It was a nice little streak while it lasted.
Wait a minute, what in the world am i saying? The Houston Rockets had won 22 straight in a row before tonight. TWENTY TWO!!! Good for 2nd on the all time list!!! Am i becoming a disbeliever? hater? bandwagoner??!?!
Well, it's funny. Because the past 22 games, the... no, MY Houston Rockets were invincible. 22 straight, 14 straight at home, 10 straight by double digits, manhandling teams like Hornets (2x), Cavs (2x), Mavs on road, Lakers at home. It was amazing, it was exhilarating, and it was historic.
It's also funny because after all that's been accomplished, it only takes one loss to bring you, your team, and your expectations back down to earth.
No, I don't think I'm overreacting to one loss. I know that this fun ride will eventually come to an end, like all streaks do. And you need not to remind me that we fell to the best team in the league, with the best trio on the team, and the best defensive coach in the league that knows about this rockets team like the back of his hand. It's set up like Don Nelson vs Mavericks, Part II, if you will.
What i didn't expect was this fun ride coming to a screeching halt. Rockets managed to stay close in the first half at home, but by the closing seconds of the first quarter, all momentum was surrendered to the opposing team. And without a doubt, the Celtics blitzed out of the gate in the 3rd quarter and effectively put the game away, outscoring us 32-16. Frustration grew, careless turnovers ensued, capitalized by an uncharacteristic (and poorly whistled, imo) flagrant foul committed by Scola late in the 3rd quarter. McGrady was back to his old form from Game 7 of the Dallas series, dribbling passively around the parameter and unable to "impose his will" on anything, scoring only 8 points. Everything adds up to a 20 point blowout by the best team in the league.
For a month and half, the Rockets overachieved. They played over their heads, rode on the wave of the hot streak, and had the basketball gods on their side. Bucks w/o Redd, Hornets w/o West, Mavs w/o Dirk, Lakers w/o Gasol. They busted their asses on the court and out-hustled the opposing team every night, and was able to compensate for the lack of talent and size on the roster. And for a month and half, the Rockets managed to beat bad teams, mediocre teams, and good teams.
Tuesday night, Rockets found out first hand that the Celtics are not just another "good team."
The Celtics came to town with a mission: to break The Streak, and they didn't sugarcoat it either, because they KNOW they can do it, being the best team in the league. The night before, they had just escaped SA with a 2 point win over the Spurs. On the second leg of a back-to-back, without Ray Allen, in the Toyota Center, I was fully confident that the Rockets will deliver once again and further silence the remaining doubters whom have yet to jump on the overcrowded bandwagon known as the Houston Rockets.
From the tipoff, I knew this wasn't going to be easy. McGrady saw double team everywhere he went with the ball, and the Celtics were extremely quick on rotating to cover the open man. All of a sudden, the wide open 3s we had in Lakers game were all taken away. So inside the paint we go, and Celtics used bigger bodies to clog the paint, challenge the shots, and prevent second chance opportunities. Houston did not get any second chance points until sometime in the second quarter.
Okay, there's still a way to squeeze out a win out of this one. Or so I thought. We just had to outwork the Celtics and beat them with our hustle, slow the game down, and play half court. You can see I haven't watch many Celtics games, because what I just said is how Boston plays now. And we were getting beat to the loose balls, rebounds, dribble penetration rotations, everything.
That was the time I realized we were in deep trouble. The score might have indicated otherwise, but this game is not going to be close.
For the first time in a long time, we were fully exposed, on national television no less. The D-Leaguers started to look they really didn't belong in the big men's game. The size disadvantage we had was alarmingly obvious, as seen by the 35-45 rebounding margin (keep in mind the Rockets are THE BEST REBOUNING TEAM IN THE LEAGUE for rebound differential). Ball movement stopped, open 3s were taken away, and turnovers (15) were racking up as fast as assists (16). The offense is stagnant to say the least, and the defense was porous when players were scrambling to recover from double teaming.
Game, set, match.
Give Boston all the credit in the world. We lost to the best team of the year, with our undersized & undermanned roster, to the defensive genius Tom Thibodeau that knows exactly how to shut each one of our players down. There was no shame.
After all, this game only confirmed my suspicions from my previous post. I was just a little caught up with the nice little streak, just like everybody else.
Get well, Yao. The team needs ya for next year.
Wait a minute, what in the world am i saying? The Houston Rockets had won 22 straight in a row before tonight. TWENTY TWO!!! Good for 2nd on the all time list!!! Am i becoming a disbeliever? hater? bandwagoner??!?!
Well, it's funny. Because the past 22 games, the... no, MY Houston Rockets were invincible. 22 straight, 14 straight at home, 10 straight by double digits, manhandling teams like Hornets (2x), Cavs (2x), Mavs on road, Lakers at home. It was amazing, it was exhilarating, and it was historic.
It's also funny because after all that's been accomplished, it only takes one loss to bring you, your team, and your expectations back down to earth.
No, I don't think I'm overreacting to one loss. I know that this fun ride will eventually come to an end, like all streaks do. And you need not to remind me that we fell to the best team in the league, with the best trio on the team, and the best defensive coach in the league that knows about this rockets team like the back of his hand. It's set up like Don Nelson vs Mavericks, Part II, if you will.
What i didn't expect was this fun ride coming to a screeching halt. Rockets managed to stay close in the first half at home, but by the closing seconds of the first quarter, all momentum was surrendered to the opposing team. And without a doubt, the Celtics blitzed out of the gate in the 3rd quarter and effectively put the game away, outscoring us 32-16. Frustration grew, careless turnovers ensued, capitalized by an uncharacteristic (and poorly whistled, imo) flagrant foul committed by Scola late in the 3rd quarter. McGrady was back to his old form from Game 7 of the Dallas series, dribbling passively around the parameter and unable to "impose his will" on anything, scoring only 8 points. Everything adds up to a 20 point blowout by the best team in the league.
For a month and half, the Rockets overachieved. They played over their heads, rode on the wave of the hot streak, and had the basketball gods on their side. Bucks w/o Redd, Hornets w/o West, Mavs w/o Dirk, Lakers w/o Gasol. They busted their asses on the court and out-hustled the opposing team every night, and was able to compensate for the lack of talent and size on the roster. And for a month and half, the Rockets managed to beat bad teams, mediocre teams, and good teams.
Tuesday night, Rockets found out first hand that the Celtics are not just another "good team."
The Celtics came to town with a mission: to break The Streak, and they didn't sugarcoat it either, because they KNOW they can do it, being the best team in the league. The night before, they had just escaped SA with a 2 point win over the Spurs. On the second leg of a back-to-back, without Ray Allen, in the Toyota Center, I was fully confident that the Rockets will deliver once again and further silence the remaining doubters whom have yet to jump on the overcrowded bandwagon known as the Houston Rockets.
From the tipoff, I knew this wasn't going to be easy. McGrady saw double team everywhere he went with the ball, and the Celtics were extremely quick on rotating to cover the open man. All of a sudden, the wide open 3s we had in Lakers game were all taken away. So inside the paint we go, and Celtics used bigger bodies to clog the paint, challenge the shots, and prevent second chance opportunities. Houston did not get any second chance points until sometime in the second quarter.
Okay, there's still a way to squeeze out a win out of this one. Or so I thought. We just had to outwork the Celtics and beat them with our hustle, slow the game down, and play half court. You can see I haven't watch many Celtics games, because what I just said is how Boston plays now. And we were getting beat to the loose balls, rebounds, dribble penetration rotations, everything.
That was the time I realized we were in deep trouble. The score might have indicated otherwise, but this game is not going to be close.
For the first time in a long time, we were fully exposed, on national television no less. The D-Leaguers started to look they really didn't belong in the big men's game. The size disadvantage we had was alarmingly obvious, as seen by the 35-45 rebounding margin (keep in mind the Rockets are THE BEST REBOUNING TEAM IN THE LEAGUE for rebound differential). Ball movement stopped, open 3s were taken away, and turnovers (15) were racking up as fast as assists (16). The offense is stagnant to say the least, and the defense was porous when players were scrambling to recover from double teaming.
Game, set, match.
Give Boston all the credit in the world. We lost to the best team of the year, with our undersized & undermanned roster, to the defensive genius Tom Thibodeau that knows exactly how to shut each one of our players down. There was no shame.
After all, this game only confirmed my suspicions from my previous post. I was just a little caught up with the nice little streak, just like everybody else.
Get well, Yao. The team needs ya for next year.
posted by acedude at 12:46 AM
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