in the D-League. Either way, I hope he can come up big while Lee's out of action.

I like that article, nice writing and not too long. Let's hope Patterson can help you. When I played the Rockets in preseason and he was subbed in, I was kinda shocked - he looked like a 35-year old man, with his oldschool stache, kinda reminded me of some of those:

Click me

Thanks, hova. And yeah, excellent 'stache article. I wish there was more players with staches like that these days. And now that you mention it, yeah, I've realized that Patterson does indeed have an old school stache.



Okay, stache talk aside, Week 12 recap will be up either tomorrow or Friday.

[Axel The Great]

Part I

[26-11] Houston Rockets 101-92 Boston Celtics [27-9]


Not even the Celtics' well-known defense(?) was able to stop K-Mart from going for 30+ | Battier's defense held Pierce to 5/22.

The two top teams from each conference faced off in Boston, but really, it did not look quite the showdown. After a tied first quarter, the Rockets came out and cleaned house in the second quarter. Aaron Brooks and Kevin Martin led the way for the Rockets, as they combined for 55 points, on a combined 18/32 shooting. The Celtics looked out of it at halftime, but Kevin Garnett wasn't gonna have any of it.

Garnett was the only player of the Celtics' Big Four to shoot efficiently, notching a double-double of team highs of 20 points, 10 boards, and shooting 9/14 from the field, looking like his Minnesota days. The rest of the Big Four, Ray Allen (6/17), Rajon Rondo (4/13), and Paul Pierce (5/22), did not help Garnett's cause at all. They were basically chucking up shots out there, and bricking the vast majority of them. Despite their ineffectiveness, the Boston Celtics managed to tie the game heading into the final period.

The game remained close, and after Nate Robinson hit a three to put the Celtics up 86-85, the Rockets came tearing through, going on a 9-0 run, and not looking back. In the last minute of the game, the score was amazingly 101-89, a large part of that was thanks to Kevin Martin, who scored seven points in the last three minutes of the game.

"They gave us open looks, quite a lot of them. They just weren't falling. We didn't give much effort in the defensive end, either, epecially in those last few minutes. Disappointing," said a disgruntled Kevin Garnett after the game, who criticized his teammates for taking terrible shots throughout the course of the game.

"They do have the best record in the league. Out on the court, though, they didn't show it, and were torn apart in the last few minutes of the game," said debuting rookie Patrick Patterson, who contributed three points and one board in eight minutes of action.

Player of the Game-

Kevin Martin
33 points | 5 assists | 1 rebound | 12/23 FG | 8/8 FT

Key Performers:
Rockets:
Aaron Brooks - 18 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 block, 6/9 FG
Yao Ming - 10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks
Luis Scola - 10 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 5/10 FG
Shane Battier - 8 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 3/5 FG

Celtics:
Kevin Garnett - 20 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 9/14 FG
Ray Allen - 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 6/17 FG
Nate Robinson - 15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 7/13 FG
Paul Pierce - 14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 5/22 FG
Rajon Rondo - 11 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 4/13 FG

25 30 17 29 101
25 22 25 20 92

[27-11] Houston Rockets 106-109 Oklahoma City Thunder [25-13]


P-Pat contributed a career high eight points to the loss. | It seemed that only K-Mart's shots were falling early on.

Jeff Green knocks down a big trey over Yao. | You can probably guess what happened here.

If you look at Kevin Durant's statline, you would see that they are alarming numbers, his points anyways. 41 points, yep. But if you look at how many shots he attepmted, Kevin Martin's 36 points looks loads better. All game, it was Durant-shot chucking, and he chucked 40 shots. He shot inefficiently, 15/40, compared to Martin's superbly efficient 14/21.

In the first quarter, nothing was going the Rockets' way. They were piling up turnovers, they had 16 of them for the game, and their shots, open looks or not, were not falling. Well, except for Kevin Martin's. He started the game by scoring 15 of the Rockets' 21 first quarter points. An evenly balanced scoring effort for the Rockets kept them in the game, as their bench contributed 35 points. Down all game, the Rockets made a big push in the fourth quarter.

Nine was the biggest deficit for the Rockets in the fourth quarter, and they chipped away at it. They were able to get defensive stops late in the game. With the score 106-109 in Oklahoma City's favor, Kevin Durant had a chance to ice the game with a mid-range jumper. However, Luis Scola, who had shot poorly all game, made up for it on defense, and clamped down on Durant's shot, and forced the miss. Aaron Brooks, who scored a sub-par six points, caught the rebound, and called a timeout with seven seconds left in the game.

The Rockets advanced the ball to halfcourt. "We were gonna try to have Martin inbound the ball, to have the attention shifted away from him and so he can receive it back and launch a three to force overtime, but their attention was more on Martin, and did not allow him to get the ball back," Rockets head coach Rick Adelman discussed his strategy after the game. They got the ball to Aaron Brooks, and he had to force up a three. The ball bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded, and the Rockets suffer their second defeat at home for the season.

"I took way more shots than I would've liked. My teammates kept looking towards me to shoot the ball. 40 shot attempts or not, what matters is the win, and that's what we got in Houston," said Durant himself. With this, the Thunder claim the season series 3-1, but are still third place in the West behind the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets.

Player of the Game-

Kevin Durant
41 points | 7 rebounds | 4 assists | 1 steal | 15/40 FG | 4/10 3P

Key Performers:
Rockets:
Kevin Martin - 36 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 14/21 FG, 2/4 3P
Yao Ming - 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 5/12 FG
Kyle Lowry - 10 points, 12 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 3/11 FG
Luis Scola - 10 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 4/11 FG

Thunder:
Jeff Green - 16 points, 14 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist
James Harden - 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist
Russell Westbrook - 14 points, 13 assists, 3 rebounds, 5 TO, 5/9 FG
Serge Ibaka - 9 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4/9 FG

21 28 32 25 106
25 28 29 27 109

[Bucket]

How you won C's? Battier is a very good defender,but hold Pierce to a 5/22
Another amazing game by KD and another win by my Thunder

[Houndy]

Thunder really have your number

[rise]

Nice win vs. Boston!

KD chucked up too many shots.

[Murat]

You wouldn't lose to Thunder, that's the point on the importance of defeating the teams that are in your conference.

[Stress Fracture]

Come on, Badger. We all know KD's a beast when it comes to video games. I guess it has to do with the delayed (or suspended) release of Elite 11.

Battier with 9 rebounds? He's really a tough guy!

[Murat]

Scoring Leader: Kevin Martin
Rebounding Leader: Yao Ming
Assists Leader: Aaron Brooks

@ Portland: ?
@ Denver: ?
Portland: ?
@ Orlando: ?
Utah: ?
@ Boston ?
Thunder: ?
New Orleans: W
@ Atlanta: L
Milwaukee: W
Knicks: W
@ Grizzlies: L
Magic: W
@ Minnesota: W
LA Clippers: W
@ Dallas: L
@ San Antonio: L

Overall Record for the Month: 9-8 (17 games total)

[mp3]

Big win over the big 4 but unlucky with the Thunder , KD is solid.

[Axel The Great]

How you won C's? Battier is a very good defender,but hold Pierce to a 5/22
Another amazing game by KD and another win by my Thunder

The C's just chucked up a bunch of ill-advised shots, and hand in their face or not, they missed. Even their open looks weren't falling.

Thunder really have your number

If I face them in the playoffs, it's gonna be tough.

Nice win vs. Boston!

KD chucked up too many shots.

He's averaging 32.7 ppg in this association, and I think he also leads the league in FGM and FGA, and to top that off, he's shooting above 50% from the field.

You wouldn't lose to Thunder, that's the point on the importance of defeating the teams that are in your conference.

They're a tough team to beat, especially when KD keeps jacking up shots. Oh, and thanks for the prediction, but you should've PM'ed it to me instead, since I started with the updates for January a long time ago.

Come on, Badger. We all know KD's a beast when it comes to video games. I guess it has to do with the delayed (or suspended) release of Elite 11.

Battier with 9 rebounds? He's really a tough guy!

Yes, he's likely venting for that. Good point. He'll probably still be on the cover of Elite 12, though.

And yeah, Battier is tough, holding Pierce to 5/22 is amazing!

Big win over the big 4 but unlucky with the Thunder , KD is solid.

Yeah, the Thunder always seem to give me a bunch of trouble. KD took almost as many shot attempts as points scored.

Second part of Week 12 is next.

[Axel The Great]

Part II

[27-12] Houston Rockets 118-109 New Orleans Hornets [21-18]


K-Mart gets the acrobatic layup and-1 to go. | K-Mart also helping out his teammates en route to a triple-double

Holding Chris Paul down in the second half was key for the Rockets to win. | Ariza, known as a brick shooter by some, did not produce any bricks in this game.

There are games that are won as a team in basketball. This was one of them for the Rockets. They just could not buy a defensive stop in the first half, as the Hornets were shooting a stomping 58% from the field. Without shot-blocking big man, Emeka Okafor, whom is nursing a torn hand ligament for the next 2-4 weeks, the Hornets did not have any interior defense, hence the high scoring game. This is where Yao Ming capitalized, as he scored 29 points, playing a season high 30 minutes, showing no signs of injury once again.

The Rockets trailed by 12 at one point in the second quarter, as the Hornets mounted an 18-6 run. Before halftime, however, the Rockets chipped away at this double-digit deficit, to make the score 55-62 going into the break.

In the third quarter, the Rockets came out and shot 73% (14/19) from the field, en route to 37 third quarter points. Meanwhile, the Hornets were held to 20 third quarter points, on 33% (7/21) shooting. Chris Paul had 19 first half points, but was held to only one field goal in the second half, as he finished with 21 points.

"Coach Adelman looked angry because of our bad defense in first half. So we came out in the second half to play lockdown defense, and we did not allow any more clean looks," said Luis Scola, who had a tough time guarding David West. West had a team-high 28 points on an efficient 11/14 shooting. He spent a lot of the game in foul trouble, eventually fouling out in the last minute of the game, and one must wonder what he could've done had he been able to stay on the court.

The fourth quarter was a tight one. The Hornets came within one point on many an occasion, but the starters came out midway through the final period, and took care of business. The story of the game was the first career triple-double by superstar Kevin Martin, who continued his streak of 30+ point games. He put up 35 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, with a couple of steals and a block to go with that fine statline. With him setting up his teammates for easy buckets, the Rockets were able to pull away without a problem in the fourth, as the Rockets pick up an excellent, double-digit comeback win at Toyota Center.

"This is definitely the best season of my career. I felt like I could do no wrong out there. With a great supporting cast, we were able to pick up this team-effort win," said Kevin Martin.

Player of the Game-

Kevin Martin
35 points | 10 rebounds | 10 assists | 2 steals | 1 block | 11/23 FG | 8/8 FT

Key Performers:
Rockets:
Yao Ming - 29 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 12/17 FG
Aaron Brooks - 16 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 5/12 FG
Luis Scola - 14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 6/9 FG

Hornets:
David West - 28 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block, 11/14 FG
Trevor Ariza - 24 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 10/18 FG
Chris Paul - 21 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds, 1 block, 4 TO, 8/18 FG
Marcus Thornton - 14 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 4/14 FG

30 25 37 26 118
29 33 20 27 109

[28-12] Houston Rockets 90-96 Atlanta Hawks [24-17]


Kevin Martin was given tough looks all game. | AB knocks down a three over Bibby's harrassing defense (?)

Was Joe Johnson worth the big contract? | J-Smoove shot very efficiently

The Rockets and the Hawks are the top scoring teams in the league, but looking at the score, you really can't tell. The Rockets had an atrocious start to the game; they failed to score their first field goal in the first three minutes of the game, starting 0/5 from the field. Aaron Brooks finally broke the silence with a fadeaway jumpshot over Mike Bibby.

The Rockets had the lead for most of the game, but there were many lead changes in the second and third quarter. Joe Johnson led the way for the Hawks, scoring a team-high 29 points, and crashing the boards effectively. Josh Smith and Al Horford rounded out Atlanta's scoring with 18 apiece, both also crashing the boards with the same effectiveness.

Houston would choke in the second half, as they coughed up 13 turnovers, which led to 16 points off turnovers for the Hawks. Turnovers would prove to be the difference late in the game, as the Rockets gave up the lead with five minutes left in the game, and on many an occasion, had a chance to tie the game or take the lead, but would cough up the ball because of their sloppy ballhandling. The Rockets had 19 turnovers compared to the Hawks' 12, and of those 19 turnovers, 14 of them led to steals from Atlanta.

"It was difficult holding on to the ball, especially in the second half. They lured us into making passes we thought we could make, but instead, they ended up taking it," said Aaron Brooks, who had a game-high seven turnovers.

"This is a great win for the team. We knew coming into the game that the Rockets fall apart completely if they can't get up a shot, and so we didn't let them. We had great timing with every steal, and never gambled or took a big risk," the Hawks superstar Joe Johnson said, picking up the performer of the game award.

Player of the Game-

Joe Johnson
29 points | 9 rebounds | 3 assists | 1 steal | 11/21 FG | 6/6 FT

Key Performers:
Rockets:
Kevin Martin - 34 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 11/25 FG
Aaron Brooks - 15 points, 4 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 7 TO, 6/15 FG
Luis Scola - 10 points, 11 rebounds, 5/8 FG
Yao Ming - 9 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 4/8 FG

Hawks:
Al Horford - 18 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 8/14 FG
Josh Smith - 18 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals, 1 block, 8/11 FG
Mike Bibby - 8 points, 6 assists, 1 rebound, 4 steals, 3/9 FG

25 29 19 17 90
21 30 20 25 96

[hova-]

Wow, stellar triple double by Martin. 28-13 is pretty good, especially with Yao's limited performances. Still, those were two must-wins if you want to stay up there.

[Axel The Great]

hova-, I never thought I'd be able to get a triple-double with Martin, but now I'm happy. I've loosened up Yao's 24 MPG limit now, I usually play him 24-28 minutes every game now, since his player morale is taking a hit with the 24 MPG.

But yeah, 28-13 is pretty good, and a big part of that has to be attributed to the stellar play of Kevin Martin, who currently has a streak of 11 consecutive games with 30+ points, and he's currently 8th in scoring at 26 ppg.

And also a quick spoiler for Week 13 - I anhilated the Milwaukee Bucks, whom fired Scott Skiles earlier on because they went on a 10-game losing streak. I found out their new head coach is Patrick Ewing, no lies. I took a screenshot of him.

[kibaxx7]

To be honest, I thought you'd have a better record by now. But at least K-Mart is killing everyone

Also, nice to finally see Pat land a head coach job!

[rise]

Was Joe Johnson worth the big contract?

29 points | 9 rebounds | 3 assists | 1 steal | 11/21 FG | 6/6 FT

He's only worth the contract if he averages those stats for a season.

Nice K-Mart triple-double and I'm also surprised to see Yao with 29 points in approximately the same number of minutes!

[Houndy]

Pat as head coach? That's great!