The Houston Rockets grabbed another win and are now preparing for their next game.
Check out the latest news and rumors below.
Howard Not Coming Back Soon
Dwight Howard isn’t expected to come back from injury soon.
Coach Kevin McHale said after Saturday’s win that Howard, along with guard Isaiah Canaan (ankle sprain), forward Terrence Jones (left leg nerve inflammation), and forward Kostas Papanikolaou (knee strain) won’t be coming back “anytime soon.”
“It would be nice to get everybody else back, but that won’t be happening any time soon,” he said.
That update came several days after McHale indicated that Howard could be ready to play the Golden State Warriors on December 10.
Howard told the Houston Chronicle on December 2 that he’s making progress but doesn’t want to rush back.
“It’s basically the second day I was able to get out and do some sprints on the floor. Other than that, it’s just been on the treadmill and doing some court work,” he said.
“So, today was a lot better than the past couple of days. A lot of the stuff is going away. We have to keep doing what I’ve been doing. The trainer (Jason Biles) has been doing a great job trying to get rid of the pain that I’m having around my knee and we'll go from there.”
“I don’t think it is smart for me to try to rush anything,” Howard said. “When I’m 100 percent or close to it, that’s when I'll play. I don’t want to give my teammates and the city nothing but the best, so I’m not going to get out there until I’m ready to do everything I can do.”
Harden Will Win MVP
A number of blogs and analysts are pegging James Harden as the early MVP favorite.
Bleacher Report listed some reasons.
“Harden has done some phenomenal things with a not-so-great supporting cast for Houston this season. He has kept up the scoring but has added the passing, rebounding and most importantly, the defense. He has made a great case for himself to earn MVP honors for 2014-15,” it said.
“Harden is still as good a scorer as there is in the NBA. He can shoot with the best of them and get to the free-throw line at will. It’s his other contributions that deserve all the attention. Harden has improved as a facilitator this season. His 6.5 assists per game are far greater than his career average. Even with all of the injuries, Harden is still able to get his teammates involved. His patience with the ball in his hands and his keen ability to see the open man when drawing a double-team have been the entire offense for Houston.
“Without Harden in the game, the Rockets offense is historically bad, but his presence changes everything. The most impressive improvement to Harden’s game by far is his defense. He is clearly refocused on that end, averaging 1.9 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. Believe it or not, despite all of those videos of his lazy defense, Harden currently leads the league in defensive win shares. I can’t make this stuff up!
“The Beard is fifth in the league in offensive win shares, but it’s his defense that’s winning games. With 75 percent of his starting mates on the sidelines, he is continuously leading his team to victory on both ends of the floor. If that doesn’t deserve MVP, I don’t know what does.”
Harden is averaging 25.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game in 36.9 minutes.
He’s shooting 41 percent from field goal range but is also getting to the free throw line almost 10 times a game.
Ariza, Beverley Lead Rockets Over Suns
The Houston Rockets have the NBA’s second-best record, and don’t even have All-Star Dwight Howard and several key pieces.
“Once we get our full team back and ready to go, we’re going to be a problem,” James Harden said.
Trevor Ariza and Pat Beverley each scored 19 points to lead the Rockets to their fourth straight victory, 100-95 over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.
Houston improved to 16-4 by winning for the seventh time in the nine games Howard (knee strain) has been out.
The Rockets got a boost off the bench with the return of Beverley, who had missed the last six games with a hamstring injury.
“We don’t win that game unless Pat plays,” coach Kevin McHale said. “He made some big 3s and got some huge offensive rebounds. We were really struggling. We were running out of gas.”
The Rockets never trailed and led by as many as 22 points. The Suns used an 8-2 run, capped by a tip-in by PJ Tucker, to cut the lead to 97-93 with 21 seconds remaining.
But Beverley made three free throws after that to make it 100-93 and Houston held on for the win.
Eric Bledsoe led the Suns with 23 points.
“We outplayed them in the second half, but you can’t get down 20 at the half,” Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek said.
Donatas Motiejunas continued his recent strong play with 16 points and 11 rebounds for his career-best fourth straight game scoring at least 10. Harden had 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Gerald Green added 16 points for the Suns and Tucker had 15.
Phoenix used an 11-2 run get within 92-85 with about 3 ½ minutes remaining. Beverley scoredHouston’s first field goal in more than 7 minutes with a 3-pointer about a minute later.
The Suns cut the lead to nine points early in the fourth quarter before Houston scored six straight points, powered by a 3-pointer by Beverley, to make it 86-71. Harden sat out for the first five minutes of the quarter to stretch his back after falling hard to the court on a 3-point attempt at the end of the third.
He said his motion was limited late by tightness in his back, but that he'd be OK.
Jason Terry gave Houston its first points in almost five minutes with a jump shot midway through the third quarter and Beverley made a 3-pointer after a tip-in by Tucker to make it 68-51.
A 3-pointer by Alex Len cut the lead to 80-67 at the end of the period.
The Rockets got off to a hot start, shooting 63.6 percent in the first quarter to just under 29 percent for Phoenix, to take a 35-18 lead. Markieff Morris had the toughest time in that period, going 0 for 7.
Green scored four quick points to start an 11-2 spurt which got the Suns within 43-31 midway through the quarter. The Rockets scored seven straight points soon after that to pad the lead and were up 60-41 at halftime.
“When we struggle to maintain one-on-one defense early and give up easy baskets ... we’re just not going to win most of those,” Tucker said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
