Eric Gordon on song as New Orleans Hornets hand Houston Rockets surprise defeat – NBA Recap
The New Orleans Hornets came out with a surprise overtime 105-99 victory over the Houston Rockets on Thursday night. The Rockets came into this game very much in contention for a playoff spot but an unexpected loss here might turn out to be a devastating
blow to their playoff bid.
The Rockets have now lost six games in a row and are 1 win behind Utah and Phoenix. The Hornets, who came into this game at the bottom of the Western Conference and with the third worst record in the league, have been performing surprisingly well since Tom
Benson bought the Franchise. Benson was in the Arena to watch the game as the Hornets went 7-3 in their last 10 games after this win.
Eric Gordon scored 27 points and had 5 assists to lead the scoring for the night. Goran Dragic had 23 points and 8 assists, in another impressive display. Dragic has been an amazing find for the Rockets this season, and will be hot property come summer when
he will become a free agent.
"We're just trying to play the game. We knew they were still trying to make the playoffs, but the best team won tonight. They're still a really good team. Hopefully they make the playoffs, but we’re just trying to get better" said Eric Gordon after the win.
Houston and New Orleans fought hard for the lead in the 1st period. There were six lead changes in the quarter but back to back three point shots by Houston to close the quarter gave them a 29-22 lead. Houston stretched their lead to 35-22 early
in the 2nd quarter but the Hornets fought hard to come back into the game, trailing 43-51 at half time.
The Rockets had a dismal third quarter, shooting poorly from the floor to manage only 13 points in the period. The Hornets capitalized, outscoring them 26-13 for the period and taking a 69-64 lead going into the final quarter.
With Houston trailing by 3 and under 3 minutes remaining in the game, Courtney Lee sank a three pointer to tie the game at 81. Dragic scored two free throws to give Houston an 86-85 lead but Gustavo Ayon hit a crucial jump shot with 41 seconds left to give
the Hornets an 87-86 advantage.
Budinger missed a three point attempt for the Rockets and Greivis Vasquez took the rebound for New Orleans but Lee stole the ball from him and was fouled, giving him two free throws to win the game for Houston. Lee missed the second one, and the game was
tied at 87 with 15 seconds left. Gordon missed the game winning jumper for New Orleans and the game went into overtime.
The Hornets came charged up into overtime, scoring 9 straight points to take a 96-90 lead. Despite efforts by Dragic to cut the deficit, the Hornets held on to win 105-99.
Carl Landry came off the bench to score 20 points for New Orleans, while grabbing 10 rebounds. He was 9 of 13 from the field. Al-Farouq Aminu added 17 points and 8 rebounds. Chase Budinger had 22 points and 6 rebounds, while Courtney Lee had 15 points off
3 of 5 shooting from the distance. Chandler Parsons was only 1 of 9 from the field for his 3 points.
The Hornets shot 47.1% from the field, better than the 41.6% field goal average for Houston. Houston was better from beyond the arc, scoring on 11 out of 31 attempts, but were a dismal 14 of 25 from the foul line. The Hornets dominated Houston on rebounds;
57-40.
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